According to Al Capp, The public is like a piano. You just have to know what keys to poke.

I believe he meant that no matter how demanding your public may be, if you know what
buttons to push, you can thoroughly impress them. Many artists came to the conclusion that
you can mildly manipulate your public to think that youre doing what they want you to do
when its the other way round. Even though we all think were unique, were in fact
predictable and experts can guess our intentions before we even think about making them.
Thats how magicians, illusionists or stand-up comedians work, for example: they think
beforehand of something that would impress the public, and then they manipulate the
situation in their favour. That way, everyone is content: the public is pleased and the artist is
satisfied that their effort wasnt in vain.