225 Quotes by Steve Coogan

I don’t like comedy that I think is bad comedy, where people are trying to be sick for the sake of it, where there’s no intellectual point behind it. I like stuff that’s got an underlying point of view.

I’m not Mother Teresa. But I’m not Frank Bough, either. I am getting older and a bit more sensible. I’m not going to be popping up in dungeons every six months. If you catch me preaching fidelity while I am shagging chickens then throw the book at me. Otherwise, leave me alone.

All those people who go around saying Life begins at forty, they’re notable by their absence. The nerve.

I always find it easier to portray myself as being unlikeable and idiotic; to actually play a character that is likeable and engages the audience is far more difficult. It’s a more subtle kind of challenge.

When you see a crowd of people jumping up and down at a pop concert, all gloriously in the moment, I don’t think you’ll ever see a comedian there. They’ll all be standing at the sides, looking at how it all fits together.

I don’t apologize for my behavior anymore. Whatever I do or don’t do shouldn’t matter. Moral certainty is dangerous. Moral certainty is what makes people go to war unnecessarily and illegally. Morality, as any halfway intelligent human being would tell you, is a very subjective thing.

People regurgitate the same old cliches and it becomes like a photocopy of a photocopy of something that’s vaguely interesting.

It may seem like improv because it flows quite naturally, and a little bit of leeway for improvisation is good, but you have to be judicious with it. So it’s good, but sometimes people deify it. You can’t improvise your way out of a paper hat.

I like the British public. There is something in this country called tall poppy syndrome. You’re good but you’re not that good, pal, OK? The natural state of our nation is slightly miserable, and probably the healthier for it. In America you don’t get a key down the side of your Bentley...