Herbert Berghof - Acting Coach Quotes in Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976)

Ellen: Was everything a joke to you?

Larry Lapinsky: Not everything.

Herbert Berghof - Acting Coach: See, you're joking right now, right?

Larry Lapinsky: What do you want me to say?

Herbert Berghof - Acting Coach: Joking is what's doing you in. Joking is the American actor's disease. It's the American person's disease. Because what you're doing is you're keeping reality out so that it won't touch you. The worst kind of joking you can do is keep life out. Commenting, editorializing, joking - terrible! Don't do it. It's fatal.