"After you do a joke a few times, you have material that you know works. Although sometimes I have a joke that has worked a bunch of times and then one night it'll flop. And that's when I really take a hard look at myself and say: 'Well, that crowd is obviously wrong. That crowd has absolutely no idea what it's talking about.'"
About this Quote
The bit is a neat act of self-protection dressed up as arrogance. "I really take a hard look at myself" cues contrition, the culturally approved posture of self-awareness. Then he yanks the rug: the problem isn't me, it's you. It's funny because it's a recognizable mental flip. People do this constantly - in dating, at work, online - narrating our losses as evidence that the judge is incompetent. Ansari turns that private coping mechanism into a public confession, which is why it reads as charming instead of defensive.
The context is a comedy economy obsessed with "killing" and "bombing", where crowd response becomes both feedback and verdict. Ansari's subtext is that comedy isn't a fixed product; it's an interaction shaped by room, mood, and identity. He mocks the idea of objective quality while also clinging to it, because the alternative is terrifying: that "works" is always provisional, and so is the comedian.
Quote Details
| Topic | Funny |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Ansari, Aziz. (2026, January 17). After you do a joke a few times, you have material that you know works. Although sometimes I have a joke that has worked a bunch of times and then one night it'll flop. And that's when I really take a hard look at myself and say: 'Well, that crowd is obviously wrong. That crowd has absolutely no idea what it's talking about.'. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/after-you-do-a-joke-a-few-times-you-have-material-38540/
Chicago Style
Ansari, Aziz. "After you do a joke a few times, you have material that you know works. Although sometimes I have a joke that has worked a bunch of times and then one night it'll flop. And that's when I really take a hard look at myself and say: 'Well, that crowd is obviously wrong. That crowd has absolutely no idea what it's talking about.'." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/after-you-do-a-joke-a-few-times-you-have-material-38540/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"After you do a joke a few times, you have material that you know works. Although sometimes I have a joke that has worked a bunch of times and then one night it'll flop. And that's when I really take a hard look at myself and say: 'Well, that crowd is obviously wrong. That crowd has absolutely no idea what it's talking about.'." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/after-you-do-a-joke-a-few-times-you-have-material-38540/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.
