Jonathan Krisel

My brand of comedy is taking a serious approach to silliness. Small moments of modern life and human behavior make me laugh. At least that's where everything starts, and then my other through line would be a dry absurdity that exponentially spirals out of reality.

I loved 'Welcome to the Dollhouse.' That was one of the most influential movies ever. You know that genre with the nerdy girl, and she redeems herself in the end. Like 'Napoleon Dynamite.' And in 'Welcome to the Dollhouse,' she doesn't. She sucks. It's like, that's what's real. That's what's heartbreaking.

In my office in Jerusalem, there's an ancient seal. It's a signet ring of a Jewish official from the time of the Bible. The seal was found right next to the Western Wall, and it dates back 2,700 years, to the time of King Hezekiah. Now, there's a name of the Jewish official inscribed on the ring in Hebrew. His name was Netanyahu.

What I look for when I see a piece of art for the first time is some kind of emotional, intellectual experience, that's a combination of both of those things and is informed by my knowledge and something new that I see the artist doing.