Comic Genius: Portraits of funny people

In "Comic Genius: Portraits of Funny People" (Chronicle Books), photographer Matt Hoyle celebrates some of the greatest comedic talents of all time in a series of images that are vibrant, quirky, wry, intimate, hilarious and poignant. Hayle augments his photos with first-person reflections from his subjects. "This series of portraits happened because I wanted to meet and honor the people who have been making me laugh all my life," Hayle says. "At least the professional ones who get paid for it."
"I was not naturally talented ... I didn't sing, dance or act, though working around that minor detail made me inventive." -- Steve Martin

"Women will never be as successful as men ... because they have no wives to advise them"

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...Then he said 'Let there be light.' And there was light. Which means he made the entire universe in the dark! How f__ing good is that? He's brilliant."

Acting is all about faking things ... so the best training is having a difficult parent."

"I want to thank my father ... the man, who when I said I wanted to be a comedian, said, 'Wonderful. Just have a back-up profession like welding."

"Tragedy is when I cut my finger ... Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die."

"When i was little, I would always stand in front of mirror and cross my eyes. Then my mother would come in and say, 'Stop that! Nothing will ever come of it!'"

"If I existed 200 years ago ... all the other farmers in my community would be like, 'That guy is worthless! He's sitting on a rock, coming up with weird concepts and ideas, making faces, and combing his hair into a giant pastry.' It's a good thing I was born in this century, when superfluous television seems to be part of the economy."