When Comedy Central ranked the 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time in 2004, Woody Allen came in #4 behind Richard Pryor, George Carlin, and Lenny Bruce, but ahead of such greats as Chris Rock, Bill Cosby, Rodney Dangerfield, and Jerry Seinfeld. This in spite of the fact that Allen hadn’t performed stand-up anywhere in decades.

Allen used his uproarious stand-up act as a springboard to Hollywood (and by Hollywood, I mean the Upper East Side); once he transitioned to the world of acting, writing, and directing three and a half movies a year he quit the business for good and never looked back. But now the famous filmmaker says he’s finally mulling a return to the stage.

In an interview with The New York Times’ Dave Itzkoff, Allen says he recently started “toying with the idea” of doing stand-up again. He was inspired, he claims, by the work of another great stand-up, Mort Sahl.

“He flew in from San Francisco, and he worked three late shows and he was wonderful. He’s slowed up a little now because he’s 85. He’s not as rapid as he was when was he was 35. But all the stuff is still there. Watching him, I had the same feeling now, in 2013, as I had when I saw him in 1950-something. Of, ‘Hey, I’d like to get back onstage and do standup again.’ He inspired me then to be a standup comic, and all these years later, I thought of it again because of him. He makes that phenomenon so enticing.”

In that Comedy Central series, the panelists note how nervous performing made Allen; how he used to puke backstage before every show. If he remembers any of that, it could sway his decision in a hurry. But at this point, Allen insists he would “love to see” if he could do it. He does acknowledge getting an hour of material together could be hard. So how about building to that by mixing a little material into the breaks between songs when his jazz band plays the Carlyle Hotel? I suspect the audience wouldn’t mind.

If you’ve never seen or heard Woody’s stand-up material, you’re strongly advised to track down a copy of his only comedy album, Standup Comic. You can also find some of his old TV appearances on YouTube—like this one where he performs his classic bit “The Moose.”

Read more of “Woody Allen, Standup Guy.”