Erik Griffin

I started going to the open mics every day in 2003. You make the comics laugh, they get you work, and you build up your reputation. It was a slow process.

I'm not really a current events guy, sadly.

Admitted mama's boy here - put that on the record.

People don't realize it's not just about being funny, and they don't know how perceptive a comedian needs to be about human nature. You have to really be able to read a situation and peoples' emotions.

I take the good with the bad. I always wanted to be a comic, and part of that, for me, was that I wanted to be on the road. It's a lonely existence, but it is what it is.

I look stupid without a mustache.

New York is great because it's such a cross-section of the world, and when you're used to people being shoulder-to-shoulder all the time - in the street, on the train - you become a people person. People are very open to hearing a lot of different perspectives, and they aren't as sensitive.

I love doing stand-up, and the more you do outside of stand-up to raise your profile, the better your stand-up becomes in terms of the quality of gigs.

'Workaholics' seems like it's doing wonders for my career.

I was born and raised in Los Angeles.

I think the best compliment you can receive is not, 'Oh, that was really funny,' but, 'Is that the first time you said that?' It's something that you've said a thousand times, but if somebody says to you, 'Oh my God, is that the first time you've done that?' you know that performance was where you wanted it.

'The Ugly Truth' isn't trying to change the world with strong political opinions; it's just trying to entertain you with thoughts and ideas from my crazy mind!

I don't believe anything is truly off limits, but as a performer, one has to know that people might be offended, and there are consequences.

Most of the time, the truth is ugly and in your face! My observational brand of humor is very much all in your face!

My inspiration to do comedy came from many places. Saturday mornings, I would watch Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis movies. I later got into watching stand-ups like Eddie Murphy, who was my main inspiration.

Women are hilarious.

Sometimes comedy can be, like, negative and just the worst parts of ourselves coming out.

We need more female voices to come out there and do comedy.

It's not like every male comic you meet is funny. Like, a lot of them are not funny.

When they first start doing comedy, new comics or even people that have only been doing it three or four years, they're doing an impersonation of a stand-up. This is what I think a stand-up should sound like.