Do you have a special ritual before a performance? If so, what is it?
In Germany, where I will be performing with an actor, I like to make a dozen jokes or so while clarifying the script and when we each come in, then I sign books and slam a Diet Coke for the caffeine so I can wake up for the show. Why not coffee? If it were coffee, I would blast right on through the ceiling of the Green Room and circle the planet six of seven times. Which, I suspect, would disappoint the audience.
Do you rather tend to be nervous or more of a show-off on stage?
I enjoy being onstage, listening to my dreams come to life. I love turning an audience on.
What things should always be available backstage?
The aforementioned Diet Coke and my fellow actor. And maybe something sweet for the sugar rush.
Final applause, off the stage – and then? What’s the first thing you do after a performance?
Sign books, while standing at the lectern, for two hours. Then, and only then, do we all go out to dinner and celebrate.
Which person – dead or alive, real or fictitious, famous or not – would you like to perform with and why?
No one. I want the stage to myself, though I’ve shared it with many great writers and musicians over the years. I want to cast a spell. To my mind, there are few things better than hearing a good story read aloud, sans distractions.
T. C. Boyle reads in the Isarphilharmonie
Text: Editorial office
