Amy Poehler Quotes

You want to have butterflies in your stomach, because if you don't, if you walk out onstage complacent, that's not a good thing.

A bit of nervousness is essential as in a way it helps you deliver your best.

I think, in life, being nervous about something that's forthcoming is very helpful, whether it's an awards show or a family gathering or a job interview. If you're too calm and confident, then I think you aren't executing to the best of your ability. So I try not to let nerves get the best of me, but I welcome them because it tends to fuel me to try harder.

I don't feel like I ever really do get past the nervousness. I'm always nervous. Something about being nervous keeps you on the edge, and I've always felt like I worked better under pressure.

I'm always nervous. If I wasn't nervous, it would be weird. I get the same feeling at all the big races. It's part of the routine, and I accept it. It means I'm there and I'm ready.

And when I perform on my own tour, I have to talk myself into going out on that stage every single night.

As for the stage fright, it never goes away. When I'm waiting in the wings to go on, it's agony every single time but I stay focused and I know that once I'm on stage it'll be fine; I'll be in my happy little bubble.

People think I look odd onstage. But the way I deal with being incredibly nervous is by concentrating really hard.

I'm actually sometimes nervous right before a performance, but as soon as I'm on the stage I'm like, 'okay, we're gonna rock this baby.'

I am always scared before going on stage; this is the fear which makes me do well.

I get extremely nervous before performances. I pray and try to look at it as, 'I'll go out there and have fun,' but it's very nerve-wracking for me. I don't think that will ever change.

I love getting ready to do a scene, and thinking about it, and talking about it. But the rest of the time, I'm so nervous and obsessed. I'm just tearing my hair out in the trailer. The whole time I'm really tense.

Tiger Woods, Larry Bird, Wayne Gretzky, a pitcher just before a game, I would imagine they all have nervous energy. But as you perform, the nervous energy dissipates and you start to relax and you start to do what you do best.

I still get really nervous, though, before each performance. It kind of hits about 15 minutes before we go onstage - sometimes I don't even want to go on. But once I'm onstage I'm fine.

I get nervous when I don't get nervous. If I'm nervous I know I'm going to have a good show.

When some people get parts, they feel they can now relax, but for me it was always the opposite. Sometimes before I do a movie or before I act out a scene, I may not sleep well the night before. If I don't know what the scene is about, I might get all worked up.

I go through insanity before a show. It's not really a process but it's like absolute mortal fear.

I think it's healthy for a person to be nervous. It means you care - that you work hard and want to give a great performance. You just have to channel that nervous energy into the show.

You do a play, or you go on set for the first day of filming: if you don't have nerves, and you don't have any kind of adrenalin pushing you forward, then something is wrong.

The night before a show, I don't sleep. Really. I've been doing this for 30 years, and the night before a show, I still don't sleep.

If I'm not nervous, if I don't have at least a little bit of the same self-doubt and anxious feelings I had when I started playing, then it will be time for me to go on. I must have that tension.

I had gigged so much from the age of 11 to 20 that I got to a stage where I actually got less nervous the bigger the gig. But you need those butterflies: they make you feel alive.

I always have gotten nervous before every show. But the second I step onstage, it's all gone. It's sort of like an adrenaline rush for me.

People might not believe me if I say I get nervous, but I tend to practice constantly to show a balanced performance.

I always get nervous before a gig, so I look over my writing, trying not to fantasise about all the things that could go horribly wrong.