Robert Orben Quotes
1927–2023 United States
Robert Orben (March 4, 1927 – February 2, 2023) was an American magician and professional comedy writer. He is also an author of books for magicians.
- United States
- Humorists
- Magicians
Random Robert Orben quote
38 quotes
The chance to be seen as a warm, witty guy is too good an opportunity for a politician to miss.
As much as we admire all the characteristics of a Ronald Reagan, as soon as something goes wrong, people will hate those same characteristics.
Humor starts like a wildfire, but then continues on, smoldering, smoldering for years.
The secret of writing comedy is to know where it's all going, then get ahead of it.
If you think education is expensive -- try ignorance.
Dick Cheney has to be the kindliest attack dog ever.
Nowadays, you cannot be a very Effective political figure without Having a demonstrable sense of humor. People take to it.
If you can get someone to laugh with you, they will be more willing to identify with you, listen to you. It parts the waters.
Humor is the most honest of emotions. Applause for a speech can be insincere, but with humor, if the audience doesn't like it there's no faking it.
It's mandatory in this day and age to be considered to have a sense of humor and to demonstrate it. You're not paying me for a joke, You're paying me for the right joke.
Anybody with a good sense of humor is one-up on their competition. We respond to somebody who has the ability to make us laugh. It's a bonding influence.
I'd be surprised if Ronald Reagan doesn't run again. To us it's a second term. To him it's a double feature.
If somebody accuses you in a story of being a crook, you can demand that they prove it. But if a comic says it and you protest, people say, 'What's the matter, you can't take a joke?'
Very few people ever meet celebrities. All we really know is what we read about them and the most memorable lines are jokes. That's how we tend to define what we think of a public figure.
President Ford used humor a great deal.
I remember when humor was gentle pokes. I used to call it 'arm around the shoulder' humor. Now they go for the jugular and they take no prisoners. It's mean, mean stuff.
Humor gives presidents the chance to be seen as warm, relaxed persons. Humor reaches out and puts its arm around the listener and says, 'I am one of you, I understand,' and implicitly it promises, 'I will do something about your problems.'
It always seems to someone outside the business that it is very difficult to write for a comedy show because it must be done quickly. Actually, it is much easier to write this humor than to do a joke or a show from scratch, because the audience knows the plot. Just mention what is going on and then deliver the punch line.
A young person today has a nanosecond attention span, so whatever you do in a humor has to be short. Younger people do not wait for anything that takes time to develop. We're going totally to one-liners. Telling a joke is risk taking. Younger people are more insecure and not willing to put themselves on the line, so a quick one-liner is much safer.
The next time you feel like complaining, remember that your garbage disposal probably eats better than 30 percent of the people in the world.
Attributed