Quotes About Performance

The greatest impact of 'We Are the World' seems to have been the video, which lets us see the singers take their turns at the microphone without any sense of star ego.

When I get in that cage and fight, that's not me. It's somebody else. It's like a light switch that turns on.

Your intention going in is to do the best you can. You go in and do your work, day to day, the best you can. But it's entirely up to the director and the editor and the producers and the studio how it turns out.

I had a lot of what they call turntable hits. A lot of them.

I'm probably the most excited about 'Turtleneck & Chain.'

My tutors at drama school commended and criticised my use of comedy in my acting for a long time at drama school. They said I had a tendency to somehow perform the most tragic of scenes in a slightly flippant way.

I put on the tuxedo, and it's like putting on overalls - they're my work clothes. Then I go to work. I'm relaxed. I do my job.

I don't go out there and put on any sort of front for people. If I'm in a good mood, I appear in a good mood on TV, and if I'm in a bad mood, I just go out there and look like I'm in a bad mood.

With TV, the pace is so fast, the scripts are coming at you, the directors are firing things at you, it's breathtaking.

Improvisation is almost like the retarded cousin in the comedy world. We've been trying forever to get improvisation on TV. It's just like stand-up. It's best when it's just left alone. It doesn't translate always on TV. It's best live.

Now, as a comic, if you're vaguely amusing you can go straight into TV, then you play the O2 and then everyone's sick of you.

You're either singing on TV or in front of a full cathedral and there's a bit of pressure there. I know it sounds funny but if you get used to doing it, then performing in front of people playing cricket is the same sort of thing.

It's not easy to do morning TV. A lot of people think you just show up and be yourself, but one of the hardest things to do is be yourself when the camera comes on.

You have a shelf-life on TV.

They don't tell you how to be on TV - they put the camera on you, and they turn it on, and you sink or swim.

I prefer that for my own satisfaction over radio, there's no audience. TV, there's no audience. I need the response of the audience, even if it's a silent response.

In TV, and in particular in commercials, you don't really need to explain very much at all - you just say he's a spy and he's a little bit theatrical and overblown and smug and he's not very good at his job.

As you know, on live TV, sometimes you don't always say things perfectly.

When I attack a role, be it TV, film or stage, the first thing I say is, I don't want to know anything. If it's good I don't want to hear it; if it's bad I don't want to hear it. The only thing either thing can do is distract me. I like to stay focused.

I started out being a stand up and writing my own material. That took me to 'Talk Soup,' where I was writing and performing for TV.

I have always said that the best training to be a TV newsman or anybody on television is to do a children's show because you are oblivious to the fact that there is a camera there.

Being a TV actor is quite different from being a movie star, and I always try and highlight my character. It is the reason why I am more inclined to taking frequent sabbaticals: so that when I return, people can identify with the character I play.

All the big actors are now on TV, and all the big actors have come from TV. It's a great platform.

In TV, sometimes you get lost in the fog of the scene, and when you're working with such good actors, they can bring you into the scene.