Annaleigh Ashford Quotes

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

Improv is mostly what I've studied.

All improv turns into anger. All comedy improv basically turns into anger, because that's all people know how to do when they're improvising. If you notice shows that are improvising are generally people yelling at each other.

I haven't done improv since I was in middle school.

One of the things that makes any good entertainment, whether it's a play, drama, comedy, television, film, whatever, is that you feel a certain amount of spontaneity.

The relationship with a live audience seems to me to count for more.

I love improvisation.

One thing changes every evening: It's the audience, and I'm working my magic. I'm always learning from it.

The Second City

I never try and do the same show, ever. The audience controls the dynamic of the shows. Sometimes they listen, and sometimes they ask a million questions.

I am obsessed with improv.

I have no interest in playing 'perfect.' To me, it's more about being an entertainer. Having a connection with the audience.

I like to do as much improv as I can do.

I met Sue Perkins at the Footlights, where she brought the house down at the auditions.

Playing live is much more natural for me. The instant reaction and the feedback from the audience is great for me. I really relish it. And if you play blues-based music, it's not really academic music or recital music. It really needs a bit of atmosphere and a bit of interplay and a bit of roughness, and you really get that with an audience.

In places like Glasgow and Newcastle, audiences have a tradition of being amusingly combative. But they're not trying to ruin the act, they're trying to give you a challenge. It's like a cat playing with a mouse - the cat doesn't want the mouse to die, it wants to keep it alive for its own amusement and to be entertained by its struggle.

If you look at vaudeville in theaters vamping between acts, it was always jokes written and banter in the moment.

Comedy is far more difficult, as it involves improvisation and impromptu acting, and as an actor, that came as a welcome break for me.

Whenever I come to Ireland, I end up just bantering with the crowd so the show will just be what it is.

Some guys like myself, we like to play off the crowd.

Anytime you give a man in a wig a microphone, anything can happen.

Improvisation is about finding the best joke or the silliest way to get something across. Improvising conflict is always fun because you can just go for it.

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

In my stand-up, I've always been loose. If there's a curtain onstage, I'll use that in my act. If there's a door, I'll use the door. I always like to use everything at my disposal, which makes each show a little different and a little more fun.

When I go into schools to speak, I am not giving a speech - it's really a one-man show. I call it 'didactic standup.'