J. Tillman Quotes

I'm a yarn teller. My job is to engage you as much as I can and as often as I can.

It doesn't matter as long as there's interaction between me and the audience. That's why they come.

I love connecting with the audience, and there's more ways than one to do that.

I hate the actor and audience business. An author should be in among the crowd, kicking their shins or cheering them on to some mischief or merriment.

I like performing. I like partnering with an audience.

When you're a storyteller, part of the process of storytelling is the kind of communion you form with the audience to whom you're telling your story. If some segment of the audience doesn't like that story, it doesn't feel good.

I want people to laugh and cry, not just sit and stare at the TV.

I think that's what we're all trying to do as actors, is create some sort of passion from people and allow them to have something to really care about and something they enjoy and look forward to on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, whatever it is, where you get to sit down and escape.

Listening to people keeps them entertained.

You need the audience to go on the ride with you. You can't just isolate them.

Stand-up came naturally to me because people in Ireland talk. But that's not talking on panel shows; it is structured fun. It reminds me of some tragic aunt clapping her hands and bouncing into a room and announcing we should all play games... and if we don't we are all a rotten spoilsport.

I think it was the ability of the theater to communicate ideas and extol virtues that drew me to it. And also, I was, and remain, fascinated by the idea of an audience as a community of people who gather willingly to bear witness.

When I'm writing, what I pretend subconsciously is that we're cavemen, we're sitting around the fire, and I'm telling you stories. If I bore you, you're probably going to pick up a big club and hit me over the head.

The most important thing is to illicit some reaction, good or bad. If some people are repellent to me, so be it. If some people are attracted to me, great. At the end, that's the object of entertainment - you want to provoke a reaction.

Film has become a very passive experience, but with theatre, there is a contract made with the audience, where they participate. That's why my parents' puppet theatre was such a special place - people used their imaginations. It's a muscle that needs using.

I'm not an entertainer; I'm an engager. I never sell myself, in a sense.

I always tell people this - when you start wrestling, don't forget that part you liked as a child. If you can keep a bit of that in your act, you can keep a bigger audience.

When I first thought about wrestling, I thought about it as this foreign thing that I would have so much trouble accessing, and then, day one of researching it, I was like, 'Oh, I know what this is! This is theater. This is playing pretend.' It was really easy to connect to.

At the end of the day, whether it's on film or on stage or for a crowd of however many at Kenwood House, my job is to make sure people have a good time and come away with a feeling and a story.

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.

Action is drama. If we cannot make the audience laugh, smile or cry with us, we are not actors.

Anytime you get an audience that's paying attention, you enjoy it more.

Many more people saw me on TV than will ever get to see me on stage, but I do love being in the same room as the people I'm telling the story to.

I write things in my house, and hopefully there's a reader out there who enjoys it and has an experience with it, but that's very different than a performer on stage, where there's an immediate dance with the audience. It's incredibly powerful.

I think stories get better the more people try to amuse themselves.