play to the gallery

and play to the crowd

to perform in a manner that will get the strong approval of the audience; to perform in a manner that will get the approval of the lower elements in the audience. John is a competent actor, but he has a tendency to play to the crowd. When he made the rude remark, he was just playing to the gallery.

play to the gallery

to spend time doing or saying things that will make people admire or support you, instead of dealing with more important matters Politicians these days are more interested in playing to the gallery than exercising real influence on world events.

play to the gallery

Appeal to spectators for maximum approval, as in He peppers his speeches with humor and wisecracks about his opponent, clearly playing to the gallery . In this term gallery refers to the cheapest seats in a British theater and hence the least sophisticated audience. [Late 1800s]

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Surayya	-	Arabic
Talon	-	English (Modern)
Alexandrina	al-əg-zan-DREE-nə (English)	Portuguese, English (Rare)
Tadeusz	tah-DE-uwsh	Polish
Kohinoor	-	Various
Vano	-	Georgian