" #MartinShort : I waited so long to audition because I was afraid. The idea of improvising comedy was daunting to me. I liked doing musicals and plays. I always saw myself more as an actor than as someone in comedy. I joined in 1977, when I replaced #JohnCandy in a show. Instead of playing a scene like John played it, it was like, “Why don’t I just do it as, oh…Columbo?” They wanted you to play to your strengths.
#CatherineOHara : It was my university of comedy: writing, character development, thinking on your feet and learning about scene structure. All of the lessons I learned there, I’m still working on every day. They threw out a lot of references in Chicago. They loved to drop philosophers’ names. Or authors’. In Toronto, we were just trying to crack people up. For us, it was about characters: people we met on the subway, our family members. Our scenes were more about the dynamics between human beings. It was more emotional. We weren’t as well read.
#JoeFlaherty : We were just trying to be funny! Get laughs! In order for the audience to accept us, I wanted them to leave the theatre having laughed a lot."
" #RickMoranis : I was a big #GeorgeCarlin fan. How could I not be? But there came a point where I saw him on a talk show, and he was reading off cards. I had a feeling I could look like him, so I did an impression of him reading off notes and telling lazy jokes. Years went by and I was at an awards show. Across the aisle was Carlin, sitting there. We looked at each other, and he just said, “Brutal. Brutal, man. Brutal.” I sort of shrugged and gestured about how much I love him. But I never really met him. Years later, after he passed away, I spoke to his daughter, #KellyCarlin . She wanted to use the #SCTV clips in a show she was putting together. I told her, “Look, I want you to understand that, believe it or not, that was really done out of reverence.” She said, “No, you don’t understand. It had a profound effect on him. He wasn’t aware that he was really being lazy. He was unhappy and wasn’t doing the kind of work that he wanted to be doing. And your impression caused him to change his approach.” God, am I glad I spoke to her."