"The funniest human being in my lifetime, in any medium – whether it's stand-up, television, theatre, prose, or movies – is SJ Perelman. The early stuff was a little wild, not nearly as subtle or as good. As he developed over the years, his stuff became relentlessly sensational. There are many collections of Perelman that are filled with great things. This one, which I wrote the foreword to, has a number of spectacular pieces. Because the editors did it chronologically, my own opinion is that the first four essays are weaker. Once you hit the fifth casual, as the New Yorker called them, he hits his stride and the rest of them are absolute comic genius. As funny as you can get. Those of us who grew up with Perelman found it impossible to avoid his influence. He had such a strong, inventive style."

"Yes, that's the one. I know both recordings, and the movie too, but I think the one I listened to mostly was the later one. In a lot of ways Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, and this piece in particular, represent what I'd ultimately like to do as an artist: bringing opera together with popular music; classical singing with everyday life. I've written a couple of operas, I've worked with Shakespeare's sonnets, I've made pop records, and I have this folk background, and I feel that Kurt Weill with The Threepenny Opera was the pinnacle where all of the elements that he was influenced by joined together to create this other animal. Lotte Lenya was the one who interpreted that. It's a really good touchstone to keep in mind in terms of what I do in the pop world and the theatre world."

"I love Alicia Keys - the voice, and the fact that she plays an instrument. The image of a woman being in control of her instrument - it's not often something we see in pop music. We need to play instruments. It's important for our daughters in the future. If you know how to compose, you're free. You can be more than just a singer. You can compose for movies, theatre. You've got more opportunities, more freedom. I do a lot of things as well as music. People call me for other things, different projects. You're part of things that men can do. Because most of the time, projects get given to whoever can play an instrument. People will call you if they like your work. It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman. The fact that you play an instrument gives you more credibility to work on other things."