I do enjoy that folks [ Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin] really get into [ Aladdin ] because I enjoy getting it. I love it where you just get to go nuts. Ninety percent of what you hear, he wrote. There's ten percent that he let me play around with in the studio and actually put in the script if it was funny enough.

I do enjoy that folks [ Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin] really get into [ Aladdin ] because I enjoy getting it. I love it where you just get to go nuts. Ninety percent of what you hear, he wrote. There's ten percent that he let me play around with in the studio and actually put in the script if it was funny enough.

One of the great things about this genie [from Aladdin] is that when Robin Williams created him, and they created this after him, they were allowed to go crazy and when they had to go find someone to play the role live, they had to find someone who was nutty enough to go in different directions.

I always keep some form of cartoon or comic book with me, especially Batman - he's my favorite. The reason I keep them around is that it keeps the kid in me alive. Some older folks, they like to drink - can't wait to get old. Me? I like to stay young. I know I'm going to be get older, but I can at least be young at heart so I read these comic books so I keep myself right on that level of kid to keep me having fun on stage.

When I was skinny, I didn't get work. When I came out of college, I didn't get work until the Iglehart gene kicked in. Most of my family are large and that's when it started happening. My acrobats moves stayed with me.

I am still nervous every show. Not in the "Wow, I'm scared, I can't go on nervous," but the "I really want to do a good job and the give the audience a great show" kind of nervous. Oh, yes, the nerves are there, but I let them push me instead of holding me back.

And also, folks live in a regular world, so when they come to our show [Aladdin], we want to take that away from them for a little bit. Just give them two hours to make up for the train that didn't come on time or the terrible news you get from TV.