I think Jaws is one of those movies that, if it is on, I will watch it until it's finished. Paul F. Tompkins More Quotes by Paul F. Tompkins More Quotes From Paul F. Tompkins I haven't seen comedy as popular as it is now since when I started, in the late 1980s boom. It feels like that again, in that it's everywhere, and it's great to see. Paul F. Tompkins late comedy feels I like being around people who are good conversationalists. Paul F. Tompkins good-conversation people Someone thought that I dropped out of Harvard. I am a college dropout, but I dropped out of Temple University in Philadelphia. Paul F. Tompkins philadelphia temples college Up until I think eighth grade - when I found out in front of a roomful of people - I believed that England and Great Britain were two entirely different places. Like I didn't know that England was a part of Great Britain. I thought they were completely separate in every way. Paul F. Tompkins two people thinking My favorite movie is Lawrence Of Arabia. But that's a long, long movie. So although I've seen it several times, it's not as fun as Jaws. Paul F. Tompkins arabia fun long How has podcasting changed things? A lot of people ask me if I feel I should be more famous. Paul F. Tompkins podcasting should people I didn't want to have to call a cab if I went to the supermarket. So I eventually got a bike, just a beach cruiser, and I rode that thing all over town. I rode it everywhere. I rode it in the rain, I rode it as much as I possibly could. Anytime I could afford the independence of the bike, I used the bike. Paul F. Tompkins independence rain beach Making movies is nice, man. A movie with some money behind it? Sweet. So many snacks and stuff. Name-brand. And many different kinds of coffee. Paul F. Tompkins coffee nice sweet I do think I'm terrific at giving advice. Although in our hearts we usually know what we should do. It's rare that you get in a situation in life where you don't know how to proceed. You know the thing you should do, but don't want to. Paul F. Tompkins situations-in-life heart thinking The bike has very few controls. It's very simple to operate and understand and your field of vision is certainly greatly expanded as opposed to being in a car. Paul F. Tompkins car vision simple I love a small dinner party - let's say six people, max, were everybody's having the same conversation. That's my favorite thing in the world. Paul F. Tompkins max party people I was going to say it's pretty bad these days, but I actually think it's pretty much the same as it's always been: There are a few really great shows on, and a bunch of garbage. That's the nature of the beast. It's always going to be that way as long as the networks try to second-guess what the American public will like. I wish that they'd just put on what they think is good rather than what they think people will sit through. I bet they'd have the same success rate, but at least the shows that survived would be better. Paul F. Tompkins long people thinking I loved the bike because it gave me some measure of independence that I did not have. Paul F. Tompkins bike independence I'm not a super adventurous eater and I try to make myself try things. Paul F. Tompkins adventurous trying When I was younger I was strictly meat-and-potatoes and I just wouldn't try things. As I have gotten older, I'm much more adventurous but still not like whoever that dude is on whatever show it is who just goes around and eats bugs everywhere. Paul F. Tompkins potatoes meat trying To achieve the intimacy between performer and audience in storytelling, I feel like I have to let the audience in on my emotional state, not just, "Here's a story I'm going to tell by rote, and you're just going to listen to it, because I'm such a wonderfully entertaining fellow." It's the idea of sharing enough of myself that it's not just all about, "Look at me, look at me." There's an element to it of, "You understand what I'm talking about, right? You've been in this place that I've been in," which makes it a richer experience. Paul F. Tompkins intimacy storytelling emotional Now I don't care what people think. I did some internet campaign where I was the voice of a puppet for Ford Focus ads because they were paying me a lot of money to do it, it was a very easy gig, but then the bonus was, it turned out to be an enormous amount of fun. I've learned not to turn my nose up at things just because they're not what other people might consider cool to do. Because I've also matured enough to know, you never know where these things are going to lead, and you never know what the experience is going to be like. Paul F. Tompkins fun people thinking To have nice interactions with people is a better than to make anyone uncomfortable, than to try to fill up some kind of lull. Like anybody else, there's times when maybe I don't feel like talking with other people. You don't have to be in show business to not feel like making small talk sometimes. But we kind of are all in this together. It makes things easier - it just makes life easier, if we're all nice to each other. I'm sure that sounds terribly corny, but honestly, it's one of those simple things that it's so simple, it's true, and it's so true that it's simple. Paul F. Tompkins nice simple people I like working in television a lot. It's nice to have a place to go every day and a group of people to hang out with and work alongside with a common goal. But I think I'll always love stand-up more, because there's so much to discover. But you cannot beat television money with a stick. Not with a stick. Paul F. Tompkins nice people thinking
