"What's fantastic about my character is that I'm married to a Latina, and there is zero reference to the fact that we are Mexican-Americans, " he says.

WSJ: Al Madrigal: Another Comic Springs Out of 'The Daily Show'

The most acute reference, however, is to John Gilbert a top lion at M-G-M in the mid-twenties but dead within a decade, liquidated by drink and the lethal demands of speech.

NEWYORKER: Better Times

But it's not necessarily the chemicals themselves I'm interested in, but rather what they do to our sense of perspective and our reference points.

CNN: Can ideas get you high?