Adam Sandler sat down with Jimmy Kimmel on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to talk about everything from playing basketball with Timothée Chalamet to performing stand-up comedy during his “You’re My Best Friend” tour. And when asked if he still gets nervous before taking the stage, the actor admitted, despite his fame: “Yes.”

“Buddy, I still get that weird fear,” Sandler said, asking Kimmel right back (who also agreed about getting nervous before doing on-stage appearances, excluding his own show). “I still get that panic before every show. I’m on the side going, ‘Why the hell am I doing this? I’m already a star. What am I trying to prove my point again for? What the hell is the matter with me?’”

He admitted that, before taking the stage for a stand-up show, he finds himself shaking on the side of that stage. And when he finally goes out there, his hands still shake during his first few jokes.

Sandler also said he gets especially nervous when his family is in the crowd—when those jokes can’t be as “filthy” as he’d normally make them.

He recalled a time when his 17- and 19-year-old daughters and their friends came to watch him perform in Vegas to celebrate one of their birthdays. He had to be mindful of cursing too much or oversharing what he was sure his daughters wouldn’t want to hear about their dear dad. He told Kimmel he couldn’t “be himself” during that show.

“I’m on stage, knowing my daughters and their friends are in the crowd, and I’m changing everything up—and it’s Vegas, so everyone is expecting filth, and I’m not giving them the filth,” he said. “I changed it up out of respect for the kids and their friends … I have cursed, and I have said stuff while they were in the crowd, but then afterwards, I’ve seen the shame that’s in their eyes like, ‘Who is that guy?’ And I’m like, ‘That’s a fake guy; that’s a standup comedian guy. You get the real daddy at home.’”

During that show, he tried so hard to “[weave]in and out of [his] disgusting thought process,” even though, unbeknownst to him at the time, his daughters had actually left the show five minutes in. He joked with Kimmel that he could have had a lot more laughs out of that Vegas crowd if he had been his “filthy as hell” self, but he’s also glad he didn’t have to do any awkward explaining to his daughters.

The Happy Gilmore actor remembered a time hanging out with Billy Joel, who seemed to keep it so “cool” before going on stage. But Sandler is still not quite there yet, despite his decades-long career of being the funny guy.

This story was originally reported by Parade on Nov 22, 2025, where it first appeared in the Celebs section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.