Every movement of the theater by a skilful poet is communicated, as it were, by magic, to the spectators; who weep, tremble, resent, rejoice, and are inflamed with all the variety of passions which actuate the several personages of the drama.
Here's the funny thing: Nothing drives a performance like an audience that gives back and even takes over. ECW was a product that will be remembered as much, if not more, for its audience interaction as for the things that happened in the ring.
As a filmmaker, I believe in trying to make movies that invite the audience to be part of the film; in other words, there are some films where I'm just a spectator and am simply observing from the front seat. What I try to do is draw the audience into the film and have them participate in what's happening onscreen.
I always think the audience should be part of the show.
To see all the fans getting into it, that's pretty special.
Football is for the fans. It can be the greatest game in the world but if there are no people to watch it, it becomes nothing. The fans are the lifeblood of the game.
It's always been about when I do theater, the audience is just a viewer, not taking part in what's onstage. Whereas if you're doing stand-up, it's inclusive.
To John Cena after the fans kept throwing his shirt back in the ring : They didn't throw my shirt back.
I like audiences to crane their necks.
[With theater] you draw the audience into the room as best you can, and in film, you can draw them into the room, you can draw them outside into the desert, you can take them out into the ocean, you can do all these amazing things.
The fans can bring a better match by getting more involved. So when a match is over, they might be talking about how good the match was, but little do they know, that great match was elevated because of them.
The power of real debate is in the language and intellectual honesty of the debaters, alongside the engagement of spectators.
I think when people watch a lot of artists, they're expecting this showiness, and I'm cracking jokes with people. I'm heckling back. I'm interacting.
The audience is a big part of the show.
Theater is like boxing - having the audience ringside. It's instant gratification. Or horrification.
With a time-based medium like theater or film, you can't have the audience getting restless in their seats. They're stuck there on their bums; you have to pay enormous attention to pace and you can't lose your way.
