What I do is that I really, really try hard to make sure the things that I do comes from a pure place in my heart and my intent is a pure one.

The really funny thing is that most all of my friends who are priests have seen me perform, and they say, 'I wish I could talk the way you do on stage. I wish I could reveal truth to my congregation the way you do.'

When I'm onstage, I'm on, but a different part of me is on: the part of me that absorbs life, sees everything occurring, and touches on everything around me.

I worked as a comedian for 23 years, 51 weeks a year.

Before I got into stand-up, I was a really quiet guy who had all these thoughts, all these things I wanted to say, but there was never anyplace for me to say them because my mom would look at me and go, 'You better not say what you're thinking. You better not.'

I was only 20, 21. I was basically going to college to get me out of the ghetto. A friend suggested I try stand-up.

I had one guy say, 'I watched your show and didn't agree with what you said.' And I'm like, 'It's a joke. How could you not agree? I can understand you saying it's not funny.' But it's like my going onstage and doing a knock-knock and somebody going, 'I disagree. There's no door here.'

Is it my fault that there is a stereotype that black people are not good swimmers? I know that's a joke, but somebody will say, 'I can't believe you would say that.' Well, first of all it's just a joke, and second of all if you watch the Olympics, black people win medals in jumping, running. They don't win any in swimming.

Here's the problem: People have completely and utterly forgotten one thing when it comes to communication - intent.

If I've got a black joke, and I can't tell it in Oakland, then I shouldn't tell the joke anywhere else.

I'm like most people in America. I'm conservative on some things, and I'm liberal on other things.

Nobody calls me a racist when I do redneck jokes. Jeff Foxworthy can do as many 'You might be a redneck jokes' as he wants, but I'm telling you as soon as a guy like that does a black joke or something - 'How dare you!' I totally think it's unfair.

I grew up being very patriotic. My parents really love this country. A big part of what they love is freedom of speech... I'm fearless because aren't we supposed to be able to speak our mind?

The beauty of not growing up middle class is that you don't think like the middle class. You don't have anything to protect, you know what I mean?

When I tell a joke, I immediately know whether it's funny or not.

I get really nervous at auditions. I know how to make people laugh, but auditions just really make me nervous.

Well, the hard part about doing auditions is that the person reading you the lines, they're not really into it. They're just going, 'Oh really, so why do you think that?' And they're just looking at a piece of paper.

Acting is reacting. That's when acting is great - when you say something, somebody said something, they make a face, they pose, they use something physical, then you react to that, then they react to you.

I am a sponge. I don't write things down.

I believe that my part to play in this world is stand-up.

I was a very cocky and unlikable young comic. But I came from the hood, and that's what I learned.

Ten comics can say the same joke, and I'm the one who gets called a thief.

When somebody says that a comic steals jokes, it's the ultimate betrayal of comedy.

When you have a TV show, and you're selling out 10,000 seats or whatever the hell it is, it's not that it becomes easy. It's just that's what your life is like.