---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...doing the smoker's comedy act: he…"
description: "\"“...doing the smoker's comedy act: he hunted automatically for an ashtray, didn't find one, tipped his ashes into the palm of his hand,...”\" — Patricia..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c5/patricia-nell-warren-51847_humor_doing-the-smoker-s-comedy-act-he-hunted_1395556.jpg"
---

#  ...doing the smoker's comedy act: he hunted automatically…

![“...doing the smoker's comedy act: he hunted automatically for an ashtray, didn't find one, tipped his ashes into the palm of his hand,...” quote by Patricia Nell Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c5/patricia-nell-warren-51847_humor_doing-the-smoker-s-comedy-act-he-hunted_1395556.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c5/patricia-nell-warren-51847_humor_doing-the-smoker-s-comedy-act-he-hunted_1395556.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c5/patricia-nell-warren-51847_humor_doing-the-smoker-s-comedy-act-he-hunted_1395556.jpg)

> ““...doing the smoker's comedy act: he hunted automatically for an ashtray, didn't find one, tipped his ashes into the palm of his hand,...””

[Patricia Nell Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-nell-warren/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A comedic scene where a character, desperate for an ashtray, improvises by using his own hand, highlighting absurdity.

**In simple terms:** Improvisation in desperate moments.

Key Takeaway

Find humor in awkward situations.

Themes

comedy absurdity improvisation

Mood

lighthearted ironic

Type

humorous observational

When to use this quote

- Stage performance
- writing comedy
- improv workshops

Key Concepts

Human folly social awkwardness

Questions to Reflect On

- When have you improvised under pressure?
- How does absurdity reveal truth?

A Different Perspective

Humor may not translate across cultures.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Ashtray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashtray/) [Ashtray Didn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashtray-didn-4877019/) [Automatically Ashtray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/automatically-ashtray-4877020/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Smoker Comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smoker-comedy-4877021/) [Tipped Ashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tipped-ashes-4877022/)

## Related quotes

> [After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with having an ashtray just out of eye line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/after-all-these-years-i-definitely-associate-having-a-pen-in-my-hand/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [Hands, matches, an ashtray. A ritual beautiful and bitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/hands-matches-an-ashtray-a-ritual-beautiful-and-bitter/)

[Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/)

> [“I had a dream about you. You had just died, and I was debating putting your body into either a coffin or a shoebox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-had-a-dream-about-you-you-had-just-died-and-i-was-debating-putting/)

[Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/)

> [Let's try and create scenes that are about something... About something deeper than this ashtray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-de-maat/let-s-try-and-create-scenes-that-are-about-something-about-something/)

[Martin de Maat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-de-maat/)

> [“smarting and smoke was hanging thick in the air while the ashtray on Karras’s desk was mounded high with ashes and the twisted butts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/smarting-and-smoke-was-hanging-thick-in-the-air-while-the-ashtray-on/)

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> [“Air was filtering out of my two collapsing lungs. Water rose, bubbling to enter, and I would have died of instantaneous pneumonia - something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/air-was-filtering-out-of-my-two-collapsing-lungs-water-rose-bubbling/)

[Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/)

> [“If someone burns out your eye I will take your socket and use it for an ashtray.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/if-someone-burns-out-your-eye-i-will-take-your-socket-and-use-it-for/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [“Me and Mama never did like the smell of cigarettes but after Daddy died, sometimes we would light one up and put it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandi-morgan-denkers/me-and-mama-never-did-like-the-smell-of-cigarettes-but-after-daddy/)

[Sandi Morgan Denkers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandi-morgan-denkers/)

> [“She’s finished her cigarette but hasn’t put it out properly, so it’s still smoking in the ashtray. I crush mine into it, grinding until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/she-s-finished-her-cigarette-but-hasn-t-put-it-out-properly-so-it-s/)

[Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/)

> [“She reached into an alabaster box and pulled out a violet cigarette that also exactly matched her eyes. Some people just don't know when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-k-wolf/she-reached-into-an-alabaster-box-and-pulled-out-a-violet-cigarette/)

[Gary K. Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-k-wolf/)

> [“Six pull-tabs lay in the ashtray like scales from a mermaid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/six-pull-tabs-lay-in-the-ashtray-like-scales-from-a-mermaid/)

[Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/)

> [“My mother, sitting at the kitchen table, the steam rising from her cup entwining with the smoke curling from her cigarette resting on an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/my-mother-sitting-at-the-kitchen-table-the-steam-rising-from-her-cup/)

[Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/)

> [I think an ashtray is the most fantastically real thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-hirst/i-think-an-ashtray-is-the-most-fantastically-real-thing/)

[Damien Hirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-hirst/)

> [If we found an ashtray in the studio, we'd try to play it and find a part for it in a song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dusty-hill/if-we-found-an-ashtray-in-the-studio-we-d-try-to-play-it-and-find-a/)

[Dusty Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dusty-hill/)

> [“in his hand the heavy, rectangular onyx ashtray that had been on the table. Was he out of his mind? He’d crack her skull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-his-hand-the-heavy-rectangular-onyx-ashtray-that-had-been-on-the/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

## More by Patricia Nell Warren

> [Love is when you fry the other person's bacon even if you're a vegetarian.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-nell-warren/love-is-when-you-fry-the-other-person-s-bacon-even-if-you-re-a/)

[Patricia Nell Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-nell-warren/)

> [“The angel of death had cruised him. Death, that hustler, that last lover.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-nell-warren/the-angel-of-death-had-cruised-him-death-that-hustler-that-last-lover/)

[Patricia Nell Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-nell-warren/)

> [“Sooner or later you end up making deals with women. It's an injustice, really.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-nell-warren/sooner-or-later-you-end-up-making-deals-with-women-it-s-an-injustice/)

[Patricia Nell Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-nell-warren/)

> [“How many more times would I have embraced him that night, how many more times would I have kissed him, if I had known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-nell-warren/how-many-more-times-would-i-have-embraced-him-that-night-how-many/)

[Patricia Nell Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-nell-warren/)

> [In my old age, I was at last being permitted to make the discovery that lovemaking gets better and better with time, if it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-nell-warren/in-my-old-age-i-was-at-last-being-permitted-to-make-the-discovery/)

[Patricia Nell Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-nell-warren/)

> [Let us live without hate among those who hate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-nell-warren/let-us-live-without-hate-among-those-who-hate/)

[Patricia Nell Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-nell-warren/)

[Explore all 7 Patricia Nell Warren quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-nell-warren/)

## More Ashtray quotes

> [After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with having an ashtray just out of eye line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/after-all-these-years-i-definitely-associate-having-a-pen-in-my-hand/)

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[Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/)

> [“Six pull-tabs lay in the ashtray like scales from a mermaid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/six-pull-tabs-lay-in-the-ashtray-like-scales-from-a-mermaid/)

[Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/)

> [“She reached into an alabaster box and pulled out a violet cigarette that also exactly matched her eyes. Some people just don't know when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-k-wolf/she-reached-into-an-alabaster-box-and-pulled-out-a-violet-cigarette/)

[Gary K. Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-k-wolf/)

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[Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/)

> [“Me and Mama never did like the smell of cigarettes but after Daddy died, sometimes we would light one up and put it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandi-morgan-denkers/me-and-mama-never-did-like-the-smell-of-cigarettes-but-after-daddy/)

[Sandi Morgan Denkers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandi-morgan-denkers/)

> [“If someone burns out your eye I will take your socket and use it for an ashtray.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/if-someone-burns-out-your-eye-i-will-take-your-socket-and-use-it-for/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [“Air was filtering out of my two collapsing lungs. Water rose, bubbling to enter, and I would have died of instantaneous pneumonia - something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/air-was-filtering-out-of-my-two-collapsing-lungs-water-rose-bubbling/)

[Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/)

> [“smarting and smoke was hanging thick in the air while the ashtray on Karras’s desk was mounded high with ashes and the twisted butts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/smarting-and-smoke-was-hanging-thick-in-the-air-while-the-ashtray-on/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [Let's try and create scenes that are about something... About something deeper than this ashtray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-de-maat/let-s-try-and-create-scenes-that-are-about-something-about-something/)

[Martin de Maat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-de-maat/)

> [“I had a dream about you. You had just died, and I was debating putting your body into either a coffin or a shoebox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-had-a-dream-about-you-you-had-just-died-and-i-was-debating-putting/)

[Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/)

> [Hands, matches, an ashtray. A ritual beautiful and bitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/hands-matches-an-ashtray-a-ritual-beautiful-and-bitter/)

[Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/)

> [“in his hand the heavy, rectangular onyx ashtray that had been on the table. Was he out of his mind? He’d crack her skull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-his-hand-the-heavy-rectangular-onyx-ashtray-that-had-been-on-the/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

[Browse all 33 Ashtray quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashtray/)

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