Neil Sedaka Quotes

My first live performance was when I was in the military. I went to some bar, and they had open mics. You could just sign up and perform. Nobody cared. Nobody liked it.

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.

Seeing bored-looking fans staring at you while you DJ is about as horrible as it gets.

If I walk out onstage and I get a warm, excited response, it makes me feel so confident and happy, and then it's so easy for me up there.

I'd rather play in front of a full house than an empty crowd.

We have had to play some mighty tough audiences.

I was booed at the premiere of 'Miss Julie,' a remarkably stimulating experience.

I miss physically going out on stage and performing. That's the ultimate high.

The Apollo seats 3,600 people: I could hear them making a huge noise for Milton Jones and Lee Mack. If the audience doesn't make the same amount of noise for you, you feel like you've failed.

I got heckled off stage in Western Australia at a music festival once.

There were some people with their arms crossed who gave me a hard time just to see what I'd do after so long. But it's okay because everyone loved my performance in Buddhivanta.'

There is a magical, unexplainable phenomenon that still occurs to this day where, however funny you think the material you've written is, as soon as you turn up to a gig to try it out, it becomes almost incoherent.

It's a pain in the ass, show business. And the only time that I really enjoy it is when I'm in front of an audience and they're reacting to me.

I still get a little nervous before performing. You don't want to forget a lyric; you don't want to make a mistake. I still get butterflies. You can try to judge an audience, but you can only really judge things by the applause.

I don't like applause, I must admit. Ultimately, artists are shy creatures; they're introverts.

I love performing in front of a live audience and just stepping out in front of ruddy Royal Albert Hall is just something, I can't describe it.

I quite like the idea of performing in front of people that don't like me.

In standup, the feedback is instantaneous, and if it fails, you know you'll be off-stage and hiding in a short time.

When I'm singing, I can see so many people, and I can see their response and everything. And being somewhere like the Hollywood Bowl, I'm seeing those immediate people in front of me, but other than that, it's just dots, and I'm just imagining who's out there and imagining their responses.

Going to a theatre and watching yourself on the big screen is a nightmare.

When you play a show or festival, people know what they're getting; they want it. Then you're thrown onto a show where people are watching TV in their houses, and whether they ask for it or not, we're being played in front of them. There's a lot of negative feedback.

I'm always going to need to play in front of people.

I've dreamt lucidly about how my Broadway debut would go and what that would feel like, but I know that I can't be prepared for that.

Did I ever get booed? I don't think I ever got booed.

I love audiences. They are my oxygen. I only breathe with audience. When I'm alone, I am normally a miserable you-know-what.