You have to kill every time.
Tina Fey describes a long-ago conversation with Steve Martin when she was on Saturday Night Live.
And I said, “oh, hi, how you doing?” I said, “Oh, my gosh, you were so funny on Letterman last night.” And he just very matter-of-factly said, “oh, well, you have to kill every time.” And that has haunted me every day since.
Fey goes on to say that she feels that comedians are particularly pressured by this.
But it’s also true for conductors, for teachers, for musicians. When we don’t perform at the highest level, we lose an opportunity to connect with the audience and we risk losing the audience for the future.
Preparation is the only way to get there.