Jerrod Carmichael Quotes

I've played to audiences where people are sitting there with their arms crossed, just kind of watching. Although they might be having a great time, and they might be really enjoying the spectacle, if I'm not getting anything back, it does affect the way I perform and project.

I can never wink at the audience.

A live performance is the same no matter what genre it is. Wrestling, rock 'n roll, hosting, acting - it's the same thing.

I just feed off the energy of the audience.

When playing any song in front of an audience, you're watching them experience it, and it changes. In a lot of ways, it's almost like the music is just the background buzz to what's happening between you and the audience in the room.

That's kind of fuse for the show - those first 10-15 seconds you're onstage. The curtain drops and you see the crowd for the first time and they see you for the first time. The response and the energy that's going on right there - to me, that sets the tone for the rest of the night.

I love playing live, I don't like studios all that much. I need the reaction of the audience.

The movements which I make I cannot possibly repress because, at the time, I am actually the idea I am interpreting, and naturally I picture my players and auditors as in accord with me. I know, of course, that my mannerisms have been widely discussed.

With Dream Theater live, I may have been a bit of a focal point because I absolutely live for the energy on stage, and having interaction with the audience is absolutely crucial to me - regardless of how some others have described it!

It feels really good when you get offstage and feel like the audience gave everything they have.

The more comfortable I got onstage, the more comfortable I got expressing myself in a physical manner. And it almost shocked people - 'Oh, is there something happening?'

If I see someone not laughing, the first thing I'm thinking is, "OK, am I cursing too much? Am I doing a joke he doesn't understand? Is he resting?" Then he starts becoming my focal point. Once I see him laugh, I'm like, [snap] "All right, now I'm funny."

Performing 60,000 people, that's easy. The energy's already there. They're already doing most of the work. All you gotta do is not forget the words - and feed them energy, too.

The Guthrie Theater is a beast. It has 1,300 seats, and I couldn't act there. I always felt I was acting too small. I'd always have to fight to get the gumption to act bigger. There's a weird trick to it. You don't want to overwhelm the first six rows. You don't want to starve the back. I could never get it.

In eighth grade, when I was just the school weirdo, my drama teacher put me in a play, and we came up with a few comedy bits. And that very first reaction, for an audience of supportive middle schoolers, I put my head out and pretended I got scared by the audience, and ducked back in. They all went: 'Yeah! That's great!'

In theater, the primary tool for me was voice. On-screen, it's the eyes.

I know that one of my difficulties as an actor is to try to do too much, from all those years ago when my acting took place live on a stage. It was just my shiny face there, so you've gotta be super careful how much over-expressing you're doing with your eyes and nose and so on.

I like to pace onstage.

When I get up there, maybe I'm nervous for the first song, but then I get into it. It's a lot of fun to stand up there. I always enjoy the moment when I'm actually standing on stage. When I'm done, I'm like, 'Oh, I want to play one more song.'

In comedy, if you don't have the right tuning with your co-actor, the humour can fall flat.

I tend to like the heavier things, especially live on stage. I need that energy and interaction and feeling the audience.

The adrenaline is like nothing else. You might be tired or whatever else, but when you get on that stage and see people reacting there's nothing like it. It's a bit god-like - that feeling that nothing can feel better.

I feed off the audience a lot, their energy.

I love working in front of American crowds.

You can feel how the audiences react. For us, it's about the performance and the reaction. We feed off the energy. And no matter how enthusiastic they are, we can tell if we're playing well or not.