A Quote by James Vincent McMorrow

I approach every show from the same fundamental perspective: this is a conversation, and my job is to make people leave the show feeling like they've seen something singular. It's not about smashing someone over the head from the jump-off.
I'm just focused on getting to the end of each show and feeling like we've done a good job when we walk off stage. And a perfect show isn't necessarily about making the audience feel good. I know I've done my job well if I've made people feel... interesting. I like to leave them a little stunned.
It's our approach to treat each show like an arena show. We over-invest in production to make the stage look bigger, turning the show into an experience and not just somebody standing around with a microphone rapping.
My first show was called 'I Know I've Been Changed' in '92. I tried to do this show for years and years. It kept failing over and over and over again. Every time I went out to do the show, nobody showed up. I was like, 'What is this about?'
If I'm caught off guard or I'm not in a great mood, or if I'm feeling down or if I'm in my head and somebody comes up to me and I can't match the energy, I just have to think, 'Well, I did my job, which was to do the show or release the album or be in the TV show or write the joke. Beyond that, it's kind of a hit or miss what happens between us.'
I tend to think that the whole concept of, 'I saw this TV show, and someone was wearing this sweater, and now I'm going to buy that,' it's something that's been talked about for a long time, but I've never really seen it work. When people are watching an entertainment show, they want to be entertained.
I don't think there's a ton of new new stuff about doing a sitcom or doing a multi-camera show, but they work. They're fun, and they're energetic, and they're short. And when you fall in love with one - like, I will watch Seinfeld, I'll watch Will & Grace, all those reruns. I just can never get enough. I watch the same ones over and over and over. I watch the same movies that make me laugh over and over and over. I was hoping to be part of something like that.
My dreams are always quite attainable, I wouldn't like to spend a lot of money on a car. I've got a mental block about splurging on something so visible like that. I could do it on a watch or something because that's quite personal and it isn't something that's on show all the time, but with a car everyone thinks you're a show-off. But one thing I would really like is a Ford Mustang - for me, that's the attainable dream. You look at it and you just think "F*** yes!" - you can hear an electric guitar solo playing in your head!
At every show, people I've never seen approach me with the same story: how experiencing my work changed their lives and made them artists or writers or law enforcers or attorneys, believe it or not. It's very humbling and gratifying.
The best thing that I bring in my live show is that it's not scripted. It's more of a conversation with my audience. And that's what people like about the show - it's very real. There are mistakes and laughter.
Every time I start off a book or a story I feel like I'm developing a new style or approach for that individual story alone, and it sometimes feels as if readers are looking for the same style/approach from the same writer over and over again, which hasn't helped me in the publishing biz.
Basically we learned not ever to do a show like that [ Gigi Does It] again. That took me to a limit that I didn't know I had. First off, I show-ran the show and was the head writer. I had never done anything like that before. It was an immense responsibility.
There are not that many people who can say they have been on a show long enough to leave it. Usually, you don't have a choice. The show gets canceled. There are very few people who live in the rare air of being able to leave a show while it is still in production.
I'm pretty unfussy when it comes to what a TV show should be, or what a movie should be. A lot of people are trying to maintain the theatrical experience for films. That's not really who we are or what we're about. We come from this fundamental understanding that we're just blessed that someone is giving us any money to make something in this town.
It [The Esemblist] is also about the generation of audience members that are watching shows and listening to us at the same time; hopefully, in time, when they listen to our show and then go see a show, they'll realize even more what it takes to make a show, and they'll know even more about everybody on stage, rather than just people above the title of the show.
It's a fine line to find that balance: to show people enough to give them the promise of something unique, and something they want to see, but at the same time make sure that when they show up for the movie, they're surprised by what they eventually get.
I feel very giddy with the idea of making my imagination take form and being able to put on a show where people leave feeling like they've experienced something.
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