Humor & Life Quote by Shelley Berman

A throwaway “incidentally” does a lot of work here: it’s the comedian’s sidestep, the casual cough that smuggles in a confession. Shelley Berman frames the line like an afterthought, but it’s really a small act of self-advocacy delivered with the timing of a punchline. He’s not grandstanding about “the craft.” He’s letting you hear the gap between what he’s known for and what he still wants.

The joke is structural. A successful comic saying he’s “still looking” for work is funny because it undercuts the assumption that fame equals security. The modifier “still” hints at a career-long, slightly bruised persistence; “acting work” is specific enough to sound practical, not needy. Then comes the twist of “my first love,” which reframes the whole thing as a romantic triangle: comedy as the spouse, acting as the one that got away. It’s self-deprecation with teeth, because it acknowledges a hierarchy in show business where stand-ups can be treated as utility players rather than “serious” performers.

Context matters: Berman was a pioneer of conversational, neurotic comedy, closer to a monologist than a joke machine. That style always implied acting skills - voice, character, rhythm - yet the industry often rewards comics with roles as novelty casting. The line reads like a gentle complaint and a business card at once, delivered in the only way a comic can deliver it without souring the room: as a laugh that carries a résumé inside.