--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I would start off with a lively rag, then…" description: "\"I would start off with a lively rag, then would come a ballad, followed by a comedy song and a novelty number, and finally, the hot song. In this way, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/962/sophie-tucker-30883_audience_i-would-start-off-with-a-lively-rag-then_312460.jpg" --- # I would start off with a lively rag, then would come a… ![“I would start off with a lively rag, then would come a ballad, followed by a comedy song and a novelty number, and finally, the hot song. In this way, I left the stage with the audience laughing their heads off.” quote by Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/962/sophie-tucker-30883_audience_i-would-start-off-with-a-lively-rag-then_312460.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/962/sophie-tucker-30883_audience_i-would-start-off-with-a-lively-rag-then_312460.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/962/sophie-tucker-30883_audience_i-would-start-off-with-a-lively-rag-then_312460.jpg) > “I would start off with a lively rag, then would come a ballad, followed by a comedy song and a novelty number, and finally, the hot song. In this way, I left the stage with the audience laughing their heads off.” [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She describes arranging musical numbers from lively to comedic to end with a high-energy hit, ensuring the audience leaves laughing and satisfied. **In simple terms:** She built a show with increasing energy, ending with a popular song to leave the crowd happy. Key Takeaway Structure performances with rising energy and a strong finale. Themes performance design audience engagement entertainment pacing Mood joyful energetic playful Type entertaining instructional When to use this quote - theater - concert - club gig - festival set - online livestream Key Concepts show planning energy curve comedy timing Questions to Reflect On - How can you gauge audience energy during a set? - What element can you add to keep the climax effective? A Different Perspective If the audience is not responding, a strong finale may not rescue the mood. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Audience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/audience/) [Ballads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ballads/) [Comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Novelty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelty/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Stage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stage/) ## Related quotes > [People will remember a good comedy song a lot longer than they would some of the so-called straight love songs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-stevens/people-will-remember-a-good-comedy-song-a-lot-longer-than-they-would/) [Ray Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-stevens/) > [It is easy to misunderstand what a comedy song is, or what its potential is. I'm used to musical comedy being maligned as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-parris/it-is-easy-to-misunderstand-what-a-comedy-song-is-or-what-its/) [Rachel Parris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-parris/) > [It makes me mad to hear these popular orchestras make a jammed-up comedy of a song like 'Wreck on the Highway.' It ain't a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hank-williams/it-makes-me-mad-to-hear-these-popular-orchestras-make-a-jammed-up/) [Hank Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hank-williams/) > [I remember certain people in the audience laughing and I wanted to ask: 'What are you laughing at? This isn't funny.' Now I realize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-dale/i-remember-certain-people-in-the-audience-laughing-and-i-wanted-to/) [Jim Dale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-dale/) > [There is lots of great stuff on television and cable, etcetera, and cool movies to watch, but there's just nothing that beats live theater.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-schwartz/there-is-lots-of-great-stuff-on-television-and-cable-etcetera-and/) [Stephen Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-schwartz/) > [In theater, it's just you and the audience. It's less of a popularity contest. It's just you and the audience, and they're laughing or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-dratch/in-theater-it-s-just-you-and-the-audience-it-s-less-of-a-popularity/) [Rachel Dratch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-dratch/) > [An audience not laughing is nothing when your husband's just told you he doesn't love you any more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-millican/an-audience-not-laughing-is-nothing-when-your-husband-s-just-told-you/) [Sarah Millican](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-millican/) > [Sometimes there's one person in the audience laughing hysterically, and it's so much fun. You end up playing the entire play to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorraine-bracco/sometimes-there-s-one-person-in-the-audience-laughing-hysterically/) [Lorraine Bracco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorraine-bracco/) > [When an audience is laughing with a character, they make themselves so vulnerable, and they open up. They expose their heart the moment they're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-waller-bridge/when-an-audience-is-laughing-with-a-character-they-make-themselves-so/) [Phoebe Waller-Bridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-waller-bridge/) > [It's a little like casting out hundreds of fishing lines into the audience. You start getting little bites, then more, then you hook a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-dale/it-s-a-little-like-casting-out-hundreds-of-fishing-lines-into-the/) [Jim Dale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-dale/) > [I much prefer doing comedy. I get a little paranoid when the audience is not laughing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicki-lawrence/i-much-prefer-doing-comedy-i-get-a-little-paranoid-when-the-audience/) [Vicki Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicki-lawrence/) > [I liked making people laugh. I remember that specifically, being really young and having my parents being in the audience and laughing. It wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaitlin-olson/i-liked-making-people-laugh-i-remember-that-specifically-being-really/) [Kaitlin Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaitlin-olson/) > [When an audience is laughing, that's opening their souls somehow, and when you have an audience with an open soul, it's much better to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fatih-ak-n/when-an-audience-is-laughing-that-s-opening-their-souls-somehow-and/) [Fatih Ak?n](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fatih-ak-n/) > [I enjoy the character interplay. Sometimes the audience is not laughing, but smiling, and that is almost just as good because it keeps them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keenen-ivory-wayans/i-enjoy-the-character-interplay-sometimes-the-audience-is-not/) [Keenen Ivory Wayans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keenen-ivory-wayans/) > [“If life came with an audience, mine would be laughing hysterically right now.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-kacvinsky/if-life-came-with-an-audience-mine-would-be-laughing-hysterically/) [Katie Kacvinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-kacvinsky/) ## More by Sophie Tucker > [Success in show business depends on your ability to make and keep friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-tucker/success-in-show-business-depends-on-your-ability-to-make-and-keep/) [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) > [Once you start carrying your own suitcase, paying your own bills, running your own show, you've done something to yourself that makes you one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-tucker/once-you-start-carrying-your-own-suitcase-paying-your-own-bills/) [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) > [I've been rich and I've been poor. Rich is better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-tucker/i-ve-been-rich-and-i-ve-been-poor-rich-is-better/) [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) > [I have been poor and I have been rich. Rich is better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-tucker/i-have-been-poor-and-i-have-been-rich-rich-is-better/) [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) > [ Even though I loved the song \[My Yiddish Momme\] and it was a sensational hit every time I sang it, I was always careful… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-tucker/even-though-i-loved-the-song-my-yiddish-momme-and-it-was-a/) [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) > [It is a commentary on Berlin in 1931 that ... it was 'My Yiddishe Momme' that the Berlin Broadcasting Company asked for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-tucker/it-is-a-commentary-on-berlin-in-1931-that-it-was-my-yiddishe-momme/) [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) > [Playing two months or more in one city meant new songs all the time. If people paid their dimes to see and hear Sophie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-tucker/playing-two-months-or-more-in-one-city-meant-new-songs-all-the-time/) [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) > [I've never sung a single song in my whole life on purpose to shock anyone. My 'hot numbers' are all, if you will notice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-tucker/i-ve-never-sung-a-single-song-in-my-whole-life-on-purpose-to-shock/) [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) > [From birth to age 18, a girl needs good parents, from 18 to 35 she needs good looks, from 35 to 55 she needs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-tucker/from-birth-to-age-18-a-girl-needs-good-parents-from-18-to-35-she/) [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) > [The secret of longevity... Is to keep breathing!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-tucker/the-secret-of-longevity-is-to-keep-breathing/) [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) > [From birth to age 18 a girl needs good parents. From 18 to 35 she needs good looks. From 35 to 55 she needs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-tucker/from-birth-to-age-18-a-girl-needs-good-parents-from-18-to-35-she-2/) [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) > [From birth to 18 a girl needs good parents; from 18 to 35, she needs good looks. From 35 to 55, good personality. From…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-tucker/from-birth-to-18-a-girl-needs-good-parents-from-18-to-35-she-needs/) [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) > [Gradually, at the concerts, I began to hear calls for 'the fat girl'… Then I would jump up for the piano stool, forgetting about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-tucker/gradually-at-the-concerts-i-began-to-hear-calls-for-the-fat-girl-then/) [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) > [“From birth to age eighteen a girl needs good parents. From eighteen to thirty-five she needs good looks. From thirty-five to fifty-five she needs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-tucker/from-birth-to-age-eighteen-a-girl-needs-good-parents-from-eighteen-to/) [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) > [The key to longevity: keep breathing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-tucker/the-key-to-longevity-keep-breathing/) [Sophie Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) [Explore all 17 Sophie Tucker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-tucker/) ## More Audience quotes > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It's those moments, those odd moments that you look for and sometimes by creating this kind of loose atmosphere you find those little moments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-levinson/it-s-those-moments-those-odd-moments-that-you-look-for-and-sometimes/) [Barry Levinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-levinson/) > [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/) [Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/) > [One of the best moments of any Liars show is hearing the crowd squawk 'We're doomed! We're doomed!' on cue during 'We Fenced Other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/one-of-the-best-moments-of-any-liars-show-is-hearing-the-crowd-squawk/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [It's the adrenaline rush you only get from being in front of an audience. It's addictive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raphael-saadiq/it-s-the-adrenaline-rush-you-only-get-from-being-in-front-of-an/) [Raphael Saadiq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raphael-saadiq/) > [If I had to speak in front of a Korean audience, I would be hard pressed to sound other than a little girl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/an-na/if-i-had-to-speak-in-front-of-a-korean-audience-i-would-be-hard/) [An Na](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/an-na/) > [The liveness of theater, and the excitement of experiencing it alongside an audience, is something you can't get at home. That makes the theater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-blaemire/the-liveness-of-theater-and-the-excitement-of-experiencing-it/) [Nick Blaemire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-blaemire/) > [One of the things that touches me most when I play for an audience is that although we may be unable to communicate in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/one-of-the-things-that-touches-me-most-when-i-play-for-an-audience-is/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [I have to feel the audience. I enjoy that feeling of community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-gahan/i-have-to-feel-the-audience-i-enjoy-that-feeling-of-community/) [Dave Gahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-gahan/) > [When you lived it for years and years and years and seen different characters just get pummeled and squashed because 'I said so,' it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arn-anderson/when-you-lived-it-for-years-and-years-and-years-and-seen-different/) [Arn Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arn-anderson/) > [“During the first few minutes of your presentation, your job is to assure the audience members that you are not going to waste their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-ludwig-and-greg-owen-boger/during-the-first-few-minutes-of-your-presentation-your-job-is-to/) [Dale Ludwig and Greg Owen-Boger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-ludwig-and-greg-owen-boger/) > [Donald Trump is a different ball of wax. I've been trying to say for I don't know how many months now that the traditional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/donald-trump-is-a-different-ball-of-wax-i-ve-been-trying-to-say-for-i/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [I don't think about who the audience is for my books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/i-don-t-think-about-who-the-audience-is-for-my-books/) [J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/) > [I feel I have been playing all primary characters. And if your character forms a connect with the audience, it doesn't matter if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angad-bedi/i-feel-i-have-been-playing-all-primary-characters-and-if-your/) [Angad Bedi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angad-bedi/) > [When I was playing piano, it was like, 'I'm going to write a song using all the white keys.' My music director, who knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tesh/when-i-was-playing-piano-it-was-like-i-m-going-to-write-a-song-using/) [John Tesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tesh/) [Browse all 9,118 Audience quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/audience/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I would start off with a lively rag, then would come a ballad, followed by a comedy song and a novelty number, and finally, the hot song. 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