Sometimes we have to actually say I think you're really funny but none of your jokes are going to make it on the air. So just answer my questions. Seriously.

In my experience it's not just that serious books get a hearing on comedy shows. But serious books get a serious hearing as well as a funny one on comedy shows.

When you are not treated seriously you develop comically. Its sense of oneself is so fractured and fragile that it's like the picked-on kid who has to become funny.

With Portlandia I don't think our intention is always to find something funny. Sometimes the humor comes from taking something really seriously. We're okay with making somebody feel uncomfortable or uneasy.

When I was in college I was in the theater department which for anyone who has been involved in any kind of theater program you know that it's really wacky and tight-knit a real family. Me and my good friends from college would do random shows and plays that were sometimes serious but most of the time really goofy and funny.

So often I read scripts and am like 'This would never happen in real life. It's not trying to be funny. It's trying to be serious.'

Sometimes I am so dry that people don't know I'm kidding and think I'm being serious. I enjoy this because their reactions are often funny.

If I'm in something funny I like to try and find some kind of serious line in it that people can relate to.

I'm not a very serious person. You know how they say that clowns are very funny in public and are really sad at home? I'm really kind of stupid at home and more serious in public.

Life is funny and it is interesting how we make it as serious as possible.