Rob Riggle: When you're leading Marines, you don't screw around, so th...

I love improv so much. Listening. I think that's the key. When you improvise, you put a lot of pressure on yourself to create, and to be generating information, and trying to be funny, but if you just listen to what's being said to you, and then react honestly, you generally get better results.

Rob Riggle

keys listening thinking

When you go out there to do comedy, you feel like you're doing battle with the audience a lot of the time. You're either going to get 'em, or you're not.

Rob Riggle

ems comedy battle

When I approach villains, unless it's a drama, I'm a comedian, so I approach most things from a comedic point of view.

Rob Riggle

comedian views drama

It's definitely fun to play something you're not, which is always a good time. Who doesn't want to get to act like a jerk or a douche, every now and then?

Rob Riggle

want play fun

One of the favorite games I play, when I improv or take on a character, is what I like to call arrogant ignorance. That's the game I enjoy playing most.

Rob Riggle

ignorance games character

My idesl work situation now is if I could script-my-own-life-type thing. I'd love to have a television show on HBO, and then on hiatus, make a movie - just one. And then spend the rest of the time with my family. I wouldn't ask for anything else. That'd be all I need.

Rob Riggle

my-family situation

I'm living in L.A., which is hard to get around. I live way out in the suburbs, it's hard for me to get to town. You get five minutes here, then you gotta drive a half hour to the next one. New York was so much easier for standup because you could hit five clubs in a night. Just jump in a cab, pop. Boom, boom, boom. And you could walk to some of 'em, and work out stuff on the way. You can really get some more traction out there. You could work new material easier out there, I thought.

Rob Riggle

hours work-out night

I do write, I enjoy it. But I like acting. I wanna be in front of the camera as much as I can as long as I can, so I'm still pursuing that. There's just a lot going on. I write standup, so it's just a matter of time. I just need more time!

Rob Riggle

acting writing long

I always try to stick to the script because I want to respect the writers, and I want to respect the director. But if the director and my fellow actors are okay with me playing with it a little bit, then I definitely want to play with it. I definitely want to do that, because I tend to... when I put things in my own words, it comes out way better. It flows naturally, it just feels better. I can put some weight into the words. Even in comedy, it just comes better.

Rob Riggle

comedy feel-better trying

When I say that I don't know what my next thing is, I don't. I'm just gonna read scripts, and if I see something that jumps out at me, I'm just gonna call my agents and say, "Please get me in so I can audition for this." You gotta sing for your supper. It never stops.

Rob Riggle

I think audiences can relate to the guys I'm playing, those large-and-in-charge idiots. Or maybe I just make them feel better about who they are, or who they're dating.

Rob Riggle

dating feel-better thinking

I was voted Most Humorous in my senior class in high school, and I was a fan of comedy, my whole life. I never got into the horror genre, and action was fine, but I just loved comedy. Any comedy I could get my hands on, I would. I watched Saturday Night Live religiously. I've just been a fan of comedy, my whole life.

Rob Riggle

senior humorous school

People who drive slow in the left lane on the highway! Are you kidding me? Don't you see everybody passing you, honking and flipping you off? It's not because everyone else is crazy, it's because you're driving slow in the fast lane, you jerk! OMG! It makes me crazy!

Rob Riggle

me you crazy people

There's no better citizen than a veteran. There's so much waiting for you outside, and it's not something to be intimidated by or scared by; it is something to be embraced.

Rob Riggle

something better you waiting

What's my favorite food besides pancakes? I guess it would be flapjacks, followed closely by hotcakes. After that, crepes... but thick crepes. Y'know, like, pancake-thick.

Rob Riggle

guess like thick food

I can't quote stats from another decade. I've got friends that can do that. But I am a huge sports fan. In fact, I enjoy all sports, and when I enjoy a game for five minutes, I'm in it for the whole thing. Plus, I do have some teams I loyally follow.

Rob Riggle

i-am game enjoy sports

Just take yourself back to September 2001. As that month went on, and as that autumn unrolled, everybody wanted to do something. How can I help? Do you want my blood? Do you want money for the victims? I was a captain in the Marine Corps. I knew what I could do. I was right there. I was ready. I saw it. I moved the rubble with my own hands.

Rob Riggle

yourself you autumn money

I just love the Corps. I love the brotherhood, the camaraderie. I thank anyone in uniform who serves their fellow man. I love this country for so many reasons. We have such a great country here, and it's worth defending, and it's worth sacrificing for.

Rob Riggle

great man brotherhood love

I need a coffee, I'm a cold coffee guy. That's how I do.

Rob Riggle

need how cold coffee

I remember watching Eddie Murphy's stand-up act when I was little, and just being mesmerized.

Rob Riggle

watching just being remember

When you're leading Marines, you don't screw around, so the comedy is limited in uniform. And when you're a comedian, you can't be heavy handed and come across with tales of gore or material that people won't understand, so I try to keep them separate.