Still, it's hard to turn away from Kristen Wiig's gutsy, last-nerve performance as a manic-depressive hermit financing her own chat show with a lottery windfall.
Much of that comes down to Cate Blanchett's daring, last-nerve performance as the title character, a spoilt society wife experiencing the mother of all Xanax comedowns after her husband is jailed for tax fraud – a tragicomic turn of Gena Rowlands proportions that is all but certain to win her a deserved second Oscar in two weeks' time.
It works because most of the talking is done by Ms. Davis, whose bundle-of-nerves performance as the obsessive psychiatrist easily carries you through the hour.
There seems to be a tacit understanding among the gang that the best way to counter Adele's rising nerves, performance hour approaching, is teasing.
Mabius keeps a straight face at Posey's unpredictable, sometimes nerve-wracking performance.
Traditionally, auditioning for an orchestra means appearing alone onstage in a nerve-jangling performance before grizzled veteran musicians.
It was also a nerve-racking performance, according to several people involved, since a pre-New York run of "Banana Shpeel" was soon to open in Chicago.
And it's not enough that he's been tipped for a best actor nomination at this year's Oscars for his nerve-shredding performance in Danny Boyle's 127 Hours: he's also presenting the ceremony with Anne Hathaway.
Contrary to all expectations the older Murray had reached a Wimbledon final before his brother, offering Jankovic the chance to stir up some sibling rivalry which may have contributed to the Scot's relatively nerve-free performance before an excited Centre Court crowd.
He develops a darkly humorous Mr Punch-like rapport with the audience: after throwing a plate of food at Buckingham (a finely wrought, nerve-exposing performance from Moritz Gottwald), he screams at him: "You look like shit!" and lollops off the stage into the auditorium to set up a panto-style call and response around the word "scheisse".
