John Hodgman Quotes

Stand-up will always come first. I've been doing it for 22 years, and nothing compares to that connection you have with the audience. It's euphoric.

I love being onstage, I love the relationship with the audience.

When I'm on stage, my interaction with the audience is something that really makes me come alive. It's a feeling like no other. The energy of the crowd fuels something new inside.

In theatre, you've got to make the connect with your audience in the first three minutes. If you haven't, you know you've almost lost them.

I don't really like doing big stand-up. Whenever I do theaters, I don't like 'em. I don't think they're right for stand-up. I've seen people in theaters, and it just doesn't work, because you're talking to the guy next to you the whole time.

I don't know how to do a show not in front of a live audience.

A stage actor has to be 10% aware of the audience as he's performing.

I think any actor would agree that you can't replace theater. It's immediate. You have the energy of the crowd and every single night it's different.

I think as a standup performer you have to feel the audience. So the audience kind of dictates what they get, you know?

One of the main reasons for wanting to perform live again was to have contact with that audience.

I just feed off the energy of the audience.

But I always communicate with the audience. I never pretend like I'm just in my bedroom making a track. The whole point of doing a gig is, like, a feedback thing between you and the audience.

I want to be back on Broadway one day. That's a dream of mine. There's nothing like live theater, and I think it's so important for me to be able to be on stage with an audience that responds.

When you're onstage, you're acutely aware of the reaction of a particular group of people, because it's like a wave.

The difference between a theatre with and without an audience is enormous. There is a palpable, critical energy created by the presence of the audience.

There is nothing to compare with the instantaneous feedback a singer gets from the people sitting in front of him. That is where it all comes together - all the rehearsing and working to get everything just exactly right.

Immediate, simultaneous connection between the audience and a performer is crucial to me. It's why I do what I do. Other things, like recording, are satisfying, but they're not the same. I love the connection I get with the audience when I'm sitting behind that piano.

There is no buzz like performing for a live audience.

I love making movies, but there's nothing like being in front of an audience.

I love doing concerts. For me, it's the favorite thing I do. I get to communicate with the audience in a direct way.

Doing my Broadway show '700 Sundays' reminded me how much I love working in front of an audience.

Performing live is easy in front of an audience.

Cabaret is a much more up close and personal experience, which I enjoy very much. This is a tremendous difference to being in a large theatre, doing a book show, where there is more separation. But both have equal importance.

I tend to like the heavier things, especially live on stage. I need that energy and interaction and feeling the audience.

I feed off the audience a lot, their energy.