Backstage life is terrific training for an actor, seeing shows from the wings.

It makes it fun. When an actor plays a character, you want what that character wants. Otherwise it doesn't look authentic. So I really want to defeat Jimmy - I mean Jimmy as the character.

The one thing I think I've noticed about shows that are supposed to be funny on television is that they've sort of become routinized, so there's an awful lot of mannerisms and joke lines that are sort of there to trigger laughter, rather than give actors a chance to play a moment.

I was a backstage kid. I was in the wings looking out.

When I got recognized as a writer, when I got the Emmy, I was more excited than the Emmys I had gotten as an actor.

You can watch actors create their illusions, but if you don't see where they get the pigeons from, you don't really know how they're doing it.