My father was a rabbi and had a little synagogue in Canada, so I'm from Canada. I left there at 16.

I used to have a theory actually that, if you've had a good childhood, a good marriage and a little bit of money in the bank, you're going to make a lousy comedian.

In my neighborhood, everyone had an opinion on the local cantor. You didn't go to a synagogue to listen to the rabbi's sermon. You went to listen to the cantor. It was like a concert.

The rabbi is often the regular preacher in the synagogue, the man whose sermons offer his community more general theological and moral guidance.

The interesting thing about improvisation is you're making something up in front of the audience. Now music helps you out a little bit because you have an instrument that'll separate you from the audience.

The first money memory that many of us have as children is finding a coin on the street, in the park, or while walking to school. Then when we picked up the penny or nickel and showed it to our mother or father, and they immediately told us to go wash our hands saying, “That is dirty!