thing. and future aliens will come to this earth and find our skeletons holding our devices. they will realize romans collapsed because there was lead in the water. we might be killed by too much parody and satire. it's a life and death experience. you go up there. you take your life in your hands. >> my stomach hurts, badly. and i've been nausea all day. >> you're overthinking what you're wearing, how you're going to say the first thing you're going to say. >> i feel horrified. i wonder, why tonight? why again? >> ladies and gentlemen, robin williams! >> richard pryor. >> when i walk on stage, i'm riddled with fear and excitement, because i have no idea what i'm going to do.

>> this was what, oh no, you idiots. oh, god, oh, god, oh, god, oh, god, oh, god. ♪ ♪ i despise myself from pretty much close to getting out of the womb. i was always wrong. let's start with that. when you're always wrong, you seek an audience to disprove

that theory. i was just hell bent on having to prove myself. i know i'm right. i can't be always wrong, you know. i was the victim. >> my father was a very strange man. he was kind of a performance artist that was fueled by beer. >> i was very shy. and at home i was always quiet and didn't get to speak very often, just because other people were jibber jabbering a lot. some people wouldn't clam up, mom. when i did different voices or different noises, people say that's weird, or shut up. i feel like there is a fear of seeming crazy. >> a lot of comedians are people that are very introverted, very shy, very sensitive to humiliation. a little narcissistic, a little damaged. and so the only way to combat it is to go to the one place where

you are stripped bare. >> a big sea change for comedy was the '60s. people's own neuroses and foibles were being addressed in the routines. the routines became more personal. >> i don't know if anyone here knows group analysis. it's a group of very neurotic types that meet in a room a couple of times a week and sit around and twitch or something. and two of the kids had gotten married. and it's really cute because it's what you called a mixed marriage, or an intermarriage. and the boy was paranoic and the girl was schizophrenic. a big conflict about which way they would bring up the children. >> started in school with drinking and. really, i was like a real depressed kid. 7 or 8 years old, i'd really get

juiced. >> i can't be a wife. i can't be a writer. i can't be everything. i can't, i can't, i can't. and edgar said you're right. he said you're right. i understand this completely. he said tomorrow morning, joan, first thing we're going to go out tomorrow and hire a woman to come in and be a wife. >> that period was the start of all the stand-up comedians that came after, who were experimenting with standup comedy as a form of personal expression in all sorts of ways. >> when i first saw him before the show, he was still trying to decide whether to be a drunken eskimo, the queen of the vikings or a doorknob. i would rather he come out as himself because when he is johnny winters, he cannot be imitated. the wild, wild man, my friend, jonathan winters. >> when i was 12 or 13, one of my best friends called me up once. was like a drug dealer at 12. come over. why, what do you got? you got to hear this. >> do something with a stick. do something with a stick.

>> i think we're on to something this time, uh-huh. i'm sorry, margaret. ♪ >> the routines are ridiculously brilliant. it was endless riffing. and i'm going whose brain can do that? >> the united nations now recognizes the delegate. >> to be as genius as jonathan winters, you have to think differently than normal people. he is working within his mind at a very high level, a very fast level. by thinking that way and being that untethered to the rest of us, you can lose your mind more easily. >> jonathan was a profoundly troubled guy that had drinking issue, that had depression

issues that were clinical, that were deep. >> verbally, my mother, my dad are on me constantly, your dad too? >> oh, yeah. and it just never let up. >> when you were younger, did you find yourself trying to get away from them in your head? >> yeah. naturally. and it got to me. >> he was doing the hungry eye in san francisco, and later that night jonathan winters left his hotel room and the police found him on the wharf. he was climbing the mast of a ship yelling that "i'm the man on the moon". >> how do you know when you're in the middle of a breakdown? >> well, you begin to hallucinate and seeing things that -- and not boozing. i wasn't drinking. >> you know, a lot of people say well, jonathan, how do you feel? i say man, i'm out, i'm out. that's what counts, you know. because when you're in there, hello, it sunny today? stay back in there. >> if you're going out on stage

and you're being jonathan winters, and you're being really honest about it, in a time where no one else is doing that, that's 100% the edge. for color this bold are you ready... and hair this nourished? garnier nutrisse ultra color with avocado, olive and shea oils. it nourishes hair to boost color. from dull brown to our bluest black. nutrisse ultra color. nourished hair. bolder color.

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>> by the time we get to the '70s, comedy started to get away from punch lines. steve martin was poking fun at the whole nature of comedy, taking the standard conventions and turning it on its ear. [ applause ] >> all right. just lost my mind. >> steve martin had fun with making fun of taking yourself seriously and the schmoozy we're going to have some fun tonight. it seemed to mock what everyone else was doing. >> steve martin was so goofy and beautiful writing. i don't know if i appreciate that as a kid, but now i appreciate it, just the succinctness. he had very good ta-ta-ta-timing. that's another thing. >> oh, now i'm getting happy feet! >> no stand-up comedian was ever

more successful at a given time than steve martin. but in real life he was a quiet intellectual kind of guy. a and he didn't really take to that super stardom. >> he was such a popular comedian, and then he just stopped. and i was there on a night that i think in my mind had something to do with it, where he had this routine about how he blames himself for his girlfriend's death. he is laying all the material to get to the punch line. and right before he got to it, some guy out in this huge audience in the very back of the audience gave away the punch line. and you could tell he was pissed. >> today i realized that i misunderstood what my last year of stand-up was about. i had become a party host, presiding not over timing and ideas, but over a celebratory bash of my own making. if i had understood what was happening, i might have been happier, but i didn't.

i still thought i was doing comedy. >> comedy goes in waves that way where we what accept as normal or offbeat is within the parameters of our time. but there are people that upset the norm. and there is something to be said for being different in comedy. ♪ ♪ when he hears this mighty sound ♪ ♪ here i come to save the day mighty mouse is on the way ♪ >> my favorite thing about andy kaufman was that he annoyed a lot of comedians who didn't have a sense of humor. the joke was on stand-up comedy. >> i like my wife very much, but she don't know how to cook. you know, her cooking is so bad -- her cooking is so bad, it's terrible. >> when i was starting, the only

performance you had were straight performers or comedians. i've never told a joke in my life, really. i've never done what they call straight comedy. >> andy kaufman was just the most fun you could ever have. i've never in my 44 years of watching, i've never seen someone take an audience through the kind of emotional roller coaster that he was able to do. i would say kaufman was the only one i ever saw truly work without a net. >> how many people want me to stay? [ applause ] >> how many people don't want me to stay? thank you very much. and i'm sorry i brought you all a down at this party. >> all of his intentions were different than every other comedian. he was trying to get a reaction, and it really was art a more than straight stand-up comedy. >> but i'm going get off. so thank you.

you really showed me -- tonight. [ crying ] you're right! [ crying ] [ rhythmic sounds ] thank you. >> my worst fears are confirmed. i'm going totally under their heads. >> i was really influenced by andy kaufman. >> i was self-destructive, but i was also kind of infamous. my earlier stand-up was like oh, i'll show you crazy, you know. >> i love this very much, and i thought, i don't know, what if i set his furniture on fire.

>> no, don't set that on fire. >> now you have to sit in this. now sit down, sit down. sit down, sit down. >> i'm not sitting in it. >> sit in that chair. >> i set "the tonight show" on fire actually. i just set the chair on "the tonight show" on fire. and i am a convicted arson, because i brought lighter fluid. that made it premeditated. i learned a lot about the law. i would just do stuff. and i would think well, this is funny to me. and generally be surprised when things didn't go well. >> oh! >> i used to think that the mind of a comedian was like that of an addict. big ego, insecure, driven.

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that you just don't like, that you wish you could change. you wish you were smarter, you wish you were better looking, you wish you were -- had more confidence. but you don't. [ laughter ] >> i had to be funny. i had to be likable. i was a bedwetter well into my teens, you know. there is a lot of humiliation to overcome. and being the funny one at camp is a really good deal if you're also the one that smells like pee. >> if you're a comedian, there is a part of you that is unhinged and more importantly unhappy. i'm friends with mostly comedians. most of us are on antidepressants. and i don't think that's a coincidence. >> as you see in the news, comics can mess up. we do everything from shoot at our cars to od. and we're the people that make people happy, you know. >> richard pryor grew up in a

very unusual situation. his grandmother ran a house of prostitution. and his mother worked in it. his father was a pimp. and he was very aware of that situation growing up. >> i grew up seeing my mother going into a room with men and my aunties go in the room with men. >> who believed in you? who cared about you? >> richard franklin lennox pryor iii. >> you. >> and magic dust. >> my dad's humor came from life. and i don't think dad had a choice. i think you either laugh your way through it or you die through it. >> thinking about death, though, i'd like to die like my father died, right? my father died -- he did. my father was 57 when he died. the woman was 18. my father came and went at the same time. >> richard's comedy was funny. it was also therapeutic. it was almost like this guy was using the stage the way a therapist would use their couch.

>> my grandmother is the lady that used to discipline me. beat my ass. get your ass out, put your hand out. don't you run from me! don't you run from me. as long as you alive, don't you run from me. >> what people took from him was a lot of the attitude and the over the topness and the profanity. the people that people don't give richard pryor enough credit for is what he brought to stand-up comedy was vulnerability. [ cheering ] >> for me, the best night was having a woman who was sitting close to the stage beg me to stop. she was looking at me. and she was going -- in pain. her face was in pain. she went please stop, please stop. please stop.

you can't beat that. >> the one thing about hitler that i admire is that he is wouldn't take any -- from magicians. >> it brings out the best parts of your personality. it brings out your best self. hello. it does. you like yourself when you're up there. you like yourself. >> thank you. seriously, thank you. you have no idea what a good mood i'm in right now. this went so well. okay. >> it wasn't that things went so well for an hour. it was for an hour, you kept a potential disaster from being a disaster. that's where the high comes off of. >> the worst is when you are trying out new material, and you think you're in a safe space because nobody in the audience knows who you are.

the stakes are very low. and you just eat it. and then you discover that louis ck has been in the audience the entire time. >> bull -- my -- this is shut the -- up. hey. >> i got hit with bibles and boots. you know, i got hit with a teenager once. all these little fried shrimp started hitting me. >> they threw these -- they looked like subway tokens. i just got pelted with them. >> i had a glass thrown at me. the shot glass comes at a much faster speed. i've also been punched on the stage, it's like street fighting and performing combined. you get people so low you can't see and then you're fight for your life. >> that's where you learn quick lines.

you start. you get real tough because i have a lot of friends that are very funny but gave it up after one or two times. >> ladies and gentlemen, home box office and the roxy are pleased to present robin williams! >> i guess most of my stuff is just madness. it's a total different perspective. it's a combination of writing and acting at the same time, which work wonderfully. >> i'm doing fantastic. no you're not, you fool. you're not going essence, just pure caca. no reality. >> both you have be quiet. shut up. i'm the rational mind. you'll have to release the subconscious. he'll be the arbitrator. >> i totally think robin williams had a pinball machine head. i just think he would pull his tongue and the ball would get launched and it would bounce off everything. it was definitely stardust and magic. >> it was self-expression.

and robin went anywhere that the words and the informality of thought, the madness i guess, the harvested madness would take us. and i loved that. >> look, toys all over the set. don't be afraid. come on, mr. camera, we're going crazy. come on. >> when he would just take these flights of fancy and go on for ten minutes or 20 minutes, you know, that was the magical part of watching him. >> mother gave this so i could write my new book. >> not an ode to fred silverman. >> take two. let's go. let's start from the beginning again, otto. let's go! >> like a lot of comedians, when he was off stage, he was full of fear, full of anxiety. about who? who knows. he himself said he was full of dread and he didn't know why. he just was overwhelmed with anxiety. but he definitely used the stage to be free, to be comfortable, to be himself. >> i'm bearing grotesque.

you see what i mean? you got to be crazy. it's too late to be seen. too late. you got to go full tilt bozo. because you're only given a little spark of madness. and if you lose that, you're nothing. [ applause ] first kid you ready? by their second kid, every mom is an expert, and more likely to... ...choose luvs than first time moms. live, learn, & get luvs. when you clock out, i'll clock in... sensing and automatically adjusting to your every move. there. i can also help with this. does your bed do that? i'm the new sleep number 360 smart bed. let's meet at a sleep number store. so, your new prescription does have oh, like what?ects. ♪ you're gonna have dizziness, nausea, and sweaty eyelids. ♪

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after performing, if it's a good show, there's that high that you'll get from that. but then you walk off the stage. and i can see why a lot of performers would want to do drugs and drink, just to keep some kind of high going. >> i started doing coke and drinking every night. and women coming up i didn't know giving me coke and booze. i just want to tell you what my life has been like for ten years. >> when you're famous, people give you drugs because they just -- number one, it kind of gives them a little control over you. and they like knowing that i got him high. i got him loaded. and know what he did? he looked out the window the whole time. >> comedians are a lunar profession, not a solar profession. you're going to end up getting irregular sleep, really bad

food. it has the same rhythms of combat where it's a lot of boredom and then incredible tension and either victory or just crushing failure there is no in between. >> hey, i need it. >> marijuana smoking makes you unmotivated. that's bull -- when i was high i could do everything i could do just as well, i just realized it wasn't worth the -- effort. that was it. >> people say pot smokers are lazy. i disagree. i'm a multitasking pot smoker. i was walking down the street. i was putting eye drops in my eyes. i was talking on my cell phone, and i was getting hit by a car. >> all comedians, nine out of ten seem to be potheads. there is something about the playfulness of marijuana, the thought process, the giggle

aspect that is similar to the comic mind in a way. >> i like to have a puff of pot when i get off stage because it's just so hard to calm down after. >> i'm watching mtv, and the lead singer from motley crue comes on, and he tells me not to take drugs. motley crue's idea of a drug problem is not finding any after a gig. >> i've done too many drugs is what i'm saying. i did do too many drugs. and when i say i did them, i -- did them. i didn't experiment with them. people say when i was in may late teens and 20s, i experimented with drugs. no the -- you didn't. you're not a scientist, the desire to feel okay can manifest itself in performance, it can manifest itself in drugs and alcohol. it can manifest itself in any number of behaviors. it's not necessary to be a drunk or a drug addict to be a good performer. >> it's not science to deal a blower for crack. that's not science.

that's art. >> when they'll talk about john belushi or chris farley, they'll say well, there was the great side of him. the side that would just take his clothes off and hang off a ledge of a building. that was the fun side. but then there was the bad side, the drugs and drinking. and you go maybe the two have something in common here. >> i'm a drug addict and an alcoholic. i didn't know for a while. i was in denial for years. i said i'm not an alcoholic, i'm not an alcoholic, i'm not an alcoholic. i was a mess. i didn't know what was going on. >> i think my dad and his friends did more cocaine than was ever in the movie "scarface." that became the thing that for a moment got rid of the pain. until you're clean and you're like oh, i'm just me. >> i did it so bad, dope dealers try not to sell me nothing. now that's doing it.

dope dealer say man, i ain't going to give you no more of that -- i'm sorry, but i can't see you do that to yourself. dope dealers don't give -- nothing. these -- refuse sell me cocaine. no -- you're killing yourself. what? >> here is a warning sign if you have a cocaine problem. if on your tax form it says $50,000 for snacks, mayday! you got a cocaine problem, smarty. >> i met sam when he was about to become huge. he kind of took me under his wing to a degree. he neutered my ability to function through drug use and draining me by making me party with him for hours on end. >> so i'm trying to be like -- i'm trying to live up to the image, get out of my way, watch me! and i would sniff all this --

up. about ten minutes later i'm walking around the party. hey, man, hey, man, you got any shoe polish or something i can drink to slow this down? listen, you guys keep partying. i'm going to lay down in bed for a while, all right? >> sometimes drugs and alcohol have led to some amazing comedy, amazing music, amazing literature, amazing sculpture and painting. but in the end, the drugs and alcohol always beat art. >> back up. >> john belushi died today at 33 years old. belushi died in a bungalow at the chateau marmont hotel. a fair amount of white powder believed to be cocaine. >> when you get to that level of fame and you've got the money and a fair amount of enablers around you, it's easy to keep going on a self-destructive path, and it's hard to stop. >> the actor and comedian chris farley was found dead in a chicago apartment today.

>> farley followed his idol belushi's success and along the way succumbed to the same excesses, food, alcohol, and drugs. >> when you have that kind of brain, and i don't want to get into that stuff, except that you're wired dark. you can go dark real fast. >> dad couldn't take it anymore. and he wanted it to stop. he just was like i want it to stop. >> richard pryor, the comedian and writer was badly burned in an accident at his home in california last night. the burns cover the upper half of his body. they are severe enough to endanger his life. ready to try the mascara

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albreakthrough withyou back. non-drowsy allegra® for fast 5-in-1 multi-symptom relief. breakthrough allergies with allegra®. finally tonight, comedian richard pryor is feeling better. doctors at his sherman oaks, california hospital have taken him off the critical list. pryor is responding well to skin grafts for burns he suffered at his home three weeks ago. >> you've gone through a tragedy. you're a comedian. you're going to go up on stage and talk than tragedy. that's what the comic line does. you're compelled to tell your experience. >> i'm going to tell y'all the truth tonight. okay? all right, now, all my friends

know this to be true, because everybody knows me. i usually before i go to bed, i have milk and cookies. and one night i had some low-fat milk and some pasturized, and i mixed them together, and i dipped my cookie in and the -- blew up. >> my dad wasn't afraid to bare his pain. he made jokes about that because he knew you were going to do it, so let me do it. dad had some steel balls, man. >> i tell you one thing, man, when that fire hits your ass, that will sober your ass up quickly. and you know something i found out? when you're on fire and running down the street, people will get out of your way. except for one old drunk, right. hey, buddy, can we get a light? how about just a little off the

sleeve, okay? >> when pryor did talk about his personal life, it's harrowing, and it's funny because of the courage of it. but does everyone relate to setting yourself on fire with a pipe or shooting your car so your wife can't leave in it? you have to grow to accept that people may be laughing with you, they might be laughing at you, or they might be laughing because they're shocked. >> you know, if i hadn't done this, i would be in great despair now. but i've done it. and it's out there for everybody to see, regardless of what the reaction is. it's out there and i did it. and i'm glad i did it. >> if you want the put someone on a pedestal that is unobtainable by anybody else, it has to be a guy who ran a mile and a half on fire, who did coke, crashed cars, drank, and then took it to the stage and made everyone laugh. >> this is incredible. how do you get to the met? money. lots and lots of money.

god damn, i wonder if pavarotti is at the improv going two jews walk into a bar. >> to me, it's therapy. it's another world for me. it's such a great release. it's such freedom. it's wonderful. it's great. it's a whole another world. >> that is when i knew i was in a bad neighborhood. you only see this in the worst neighborhoods. remember, it's 3:00 in the morning. it was a -- baby standing on a corner. >> when i'm on stage, i get real happy up there. like maybe that's the only time in my adult life that i feel like myself. you standing up there, you know what i mean, like gladiator. and them lights is on you, and you look down, and everyone is looking up at you like -- >> doing comedy, it's needing to express, needing to expose yourself. sometimes i find myself telling audiences my deepest, darkest secrets. >> it's this odd confessional. when i moved to l.a., i had an

eyebrow. and my roommate at the time was like hey, let's go make this into two. so i went to her waxing lady. i had never been to a waxing lady. and the lady called me in. and i'm following her into her room. and she turns around and goes what are we doing today, just the mustache? i did have ocd. i had difficulty making eye contact with people for about until the age of 32. and so stand-up was so great for a way to connect with people that felt very safe. >> i was a bit of a dark kid. i educationally stage my own death for fun. mother, i've taken a whole bottle of pills. oh my god, what did you take? tums. maria, those are your fathers. what, mother? i can't hear you. the calcium is coursing through my veins. >> from the very beginning, i

was going up there to find myself and to be myself. and when i went through a divorce, when i was separated i went on stage and started working through it. i don't know if it was funny. it was profoundly uncomfortable. >> i'm a panicky angry man. i make calls like this. dude, i'm losing my mind! no, i'm having a breakdown or something. i'm serious oh, you're tired? take the day off. i'll call the other guy. dude, i'm losing my mind! no for -- no, no, no. it's your day, it's your day. so make me feel better, friendo. do it. >> i take great pride in not ever repeating a problem any special. if you'll permit me. >> my feelings were so deeply hurt in many ways that if i couldn't get it out with comedy, it was a waste of time. >> i, you know, it's basically,

you know, what i really feel like i got from my family was low self-esteem, which it runs deep. it started with my grandparents. they lived in this condo in florida, death wish village. >> the laugh is great, but the laugh is over and that's a pain again. >> comedian robin williams was found dead this morning inside his northern california home. his publicist says of late williams had been battling severe depression. he was 63 years old. >> there's no more painful realization that the other side of whatever comic genius is is sometimes this, that with that sensitivity, that with that love, that with that mental agility comes a heart too heavy to live, a heart that becomes so

heavy that it chooses not to go on. it's horribly sad. >> he beat depression because that's what comics do, we beat depression. but he had a disease called louie bade dementia. his dementia is why i firmly believe the events happened the way they did. him taking his life is not just a reaction to having his disease. i feel it was because of it. it was misinformation in his own brain. his brain was attacking himself. >> there's a phrase that you use on a number of occasions to make us understand you. and that phrase is legalized insanity? >> yes. >> not that we need to ask now. it may be superfluous, but what is legalized insanity?

>> well, the idea of just trying the things that other people wouldn't do. >> robin was so close to the source of where the thought was coming from, like dogs, you know? what, huh? what? it was just brilliant. >> here's a line and i'm going hee hee! that kind of helps, i think, just to push the boundaries a little bit. >> yeah. this is so much fun. >> i agree with you. fight backh new tums chewy bites. fast relief in every bite. crunchy outside. chewy inside. tum tum tum tum new tums chewy bites. and when youod sugar is a replace one meal... choices. ...or snack a day with glucerna... ...made with carbsteady... ...to help minimize blood sugar spikes... ...you can really feel it. now with 30% less carbs and sugars. glucerna.

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the comic is a personal confessor, exposing himself in all sorts of ways. they help us process the sensitive subjects. stand-up comedians are really important. >> okay. okay. so you have like psychological problems. yeah. i probably need to see a therapist. okay. so it's not something you can talk about with your friends? well, i talk about it, but they're like why can't you come out tonight. because i'm filthy. they say, take a shower. i say, no, it's on the inside! i'm all about talking about everything. it helps me feel that usefulness that maybe i can tell somebody

you're not alone and there is help and you don't have to suffer from this anymore. well, i don't get it. apparently she's supposed to be funny. i just think she is schizophrenic. clearly, that is not my mental illness. schizophrenia is, of course, hearing voices, not doing voices. now, if you'll excuse me, i have to get back to la quinta because i have faces to make in the bathroom mirror. >> being on stage i found out, slowly but surely, that i wasn't crazy and always wrong, that i was having the same fears and trepidations anden insecurities as most people. >> 17 years of therapy, what has it done to me? i don't know. i masturbate to less destructive women, quite frankly. when i finally, 22 years ago admitted, hi, i'm richard, i'm an alcoholic, my comedy was freed up.

i mean, i was doing well. i was doing specials and carnegie hall and getting nominated for this and that, but i still wasn't me. you know, once i said i'm a drug addict, whoa, man, i just felt like great. to be honest with you, really, in the day and age we live in now, if someone comes up to you and says, you might be clinically depressed, the proper response is thank you, thank you very much. that means i'm awake. >> i thought that stand-up comics had some higher purpose, and i was trying to work through things and i was trying to find some truths and frame them in a way that would be new and exciting for me and then for the audience that would be moving through that stuff together. >> once, when i was at life's lowest ebb and i felt like no one would ever love or accept me, i thought i'd kill myself. and i checked into a motel room in the middle of nowhere, and i was lying there in the dark when all of a sudden there was a warm glow of light and i looked up and christ was standing over me like this.

and i looked up at him, and he looked down at me. and finally he spoke and said, gilbert, am i fat? a while. >> i started reducing my prozac day by day, trying to wean myself off of it, then a month with no prozac, oh, my depression was like a happy puppy just running through my body. i actually felt bad about going back on the prozac because it felt like, oh, i haven't taken him to the park in a while. i wanted to give him a couple of days just to put on your bathrobe for eight days straight. okay. i'm depressed. i know i haven't done this in a while. does this feel better?

watch "the princess bride" 11 times in a row. okay. let's watch "the princess bride" 11 times in a row. oh, depression, this is the best day you've ever had. either in small or big ways comedy has kept people out of depression or suicide or helped them cope with a loss. and you can remember that. if you can talk about something openly and you find the right way to do it, it takes away all of its power. that's really beautiful. >> i find comics to be pretty honest people in terms of looking at stuff from both sides or all sides and presenting you with like, here it is. in the process of looking for comedy, you have to be deeply honest. then you have to say here's the other side. you'll be looking under the rock occasionally for the laughter. >> being a comedian, makes a living on making fun of everything around us and ridiculousness and everything.

to come through something horrendous and be alive, you got to have a sense of humor. if you don't, you'll go mad. >> stand-up comedians should be up there pointing out the flaws basically saying to people, hey, does this look right to you? this is weird. >> i'll hear somebody's metaphorical interpretation of an idea in a new way and my brain lights up, but i'm like, oh, i love it. you know, it just feels so good. and the relief of laughing together and the victory of a good joke. we're all responsible for the win. it's a team sport. >> the mind of a stand-up comedian is a scary, scary place. no, a mind of a stand-up comedian is really sweet of you to imply that there's thought behind what we do. >> what kind of person chooses to do that? a pretty independent person. somebody who doesn't like maybe having bosses. >> i'm sorry, did i say comedians were a little narcissistic? they're a lot narcissistic. we'll be right back. >> there's nothing else that we

can do. there's no other skills. so it's either that or nothing. by the way, i like documentaries. i just don't like being in documentaries. don't confuse the two high level meeting takes place between north and south korea just as there are talks over kim jong-un's regime. how and why the russian people are souring on the trump presidency. and later -- >> the people here say of course they appreciate the calm since a cease-fire is put in place but say it has had almost an immediate impact on life here. >> a cnn exclusive from a town inside syria where a cease-fire is finally bringing some calm. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, we want to welcome our