Wanda Sykes Quotes

When I rehearse, it ends up doing more harm than good. I think I work a little bit better when it's right off the bat. Mostly, I try to wrap my head around a role as much as I can without rehearsing and then kind of make it as fresh as possible on the day.

I get to the theatre in plenty of time; I prepare my shoes in advance; I eat and drink the right things at the right time. The rest you have to leave to luck!

I warm up at home. I hit the stage, I'm ready, whether it's rehearsal or anything.

You can train to be ready for the nerves, and we simulate it all the time, but it's never the same when it actually matters.

I like to spend time alone before I go on stage.

I've always had a process that I do before I even get to set or go to the location. I work privately, and it almost feels like therapy between me and who I'm playing. So I have this inner life that's there and it gives me a confidence, too, that when I'm playing the role I know every question.

Before every show, I have to put perfume on. I know the crowd's not necessarily going to smell me, but when I smell good, I feel like I can dominate the room.

I leave for the show at least an hour ahead, and I do some vocal warm-ups, and that's pretty much it.

When you're young and starting out, the big hurdle is to relax enough in rehearsal so that you don't feel intimidated. The more work you've done, the more you can experiment in rehearsal and not have to worry about getting the sack.

I meditate and pray before going onstage - it helps me focus.

I try to do a lot of research beforehand so I know where I want to go with a scene. I try not to get too stressed about it, because I find that's the worst thing.

When I had just started 'Cheers,' my nerves were ajangle, to put it mildly. I was absolutely terrified. What you're learning is to not show the fear, and to ultimately overcome it so that the level of relaxation is commensurate with the level of tension.

For some artists the live performance is the chicken before the egg of writing or recording of repertoire. For other artists the writing or recording of repertoire is the chicken before the egg of live performance.

I love getting ready to do a scene, and thinking about it, and talking about it. But the rest of the time, I'm so nervous and obsessed. I'm just tearing my hair out in the trailer. The whole time I'm really tense.

Most of the time I like to start an album abroad, not at home, just to avoid the pressure, to not wake up and think, 'OK, it's the first of recording this album.' I like to avoid that.

It's a very organic process, and it has a specific order to it. I love to write, and once you've written, then you arrange. After the arrangement, you record it, and then you tour it.

I'm in the studio for hours in that tiny little box, and really, the performing part is what I'm most excited about.

When some people get parts, they feel they can now relax, but for me it was always the opposite. Sometimes before I do a movie or before I act out a scene, I may not sleep well the night before. If I don't know what the scene is about, I might get all worked up.

I really didn't realise until I got back the work that goes into a performance. You're like an athlete - if you haven't been practising things tighten up. I had to do a lot of practice work, but I got through it. Even when I was 21 I would have a 40-minute nap on the day of a show, and I will still do that.

Dancing's not always stressful, but I always make sure that I'm prepared as I can be, both physically, mentally, and practically.

I always sleep really well, particularly before a race, when the adrenaline's pumping.

I have a theater background, so I like finding beats, working on things and having rehearsal.

Acting is just a process of relaxation, actually. Knowing the text so well and trusting that the instinct and the subconscious mind, whatever you want to call it, is going to take over.

I still take it seriously, but once I go out there I think I've got more relaxed and I think it shows.

I think is very beneficial to relax yourself so that when you are doing it you are not staggering for lines and your concentration is not on what I am going to say - but the scene itself, the character that you are talking to.