As both a performer and a party story collector, being relatable and accessible is probably the most important part of the delivery.  Despite being more social than usual, I’ve also felt more insular and as a result have been both writing and performing less. Cutting these activities out of my diet makes me feel even less human and so the cycle continues. Today, though, I came across an old interview with Al Pacino that made me realize sometimes the drive to deliver can come from not relating to people at all. I pulled this quote from a NYTimes article regarding a 1970s run of “The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel”:

“One night during a performance I found myself relating to a pair of eyes in the audience,” Mr. Pacino recalled. ”Which was something unusual for me. I’d heard other actors talk about it, but I’d never done that. And I found I was gearing my performance to that section of the audience. By the time the curtain call came, I had to see, I had to find out who it was. And sitting there, of course, was a seeing eye dog.”