■ A lot of the skills you develop on an improv stage fit into the workplace, regardless of what it is. Trusting your colleagues, rolling with the punches, not being too precious about things. So I always tell people, “If you can find an improv theater near you, take a class.” Even if you never perform, you’re learning skills that can help you.

■ My parents loved to laugh. And they exposed me to a lot of funny stuff when I was growing up in Rogers Park and then Lake View. They let me watch Saturday Night Live. We owned Trading Places. My earliest memory is sitting in my room and hearing the Taxi theme. I’d come out, and my parents would let me watch a few minutes before I went to bed. When I hear that song now, it’s very Proustian. All of a sudden, I’m a little kid again.

■ The Lakers have been nice enough to give me floor seats before. But when I go with my family, we’re not on the floor. I don’t think little kids should be sitting that close to Jack Nicholson. Not because of Jack; Jack’s the greatest. But when I see a little kid sitting in one of those front-row seats, I’m just like, Why? The seats I used to have with my folks at the old Chicago Stadium, you had to have a Sherpa to get to ’em. It builds character to have shitty seats when you’re a kid.

■ People in Chicago love to bust balls. One time I was at a bar and a young lady recognized me: “Oh my God, I’m a big fan, and I love The Mindy Project.” Then she ran to get her boyfriend. He came over, looked at me, and went, “Never heard of you,” and just walked away. How can you not laugh?

■ I remember I had to do a scene one time with an actor who was shirtless. And I saw what you have to do if you want to achieve that look. It’s like you can’t drink water for two days. I don’t know, man, I think I’d rather just eat a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and have a gut like a muffin top and have people be like, “He’s a funny guy.”

■ Luckily, we are living in a beautiful age of legalized marijuana. Having a bad day? Try smoking a hybrid joint and watching Steve Coogan do Alan Partridge for an hour. If you have writing to do, I recommend some kind of a sativa to keep you going. And at the end of the day, anyone who is still taking sleeping pills of any kind, stop and take two little five-milligram indica gummies. But don’t eat too much weed. Out of every drug I’ve ever seen people do or done myself, eating too much weed will fuck your ass up. I have seen big, strong guys come up to me with tears in their eyes: “I ate too much weed.”

■ If I didn’t have a bullshit detector, I would be constantly brokenhearted. Because if I can tell when an opportunity doesn’t feel real, I don’t have to invest any emotional energy. That took years of learning. I used to audition, and if I got a callback, I would be like, “Holy shit, I can make my car payments this year.” And then when I didn’t get the job, I’d be like, “Goddammit.” So if that means I’m a little more cynical now, that’s fine. Can’t be an old sucker.