Afraid Quote by Colm Toibin

If you string together a set of speeches expressive of character, and well finished in point and diction and thought, you will not produce…

— Aristotle

Life can be wildly tragic at times, and I've had my share. But whatever happens to you, you have to keep a slightly comic…

— Katharine Hepburn

Don't let a single comic moment pass you by; then help the audience get the laughs. Give them permission to laugh by holding for…

— James Carver

The audience bursts into laughter. With the tragic gag I don't expect the audience to laugh (if they do, I have failed) but I…

— Jean Cocteau

I've always been drawn to discomfort and that limbo of unease you get between comedy and tragedy. Making people laugh one moment and the…

— Steve Coogan

I'm getting older, so how people face grave circumstances is of interest to me. And you meet a lot of people who are very…

— Judd Apatow

A good play puts the audience through a certain ordeal,

— Howard Barker

Even in the things that look most frivolous there has to be the threat of something quite painful to make the comedy work. I…

— Michael Frayn

Sometimes there's one person in the audience laughing hysterically, and it's so much fun. You end up playing the entire play to them.

— Lorraine Bracco

You don't service a big, fun premise comedy and then shoot yourself in the foot with too much irony. You need the audience to…

— Shawn Levy

Humorous writing is often thought of as substandard in comparison to work with a more dramatic or tragic intent. I don't know what to…

— Patrick deWitt

A tragedy can never suffer by delay: a comedy may, because the allusions or the manners represented in it maybe temporary.

— Horace Walpole