James Bobin

I've always loved 'Alice,' and I've always loved Lewis Carroll. I love his kind of tone and his intelligence.

You always want to aim high.

If you know people, it's so much more fun working with them because it's like your family is back together again.

I remember watching 'The Muppet Show' in the '70s. I was six or seven, and my dad watched it with me, and my grandparents watched it with me, and we're all laughing throughout, but I think we were probably laughing at different things.

I think we live in an entertainment world where performers like to flaunt how great they are. The Conchords don't do that. Even when they stumble onstage, people like it.

There's nothing sadder than being in a tribute band - especially a tribute band for your own thing you did originally.

I'd rather not ever make anything overly simple just because I'm scared people won't get it.

As a director, obviously you should challenge yourself. It's important, because it's this thing that takes you away from your family for years. You have to really love the thing you're doing. It's very important.

The thing about me is that my secret passion is history.

Everything in culture moves in a cyclical way.

Lewis Carroll, you see, wasn't really interested in telling an exciting story. Well, he wasn't interested in things like cause and effect or a linear narrative. It's surreal, it's absurd, it's wordplay, it's satirical, it's analyzing itself, it's funny, it's an enormous challenge.

I've always thought that Lewis Carroll himself had a certain comedy tinge to him. He was a guy who was a satirist. He really was a social commentator in many ways and was trying to satirize Victorian society.