“I’ve gotten better at knowing how I can deliver a joke. I don’t know if I know what a great joke in general needs, but I have gotten better at knowing what I can do well which is half the battle, I think. To read something and know I can deliver this or if I tweak this, it will come out better out of my mouth. And that’s what “Weekend Update” helps me with is just doing joke after joke and learning what ones were working and what wasn’t working and saying oh, I’m going too fast or I need to personalize this moment or you know that kind of stuff is certainly learned yes.”
“And also the audience can’t be nervous or worried for you. They really have to feel relaxed. That’s what great comedic performers do, I think, is they just seem like they’re in control and everything is going to be OK even when they’re on the wire and the audience gets excited about how not nervous they are.”

Amy Poehler: The audience can’t be nervous or worried for you
Amy Poehler on Charlie Rose: