Mike Nichols (1931-2014) Tribute List

Mike Nichols first achieved fame as part of the improvisational comedy pair Nichols & May. He and Elaine May were among the first to stage sketches grounded in reality but willing to embrace the absurd. They are still considered among the best comedy duos ever. Nichols went on to be a very successful film and theater director, having won so many awards for his work that he completed his EGOT, earning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and A Tony. On top of all this, he was hysterically funny with an incisive wit. Nichols was 83. Here are ten quotes from Mike Nichols, including one that hints at the priceless Nichols and May chemistry.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. apprehend
    understand or perceive the meaning of something
    The greatest thrill is that moment when a thousand people are sitting in the dark, looking at the same scene, and they are all apprehending something that has not been spoken. That's the thrill of it, the miracle - that's what holds us to movies forever. It's what we wish we could do in real life.
  2. mystify
    be puzzling or bewildering to
    Directing is mystifying. It's a long, long, skid on an icy road, and you do the best you can trying to stay on the road... If you're still here when you come out of the spin, it's a relief. But you've got to have the terror if you're going to do anything worthwhile.
  3. catastrophe
    an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
    It's the hardest thing on earth to like yourself, and then when you do, it's a catastrophe. I mean, the people I know who like themselves - I don't want to see them!
  4. transcend
    be superior or better than some standard
    Stand-up comedy is a very hard thing on the spirit. There are people who transcend it, like Jack Benny and Steve Martin, but in its essence, it's soul-destroying. It tends to turn people into control freaks.
  5. peculiar
    beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
    “Peculiar. Different,”... The degree to which you’re peculiar and different is the degree to which you must learn to hear people thinking. Just in self-defense you have to learn, where is their kindness? Where is their danger? Where is their generosity?
    — From a 2013 Vanity Fair profile
  6. nadir
    the lowest point of anything
    It was the absolute nadir,...“We were supposed to improvise captions from seeing cartoons. You cheated, Elaine. You read the captions. You always read from what you had prepared.”
    —From 2013 Vanity Fair profile
  7. mediocrity
    ordinariness as a consequence of being average
    Mediocrity—it was the award for mediocrity, for ‘year in and year out producing garbage’! I came out and I said, ‘I’m very proud, but how we managed to do it is … no matter what suggestions the sponsor makes, I take them. And most important of all, I think I am trying to offend no one anywhere on earth. In 10 years of producing, we have received not one letter of any kind.’ ”
    —From 2013 Vanity Fair Profile
  8. opportunism
    taking advantage of favorable circumstances selfishly
    So it’s just opportunism. I got close to a star and I made it pay off. That’s my advice to the young people, if you possibly can.”
    —From 2013 Vanity Fair profile
  9. benign
    kind in disposition or manner
    Mike Nichols: “Very slowly life gets better and you learn that there is another way to respond to people. You’ve changed more than anybody I’ve known in my entire life. You changed from a dangerous person to someone who is only benign.”

    Elaine May: “What a vicious thing to say"

    -From a 2013 Vanity Fair Profile
  10. neurotic
    affected with emotional disorder
    I began to see there was a world I could FIT in,” he said. “I was happy AND neurotic.”
    —About his time at the University of Chicago
Created on Thu Nov 20 07:30:33 EST 2014 (updated Thu Nov 20 11:55:06 EST 2014)

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