“I was once asked: “What characterizes the success of a pop concert and a philharmonic concert, and what is their difference?” I answered: “The success of the Philharmonic – when there is dead silence in the hall, it is also the failure of the pop”. The stage requires a reaction from the audience, laughter, applause. No, the hall can be filled with silence, but this silence must be screaming. A pop artist, unlike theater and film artists, must be able to communicate with the audience and have a talent for improvisation; he must “take” the audience from the very first minute and “hold” it until the end of the performance. True variety artist must surprise: with paradoxical thinking, a concentrated plot , a sharp reprise, an unexpected ending. When I first attended a seminar of pop playwrights, they explained to me, young, blue-eyed and naive: “You are taught from childhood: when you get off the sidewalk, look to the left, and when you reach the middle of the street, look to the right. You do just that, stepping onto the pavement, look to the left, and suddenly you are hit by a car on the right - this is the law of the stage: surprise!” Very imaginative and accurate explanation! A few years later, when conducting seminars, I myself, when I wanted to praise someone, said: “His brains are askew!” This meant that he sees the World in his own way, in an original way, not like everyone else..."