"The role of a comedian is to make the audience laugh, at a minimum of once every fifteen seconds"
About this Quote
The intent is practical and ruthless. Bruce came up in an era when comics were expected to deliver tight, club-ready rhythms, not TED Talks with punchlines. "At a minimum" is the tell: he’s setting a floor, not a ceiling. The subtext is that audiences are not there to admire your self-expression; they are there to be moved in a specific, measurable way. If you want to sermonize, fine, but you pay rent in laughs.
It also reads as a disguised critique of comedians who hide behind significance. Bruce, frequently cast as a martyr for free speech, is reminding everyone that transgression doesn’t automatically equal entertainment. Shock is only currency if it spends. In the 1950s and 60s, with obscenity charges hovering over his act, he understood better than most that the comedian’s authority is fragile: the room can turn, the law can intervene, the myth can swallow the material. The fifteen-second rule is his way of yanking comedy back to the mic, the crowd, and the clock.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Bruce, Lenny. (n.d.). The role of a comedian is to make the audience laugh, at a minimum of once every fifteen seconds. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-role-of-a-comedian-is-to-make-the-audience-48934/
Chicago Style
Bruce, Lenny. "The role of a comedian is to make the audience laugh, at a minimum of once every fifteen seconds." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-role-of-a-comedian-is-to-make-the-audience-48934/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The role of a comedian is to make the audience laugh, at a minimum of once every fifteen seconds." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-role-of-a-comedian-is-to-make-the-audience-48934/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
