--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That's one of the things about comedy - I…" description: "\"That's one of the things about comedy - I think it works best when it's contextualized, as opposed to kind of an island of cleverness.\" — Joshua Ferris" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af0/joshua-ferris-4070_cleverness_that-s-one-of-the-things-about-comedy-i_2660588.png" --- # That's one of the things about comedy - I think it works… ![“That's one of the things about comedy - I think it works best when it's contextualized, as opposed to kind of an island of cleverness.” quote by Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af0/joshua-ferris-4070_cleverness_that-s-one-of-the-things-about-comedy-i_2660588.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af0/joshua-ferris-4070_cleverness_that-s-one-of-the-things-about-comedy-i_2660588.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af0/joshua-ferris-4070_cleverness_that-s-one-of-the-things-about-comedy-i_2660588.png) > “That's one of the things about comedy - I think it works best when it's contextualized, as opposed to kind of an island of cleverness.” [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Comedy works best when it reflects shared context, not isolated cleverness. **In simple terms:** Context makes jokes relatable. Key Takeaway Ground humor in shared experience. Themes comedy context relatability creativity Mood humorous analytical Type quote advice When to use this quote - stand‑up routines - scriptwriting - improv - marketing pitches Key Concepts social dynamics communication Questions to Reflect On - When does context limit comedic risk? - How to balance universal humor with specific references? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance on context can alienate niche audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I have an inability to enjoy things, but that's why we're in comedy. If we were happy, we wouldn't be funny, I guess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feig/i-have-an-inability-to-enjoy-things-but-that-s-why-we-re-in-comedy-if/) [Paul Feig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feig/) > [Life is a mixing of all kind of things: comedy and tragedy going together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-jodorowsky/life-is-a-mixing-of-all-kind-of-things-comedy-and-tragedy-going/) [Alejandro Jodorowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-jodorowsky/) > [You can say things in a comedy that you never can say in a drama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-forsythe/you-can-say-things-in-a-comedy-that-you-never-can-say-in-a-drama/) [John Forsythe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-forsythe/) > [One of the great things with comedy is that there's no such thing as a mediocre comedy; it's either uproarious or crap. That's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-caine/one-of-the-great-things-with-comedy-is-that-there-s-no-such-thing-as/) [Michael Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-caine/) > [I think one of the big things about comedy is the ability for the audience to identify.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-king/i-think-one-of-the-big-things-about-comedy-is-the-ability-for-the/) [Alan King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-king/) > [A responsive crowd is great - they help you see new things in your comedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-mcintyre/a-responsive-crowd-is-great-they-help-you-see-new-things-in-your/) [Michael McIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-mcintyre/) > [It's two totally different things. Comedy is more therapeutic. Acting is more of an escape.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deon-cole/it-s-two-totally-different-things-comedy-is-more-therapeutic-acting/) [Deon Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deon-cole/) > [I never wanted to do just one thing. There's even other things in comedy that I want to do. For me, it's always been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-robinson/i-never-wanted-to-do-just-one-thing-there-s-even-other-things-in/) [Craig Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-robinson/) > [It is a challenge. When you do things that are comedy, you're having to look at the funnier side of life. Often I find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corbin-bernsen/it-is-a-challenge-when-you-do-things-that-are-comedy-you-re-having-to/) [Corbin Bernsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corbin-bernsen/) > [Doing a format parody is one of my favorite things to do in comedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-conover/doing-a-format-parody-is-one-of-my-favorite-things-to-do-in-comedy/) [Adam Conover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-conover/) > [One of the things that comedy has given me over the years is a really good ability to laugh at myself and to not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-faris/one-of-the-things-that-comedy-has-given-me-over-the-years-is-a-really/) [Anna Faris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-faris/) > [Sometimes it's difficult to laugh at certain things but comedy can help.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-mcintyre/sometimes-it-s-difficult-to-laugh-at-certain-things-but-comedy-can/) [Michael McIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-mcintyre/) > [I'd like to do more dramatic roles but I would never give up comedy to do it. I've seen a lot of actors that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-biggs/i-d-like-to-do-more-dramatic-roles-but-i-would-never-give-up-comedy/) [Jason Biggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-biggs/) > [From my experience working with comedians, there is that competitive aspect. With actors, for instance, they don't want to look competitive even if they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-winterbottom/from-my-experience-working-with-comedians-there-is-that-competitive/) [Michael Winterbottom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-winterbottom/) > [Someone who didn't do comedy might think it was awful to have someone talking about you. But I just love the attention, even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-pascoe/someone-who-didn-t-do-comedy-might-think-it-was-awful-to-have-someone/) [Sara Pascoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-pascoe/) ## More by Joshua Ferris > [“Using a wide variety of media, we could demonstrate for our fellow Americans their anxieties, desires, insufficiencies, and frustrations--and how to assuage them all.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/using-a-wide-variety-of-media-we-could-demonstrate-for-our-fellow/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [If someone were plucked from the group and given those responsibilities, they might find themselves growing more aloof, just by virtue of that promotion.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/if-someone-were-plucked-from-the-group-and-given-those/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [“I was already at one remove before the Internet came along. I need another remove? Now I have to spend the time that I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/i-was-already-at-one-remove-before-the-internet-came-along-i-need/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [“One thing we knew for certain- despite all our certainties, it was very difficult to guess what one individual was thinking at any given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/one-thing-we-knew-for-certain-despite-all-our-certainties-it-was-very/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [To conform is to lose your soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/to-conform-is-to-lose-your-soul/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [“There was so much unpleasantness in the workaday world. The last thing you ever wanted to do at night was go home and do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/there-was-so-much-unpleasantness-in-the-workaday-world-the-last-thing/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [We loved killing time and had perfected several ways of doing so. We wandered the hallways carrying papers that indicated some mission of business…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/we-loved-killing-time-and-had-perfected-several-ways-of-doing-so-we/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [“For a long time thereafter I stared almost steadily at the bright and ostentatious VERIZON sign on top of one of the tallest buildings—the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/for-a-long-time-thereafter-i-stared-almost-steadily-at-the-bright-and/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [“Of course I alienate myself from society. It's the only way I know of not being constantly reminded of all the ways I'm alienated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/of-course-i-alienate-myself-from-society-it-s-the-only-way-i-know-of/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [“That was the last time she was allowed back at the Bennigan's. From then on, she started drinking at the T.G.I. Friday's.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/that-was-the-last-time-she-was-allowed-back-at-the-bennigan-s-from/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [I've always thought things were absurd. It would take a lot more effort for me to see things as reasonable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/i-ve-always-thought-things-were-absurd-it-would-take-a-lot-more/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [“...she had the conviction of the newly converted, which wouldn't last forever, but would for the moment brook no discouragement or allow for second-guessing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/she-had-the-conviction-of-the-newly-converted-which-wouldn-t-last/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [“I swore never to use the emoticon ever… until one day, offhandedly and without much thought, I used my first :) and, shortly thereafter,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/i-swore-never-to-use-the-emoticon-ever-until-one-day-offhandedly-and/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [I think one of the ways you avoid being angry is to avoid being angry at the people in power. They might do crappy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/i-think-one-of-the-ways-you-avoid-being-angry-is-to-avoid-being-angry/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [“Without monstrous distortions, I was slowly learning, without lies and hypocrisy, one cannot have the idealized American life I so longed for.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/without-monstrous-distortions-i-was-slowly-learning-without-lies-and/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) [Explore all 114 Joshua Ferris quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) ## More Cleverness quotes > [“Rumi observed, “Sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-w-dyer/rumi-observed-sell-your-cleverness-and-purchase-bewilderment/) [Wayne W. Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-w-dyer/) > [“Passion often makes a madman of the cleverest man, and renders the greatest fools clever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/passion-often-makes-a-madman-of-the-cleverest-man-and-renders-the/) [François de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [If we fail to appreciate the soul that Easternism gives us, then what we have is a disconnected, Greco-Roman, Western, egocentric, compartmentalized, reductionist, fragmented,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-salatin/if-we-fail-to-appreciate-the-soul-that-easternism-gives-us-then-what/) [Joel Salatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-salatin/) > [A fool is a person who guesses and gets it wrong, a clever man is one who guesses, regardless of time period, and gets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/a-fool-is-a-person-who-guesses-and-gets-it-wrong-a-clever-man-is-one/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Ultimately, of course, you must decide for yourself whether the subjective psychological effects created by your evolved cognitive biases reflect an objective reality, perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-bering/ultimately-of-course-you-must-decide-for-yourself-whether-the/) [Jesse Bering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-bering/) > [Limits have to be set on how far one can simply use the... cleverness that we have to make changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/limits-have-to-be-set-on-how-far-one-can-simply-use-the-cleverness/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [Sometimes people try way too hard to sound clever on Facebook.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-people-try-way-too-hard-to-sound-clever-on-facebook/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Many of the greatest men have owed their success to industry rather than to cleverness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lubbock/many-of-the-greatest-men-have-owed-their-success-to-industry-rather/) [John Lubbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lubbock/) > [What a curious picture it is to find man, homo sapiens, of divine origin, we are told, seriously considering going underground to escape the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/what-a-curious-picture-it-is-to-find-man-homo-sapiens-of-divine/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [“Neither the Russians nor the Americans were the cleverest people, or the most experienced, in the world that followed 1945. The French were rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-r-fehrenbach-2/neither-the-russians-nor-the-americans-were-the-cleverest-people-or/) [T.R. Fehrenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-r-fehrenbach-2/) > [Where there is simplicity, there are a hundred Angels, but where there is cleverness - there are none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-of-optina/where-there-is-simplicity-there-are-a-hundred-angels-but-where-there/) Ambrose of Optina > [Human integrity is determined by the heart, not by cleverness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senora-roy/human-integrity-is-determined-by-the-heart-not-by-cleverness/) [Senora Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senora-roy/) > [In late modernity we grow more and more accustomed to politicians and public figures who are indebted to their appetites for their "values," to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/in-late-modernity-we-grow-more-and-more-accustomed-to-politicians-and/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [The art of investment has one characteristic that is not generally appreciated. A creditable, if unspectacular, result can be achieved by the lay investor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-art-of-investment-has-one-characteristic-that-is-not-generally/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [Books are in no hurry. An act of creation is in no hurry; it reads us, it privileges us infinitely. The notion that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/books-are-in-no-hurry-an-act-of-creation-is-in-no-hurry-it-reads-us/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) Browse all 406 Cleverness quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That's one of the things about comedy - I think it works best when it's contextualized, as opposed to kind of an island of cleverness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joshua Ferris" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/that-s-one-of-the-things-about-comedy-i-think-it-works-best-when-it-s/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cleverness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/that-s-one-of-the-things-about-comedy-i-think-it-works-best-when-it-s/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af0/joshua-ferris-4070_cleverness_that-s-one-of-the-things-about-comedy-i_2660588.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af0/joshua-ferris-4070_cleverness_that-s-one-of-the-things-about-comedy-i_2660588.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af0/joshua-ferris-4070_cleverness_that-s-one-of-the-things-about-comedy-i_2660588.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That's one of the things about comedy - I think it works best when it's contextualized, as opposed to kind…” — Joshua Ferris", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Joshua Ferris", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "That's one of the things about...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/that-s-one-of-the-things-about-comedy-i-think-it-works-best-when-it-s/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/that-s-one-of-the-things-about-comedy-i-think-it-works-best-when-it-s/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```