Barry Sonnenfeld

If the wardrobe person thinks it's funny, the costumes are going to be too colorful.

If your cinematographer thinks you're working on a comedy, the lighting will be too bright.

If the composer composes for comedy, you're going to have slide whistles and triangles.

And worst of all...

is if the actors think they're working on a comedy.

You only want the actors to play the reality of the scene, and you want the audience to find the comedy.

Never, ever let your actors be funny.

OK, number three, be punctual.

I was a senior in high school when I asked my overbearing mother if I could attend a concert at Madison Square Garden with my girlfriend.

The fact that I was 17 years old and needed parental permission is another story for another TED Talk.

Anyway, Sweetie says... Sorry, not Sweetie.

Oh, my God, was that a Freudian thing?

I don't think it was.

No, it was.

It was.

Sweetie, I love you so much, and you're not my mother.

Okay, let's continue.

So in any case, my mother says, my mother says, you can go as long as you're home by 2 a.m.

At 2.20 a.m., Jimi Hendrix and his band of gypsies take the stage.

As they are warming up in front of 19,600 people, the following announcement echoes throughout Madison Square Garden