How The King Of Queens Live Audience Impacted Kevin James’ Performance

In this 2020 YouTube clip of a series of behind-the-scenes interviews, Kevin James discussed what makes a live audience so crucial to his work on the “King of Queens.” Asked about how the audience’s energy translates to his performance for the camera, the actor noted, “It’s the same thing in stand-up. If you do one joke and get a big laugh on it, you’re more confident for your next joke.” But, as the actor told Philly Voice, in addition to audience response, you also need spontaneity: “Jokes aren’t songs,” he said. “It’s not like going to hear your favorite song. The surprise in comedy has to be there.”

In the same YouTube interview, the actor added that if the audience fails to respond, it can cause an actor to lose faith in the next joke and “Pull back on it a little bit because you don’t believe in it.” He also described the benefit of a live audience reacting to a bit with a lot of enthusiasm and laughter, saying, “You know, a studio audience like that is just amazing.” But, in a self-deprecating aside, he then admitted that if the audience didn’t laugh because a joke fell flat, “We would just sweeten it,” referring to the process of adding in a laugh track when the show’s footage was being edited to beef up a lackluster audience response.