Mae Martin Quotes

I just try to write songs that people are going to have a dialogue about.

The shouting and opinion and jokes don't exist if there isn't first a story.

I think the same way about theatre, you go out there and you are creating a world for a moment that can actually have a real impact on people, present some kind of story that gives you something to think about when you walk away, feeling enriched - if it works out well.

I don't have a favorite genre. I love to work and live vicariously through every character. It's all about trying to bring the character to life and get the story across in a way that resonates with the audience. It's always interesting and challenging in a gratifying and unique way.

I think the point of art is to be controversial in a lot of ways. It's to cause conversations, and it's to get people excited about and talking about the things that the films are about.

I do not make movies to send any message, but my treatment makes my viewers think on the subject.

For me, a play is a form of writing which isn't complete until it is interpreted by actors. But it's still a form of writing. And so most of my time is spent thinking about how to write a sentence.

A great byproduct of a TV show, movie, or play is when it can act as a catalyst for someone.

People come to museums for storytelling and engagement, and the technology needs to facilitate that.

I always feel that art in general and acting in particular should make the audience a little uncomfortable, to slap them and wake them up.

I know I'm not the greatest singer or dancer, but that doesn't interest me. I'm interested in being provocative and pushing people's buttons.

I wanted to make films that were culturally relevant in my own country, that challenged people, and that people talked about.

In my theater, I'm not trying to change the world.

To have the privileged position of being the guy who is responsible for shaping the entire experience for an audience as opposed to being just one instrument in that orchestra, being an actor, it's all-encompassing.

Cinema is not just a medium of entertainment. Yes, it should entertain, but cinema is made to convey a message, to say something.

It can't change anything immediately, but films can absolutely be catalysts for conversation.

Films are never meant as solutions; they just provide entertainment value.

The magic of theatre is how much can you stimulate the mind of the audience, not how many illusions you can create.

It's why we're actors: to be able to tell the stories that really matter.

I feel it's my duty, my job, now to allow people to hear the dance to different genres of music, to ensure audiences have the chance to listen to tap dancing up against all these other styles.

I spent a lot of time doing really unimportant work as an actor. It was important when I started writing that I obviously make it entertaining, or no one is going to go see it - but to really make you think, that is my goal.

Theater, at the end of the day, is about ideas. It's about very large ideas. And if the play is beautifully written or smartly written and has incredible characters you follow on the journey, you take home these larger ideas. Whether it's 'Angels in America' or 'Lucky Guy' or 'Normal Heart,' you follow this moment-to-moment journey as an audience.

The performance of Carnatic music is multi-dimensional and layered. A performance is at once an artiste's cathartic process of personal exploration and an open energy exchange with the audience: a release and a conversation.

One of the missions of 'The Nightly Show' was to have a conversation with America in a sense, and talk about the things that people didn't want to talk about it.

There's something refreshing about going to work with a different group of dancers. There are different ways of moving, different ways in which the institution functions. There's a contrast from place to place, so the variety and the experience of working in a different place feeds me.