Stephan Pastis Quotes

Having to stand in front of an audience and have it be your job to make them laugh, you can't really look to anyone but yourself. It's what you wrote, what you said and how you said it, so it's kind of terrifying, but I liked it. When it goes well, it's the best feeling in the world. When it doesn't go well, it's the worst feeling, but once you get into the rhythm of it, I think it's really fun.

You have to channel the interpretation and performance into 100 people. And with the audience, the critics.

You say a line and you wait for them to laugh, then you say another line and you wait... It felt weird to me. But it's interesting and the energy is almost like theatre, I suppose, with all the people there.

A stage actor has to be 10% aware of the audience as he's performing.

We like reactions - a reaction is walking out on us, a reaction is throwing tomatoes at the stage, that's a healthy psychological reaction.

When you get onstage, you can see everyone in the audience's face, down to the detail. You can see who may or may not be yawning.

I would love to do more on the stage; having actual contact with the audience is great. You can give them a good seeing to!

I look at myself more as a storyteller than a screenwriter, as pretentious as that may sound, but that's what really attracts me to TED Talks. For me, the really effective ones are being presented by expert storytellers.

Getting on stage is a bonus, that's my therapy, that's when I can tell stories and it all makes sense.

I love the immediacy of an audience being there and reacting. I'm spoiled, having grown up in theater.

I can bring a crowd down. There should be a contest for that.

I much prefer doing comedy. I get a little paranoid when the audience is not laughing.

Stand-up is an amazing art form, I think, because it's all about you having complete control of the situation, but absolutely none.

Performing comedy, you develop a rhythm of ideas and laughs. I live for it.

As a guy comedian, your special is probably the closest thing to the excitement of a wedding day. It's your first one, and you want it to be perfect, and you want it to mean something. You want it to look good.

It's good to do stand-up. It kind of wakes you up and makes you feel like you're doing something. You got the crowd right there. That's all fun.

Stand-up is not something that you're good at right away. You have to do it a ton. But, I think I got to shave a year off because I didn't have to get over stage fright.

When you do stand-up, you're just concerned with trying to leave with some semblance of human dignity at the end of your performance.

One of the many reasons why I love stand-up so much is when you're performing, you get instant feedback. You know if stuff is working right away.

People sometimes say how standup is so hard, and I always tell them that it's hard at the beginning.

As a recluse I couldn't bear traffic. It had nothing to do with jealousy, I simply disliked people, crowds, anywhere, except at my readings. People diminished me, they sucked me dry.

I asked the head musician if I could go onstage during the next break and he said sure. I got two laughs in twenty minutes, and walked out feeling more elated than I had ever felt in my entire life. The glory of that triumph contented me for two full years.

You don't step on stage to eat; you go there to be eaten.

I don't feel those limits when I'm on stage. For some reason, audiences let me get away with things. Remember, it's all comedy. Words. Thoughts. All thoughts are safe and worth exploring.

I've always improvised, and stand-up was this great release. All of a sudden, it was just me and the audience.