Esa-Pekka Salonen Quotes

The first night you walk down to a comedy club, at least for me, I had my voice, and then I went on stage and I lost it.

The first time I performed musically, I threw up.

If I do a piece in my living room, if I practice it - and I have the tapes to prove this - it's not going to be as good as doing the same piece in front of an audience.

When I started performing in public, I was probably around 10 or 11.

Stage fright is not a thing about 'Am I any good?' It's about 'Am I gonna be good tonight?' It's a right-now thing. It helps me. If I went out there thinkin', 'Eh, we'll go slaughter 'em,' I'm positive something would go seriously wrong.

No one tells you what to do if you completely flop at the beginning of a performance.

Showing your movie to an audience... it's like your kid doing a piano recital. 'Just let it not fail. Please.'

Getting on stage and performing and standing under lights is such an unsettling experience - in a good and bad way - but it's the only place I can go to feel comfortable.

There's a pressure regardless of that to do a good show.

I know what it feels like to walk out in front of a sold-out crowd of a thousand people that are there for you, and how good that feels, but as an opener, you just have to train yourself to think that it's going to be harder.

I can't remember if I had any stage fright at the first Bowl. But I did the second time.

The night before a show, I don't sleep. Really. I've been doing this for 30 years, and the night before a show, I still don't sleep.

I've dreamt lucidly about how my Broadway debut would go and what that would feel like, but I know that I can't be prepared for that.

Very few people know what it's like being onstage looking out at a sea of bodies.

My first stand-up experience, like most comics, was horrible. I got booed offstage. I thought I was funnier than I was. But the walk from the back of the room to the stage was the most excited I'd ever been about anything in my life other than kissing a girl. That's how I knew I had to get back onstage and do it again.

I have the luxury of having the choice to perform and go up on stage every night.

I don't know about other comedians, but I know that I never have felt anything like stage fright. I've felt nervous before big shows, but I think that's different than stage fright.

My first live performance was when I was in the military. I went to some bar, and they had open mics. You could just sign up and perform. Nobody cared. Nobody liked it.

The Apollo Theatre was a difficult audience, and if they didn't like you, they would let you know. Luckily, they liked me.

Being in a career and going from highlight to highlight and playing a lot of matches you go through it and think it's normal when you play in front of 60,000 and you almost want to vomit in front of every game.

I'm used to being nervous for shows in general.

It's a really strange thing to be doing, to go on stage and all of a sudden have bright lights and spotlights.

Most comics' first gig is either brilliant or horrific.

My first couple shows, I figured I should be playing the guitar and singing. That felt weird, but I got good at it pretty quick, and I learned my songs and how to play them.

A performance is like a boat. You really want it to arrive at port. So when something goes wrong and it doesn't get there, that touches me a lot.