Creativity Quote by Martha Reeves

Show business runs on a cruel kind of whiplash, and Martha Reeves nails it with a line that sounds like a backstage exhale: one minute you are so booked you feel pressurized to the point of rupture, the next you are staring at a silent phone. The “pop your cork” image is doing more than adding folksy color; it captures how labor in entertainment isn’t just tiring, it’s volatile. You’re treated like a bottle that can be shaken for maximum output, then shelved the moment the fizz stops selling.

Reeves’ intent feels less like complaint than warning. Coming from a Motown-era singer who lived the machine firsthand, the quote points at an industry that confuses visibility with security. When the gigs stack up, the implied bargain is: be grateful, don’t falter, don’t age, don’t change, don’t get sick. When the work disappears, the bargain flips: you’re suddenly “between opportunities,” as if demand vanishing is a personal failing.

The subtext is about power. Artists are asked to sprint without control over the track, and the emotional toll is the uncertainty itself. Overwork at least offers a narrative of worth; unemployment offers only doubt. Reeves compresses that cycle into a single, bitterly funny rhythm - too much, then none - exposing how the glamour myth survives by hiding its most common reality: feast-and-famine isn’t an exception in entertainment, it’s the business model.