If I'm doing a concert, and I'm having a problem with the audience... I just play a Bob Marley song, and I'm good for the rest of the night.
It makes no sense to pack an auditorium with 5,000 people and then tell them to keep quiet.
I don't like to talk about politics. If you say you're a Democrat, that'll turn off Republicans, and that's half of your fan base.
So it's one of those things where we have to - our problem is pacing ourselves and still reaching a large enough number of our audience. Because we don't want to burn the audience. And we don't want to be excluding anybody.
Things like dressing, postures and gestures are under the artiste's control. If I'm performing, my safety is primarily my responsibilityso I shouldn't end up doing anything that would infuriate the audience.
I would like to initiate an initiative - the Broadway Annoying Audience Member Relocation Programme.
If you can handle a nightclub audience successfully, you can handle anything.
It's important to be a divergent musician and do a little bit of everything, except you have to make sure your fans are aware of it and that you string them along the right way.
One of the first things that you learn as a stand-up is, you're the boss. It's your stage, and don't screw with me because I'll make you look bad, which I had to do, because you wind up with drunks and loud people.
One of the things about runways that I hate is that you can't accommodate so many people because you don't have those in-and-out privileges where people can come and go.
People have been educated to expect answers, even before the questions come along. It's the TV principle. You offer three possible answers before the questions come to relax and calm the audience.
There are times when there's been some discontent and muttered threats from audience members. I take no notice, and in any case, I always have John Carroll around to deflect unpleasantness.
The key is dictating what the fans do rather than letting them dictate what you do.
