Hasan Minhaj Quotes

I think that theater is a unique way to communicate with people as they gather together with other people they may not even know. It creates a sense of shared community for the time of the performance that hopefully carries over into other aspects of the audience's life because they have shared this experience together.

There is nothing like a live performance. You can look at things on television, and you can look at things on YouTube, but when you get in a room full of people and you say one joke, and everyone's laughing at the same thing, it's a really great experience.

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

I think I have always tried to connect my comedy to my art.

Theatre is immediate, it's alive, you're there with the audience, it can't be done again and again and again and again, it's organic.

People come to my shows on purpose as opposed to coming to a 'comedy show.' Which was always my goal.

My purpose in performing is to communicate the joy I experience in living.

The stage is the best experience in the world. It's a great compliment to be able to share the music, because people can hear my album but they don't get to make the connection in the same way as when it's one-to-one.

Being a dancer and a singer gave me some advantage with regards to having a stage presence. I always take my timing from the audience because they are half of my act.

Stand-up comedy is all you. It's your show, it's your game. You control every aspect of it - of that experience and that expression. There's really nothing quite as satisfying.

Intimacy comes from being yourself on the stage and making the audience feel, without trying, that you're sittin' down there with 'em, playing, and that can happen in a big hall, if you have a good audience that want to listen.

I would love to do more TV and do movies for the experience, but my ultimate focus is stand-up. It's the number one thing that I love most because there is nothing like being with a live audience.

As a performer, the thing that I love is to see people come together.

There's no such thing as standing still and just singing a song. I love jumping into the crowd. I love to dance.

I feel like, anytime I'm onstage, I tend to feel very connected with people in the audience or with the sort of heartbeat or tempo of the audience.

Every show with my Jazzmaster is like a new show.

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

Playing live is closer to theatre, although when you're up there on your own, it's quite scary and revealing because you're playing your own songs. It's like a one man show that you've written yourself.

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

Now, all writing - all the arts - are a form of 'Pay attention to me,' but there's also the flip side. Like, I want to give something. Let me entertain you, let me amuse you, let me try to please you with this thing I've made. And then pay attention to me.

My favorite moments are the moments everyone cries over. I see people in the audience crying, and I go, 'I did that, too. I don't just do the jokes. I also do the cries.' Jokes and cries, jokes and cries. That's all I'm here for, people.

Comedy's about opening up and being unique, but to a point where the audience can relate to what you're saying.

Our show doesn't rely on the typical whistles and bells, and smoke and mirrors. It relies mostly on the music.

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've always really liked theater. It fascinated me. You can create a reality and get people involved in that reality. It takes place in real time.