Quotes About Performance

Quality without results is pointless. Results without quality is boring.

I've always had to conquer fear when I'm on stage. Basically, I was and still am a very shy person. It's absolutely in conflict with what I do. But once I deliver the first joke I'm okay. It's like I'm out there all by myself just delivering my lines to nobody in particular without ever trying to notice the audience in front of me.

I can't perform without the mask or be seen without it on stage, or else it'll distract from the whole persona.

An actor without a playwright is like a hole without a doughnut.

If I get a guy that can take my shots and withstand my arsenal for the first round or two, I think you're going to see the best of me coming forward.

I never witness a performance of child-acrobats, or the exhibition of any forced talent, physical or mental, on the part of children, without protesting, at least in my own mind, against the blindness and cruelty of their parents or guardians or whoever has care of them.

People say that F1 is blessed with the 'best drivers in the world,' but I want to witness the 'total best drivers in the world,' and this means taking away the elements that make their job easier.

We are always full of the types of people who retire or die. But they are never saying 'This guy is really unbelievable; we're alive to witness an exceptional performer.' I think we should recognise that while we are still racing.

I think the process is one of using the camera and sound in the way a detective uses a magnifying glass: to find the clues. They're discovery devices, not performance devices - you're watching things the way a cat does. You're not judging. You're there to witness something.

Anybody with a sharp brain and a mic can become a comedian, but there's a need to move beyond it. The audience wants to witness the marriage of theatre, comedy and something more.

I always tell myself that when you're playing a character, pretend they're on trial and you're giving the best witness of their life. You really need to think about every element of the character and represent them properly, as if they were a real person. You want to give 100 percent of what they're worth and what they deserve as people.

There are very few things of virtuosity or genius that you can actually witness.

There's something about dominant teams that draws fans in. People like to see this; they like to witness dominance.

It's just cool to witness talent.

It's very embarrassing to talk of your own work before shooting for it and even before it is released. I have been a witness to many of our actors turning red-faced after their films release. I'd rather not be there.

In a play you can witness your audience live, understand how they feel. It lets you evaluate yourself and measure your growth.

It can be very thrilling being able to witness Viola Davis do her thing for hours and hours, but there are also no windows, and you're just in a room for fourteen hours trying to keep it together.

I witnessed first-hand the self-defeating results of putting yourself under so much pressure to perform.

Seeing Shakespeare in the Park, for me, it's just this side of feeling like you've witnessed some kind of magic. It's this spell that you're under, to be part of that!

In a way, a stage can be the safest place to be visibly queer and non-gender conforming because you're literally surrounded by witnesses. Any type of violence that a person might try to carry out on you, that's just not a very likely place to do it.

Drag queens in the UK, they survive it all - there's a hen party, a stag party, people throwing beer bottles. They work not on their heels, but on their wits.

I loved the music, but the excesses of rock n' roll never really appealed to me at all. I couldn't see the point of getting up in front of a lot of people when you weren't in control of your wits.

The idea is not to have one great singer surrounded by a bunch of nit wits. When the others are good, too, that's when you get something happening in opera.

I'm neurotic by nature, but I'm wary of becoming more of a play than a comic - you don't want people coming to see a man having a breakdown for two hours. I'd prefer them coming to hear my astute and witty observations.