Nick Cave Quotes

I like being on this stage because it keeps me thinking.

Every time I see a live performance of something, I'm like, 'I want to be doing that!'

Playing live is basically just hyperactivity and a certain sense of enchantment that I deliver to the audience, to let them know what it would be like to be inside my head.

My goal is to be the best TV presenter, the best entertainer, the best singer. I still want to be the best dancer. I want to be the best at everything I do.

The difference between you and the funny person on TV is that they acted on their ideas.

I love my lecture tours. I get up onstage. I have my stack of books and a glass of water and a microphone. No podium, no distance between me and the audience, and I just talk to people and get all excited and tell a lot of jokes, and sing some songs, and read from my work and remind people how powerful they are and how beautiful they are.

Sometimes I get more excited for shows that I know are going to be quieter because it gets me more inspired to be more of a showman and be more of an entertainer and forces me to work harder.

I've not done badly for a boy from Stockwell, where I used to gaze at the silver screen in wonderment, little realising I'd be a part of this magical world.

Like with any good art form, if you can entertain people and make them think, it's an honor. It's just an honor to be a comedian.

When I was growing up, I wanted to be Michael Jackson. I used to sing and dance and perform with my sister at parties for 50p.

Rain - his power and charisma onstage is impressive, and I hope to have that one day.

We want to be just like the greatest band. But I think we're just sort of both naturally humorous fellas.

I think comedy is difficult, and I'm amazed so many people want to do it. I'll be buying jeans and somebody will say, "I'm a comedian" - the guy selling you the jeans. The desire to be a comedian is weird. I found it weird myself to want to be one; I was a schoolboy when I wanted to be one but I didn't know how to do it. That was 50 years ago, so times have changed greatly. There seems to be a long line of people desperate to do it and most of them are quite good.

When I write I consider it a rhyme. In the studio I consider it laying down vocals. Onstage, I'm entertaining; I don't even think about it.

Growing up and being a kid, I knew that creativity was at the heart of what I wanted to do. I always had this feeling of wanting to be a comedian and wanting to be an actor.

What I've realized in the last year, 80% of my act has already happened to me, and it's not until you retell the story at a party or to a friend or it comes up on the podcast that you, I don't know why I'm not doing that onstage!

In life, I'm most inspired by entertaining people and driven by the desire to do it by such a powerful force that I think it influences everything I do.

A lot of my inspiration comes from the movies and TV, watching other people doing things that I one day hope to have the opportunity to do.

I haven't actually seen a Lady Gaga tour, but I do think she's very good.

I always wanted to be in the world of entertainment. I just love the idea of an audience being happy with what I am doing. Writing is showbusiness for shy people. That's how I see it.

I think I would rather want to create something new, but I really did enjoy doing that show. It was a really fun show to do.

I wish I could paint that picture. As a 20-year-old kid, that was a big thrill.

The whole thing about working in front of the camera is to make people laugh when they're not supposed to.

Sometimes people confuse contrivance and authenticity, and sometimes I think authenticity can get in the way of a good excuse to do something theatrical. I just don't like wasting opportunity - if you're going to do a photo session, if you're going to walk on stage, why not make it interesting?

If you're a good improviser, you improvise well enough that people think that you're doing a sketch.