Jerry Lewis Quotes

The ultimate sin of any performer is contempt for the audience.

I don't like to cry in public, unless I'm getting paid for it.

I have cancelled shows before for knowing full well that my heart was not in it at that moment. Why? Because its an insult to the audience.

Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise, and Will Smith are hall-of-famers. When they hit the red carpet, they know exactly what they're going to do, how they're going to do it. Damn, they're good.

We never understood the concept of people going onstage and giving anything less than 100 percent. Maybe that's a blue-collar work ethic, but I call it just ethics.

I know what to expect from the crowd and enjoy playing in front of the big crowds.

For me, a show's a show. I try to put on the best show I can for whatever audience or time slot I get.

We try to put on the same show regardless of what stage or platform we're on.

I like playing in front of the crowd and get them into it.

I love being onstage, whether it's dancing or acting - there's just something about being onstage.

I've always been an entertainer. It's in my blood, in the sense that I've always loved doing it.

I'm an entertainer, and I'm paid as an entertainer.

If someone decides to be in the front row anytime I'm doing a show, they know what they're getting into.

I am a professional actor, and I am very careful about being sincere to the characters I play.

I love playing in the spotlight... I feel like that's motivation for everyone.

Being on stage, I know my function. I just do the thing.

Even if I'm not vocally my best, if I have a head cold, as an actor, I cannot give anything less than my very, very best. There's nowhere to hide!

I still consider myself to be introverted, but everyone has a side of themselves that is amplified. Performers have to learn to tap into that, even if it's not natural.

I don't feel like I'm the type of performer who's going to knock your socks off. I'm trying to get over my nerves.

Some players out there don't really interact with the crowd - they're really serious - but I think it's part of my personality as well. I go out there, and I like to entertain. I like to put on a bit of a show.

We like to play to a lot of people - that's what it's all about.

I like to keep my normal life under wraps but in front of 80,000 people, I'm going to perform.

Even when low-brow comedy ruled, I ensured my lines were not vulgar.

If a man….who’s playing in front of the public, is being well paid, and he doesn’t dedicate himself to the job, I’d be hard on him. If I could I would put him in jail, out of the road of society. Because he’s a menace

When American life is most American it is apt to be most theatrical.