For many years, when an excited fan would approach Steve Martin and ask for an autograph or picture, the actor/screenwriter/novelist/playwright/comedian (whew!) would immediately hand the person a pre-printed, autopen-signed business card. It said, “This certifies that you have had a personal encounter with me and that you found me warm, polite, intelligent and funny.” Very much on point with Martin’s often dry sense of humor.
So, when he and partner-in-comedic-crime Martin Short appear via Zoom on my computer screen from their respective homes, I tell them I hope we can have a warm, personal encounter—within the strict 10-minute interview time frame.
“With Marty, he’ll warm up if you say ‘Marty, what are all those awards behind you?’” Martin says.
“Oh…they’re just things I’ve earned…” Short replies, moving his camera to showcase some accolades on a shelf.
“Uh-huh. Oh wait, my phone is ringing,” Martin counters, reaching out to bring into view what is presumably the golden Honorary Oscar he earned in 2013 at the Academy Awards for lifetime achievement, and putting it to his ear like a receiver. “Oh, hello?…Sorry!”
It could be a bit the pair pre-planned for all journalist Zoom interviews. Or it could be completely off the cuff. In any case, it’s hilarious and showcases the friends’ longtime gentle jabbing of each other’s careers and egos.
That relationship will be on full display in their show coming to the Smart Financial Centre on October 21. Even the title, You Won’t Believe What They Look Like Today!—whose marketing materials show them in on-purpose decades-old pictures—is tongue in cheek.
The show will feature rehearsed comedy bits and skits, improvisations, storytelling of their lives and careers, and musical interludes (Martin playing his beloved banjo solo and with the bluegrass group Alison Brown and Fair Weather Friends; Short singing with piano accompaniment from Jeff Babko). It’s a continuation of their last joint jaunts, the A Very Stupid Conversation tour and Netflix special An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life.
The duo, though, assure 2022 audiences that the current show is anything but a straight rehash.
“We make changes to our show constantly. We have a lot of new material, but there’s stuff we also keep in because we love to do it and the audience seems to want to see it,” Martin says.
Some of that stuff the audience wants to see is the pair’s gentle ball-busting of each other. It’s a rapidly-becoming lost art in an age where offense seems to be taken by everyone about everything, skins are thin, and insults verboten.
“We should try that, Marty! I say something and you’re genuinely offended!” Martin says.
So, in that spirit, what does Short really think when he sees Martin come toward him with that banjo in hand?
“I’m thinking…which door is the best exit!” Short says. “But actually, I’ve grown to love the banjo. In the old days, I just thought of a film where people are going through the Everglades trying to escape!” [note: that would be Deliverance, actually set in Georgia] “But I’ve learned about bluegrass and grown.”
And does Martin’s Spidey Sense go off when he foresees that Short is about to break into a loud song or his Katherine Hepburn imitation for no apparent reason?
“Well…ha! That can be anytime. In the middle of silent prayer. Or a memorial. You can’t put a lid on this little guy!” Martin says. To which–of course—Short replies in his perfect shaky Hepburn voice “Well…I love to hearing your response to that! And I wouldn’t do it at too many memorials.”
In the Netflix special, there’s a segment when Short as his acerbic talk show host character Jiminy Glick comments on pictures of celebrities and politicians appear on screen behind them. One certain U.S. senator from Texas made the slide show, and let’s just say that Glick’s comment was not exactly laudatory to the Dr. Seuss-loving, Cancun-traveling Ted Cruz.
“Ah, we’ve taken that one out. Should we put it back in for the Texas show?” Martin says.
“Yes!” Short replies. “But do people in Texas feel the same way about Ted Cruz that the rest of the country does?”
“We don’t want to hear boos!” Martin adds.
Steve Martin and Martin Short have been friends for more than 35 years, first meeting on the set of 1986’s comedy Three Amigos. The third Amigo, Chevy Chase, just turned 79 years old (Martin is 77 and Short 72). Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a sequel to date, no A Plethora of Three Amigos or Three Amigos and a Baby.
They also paired together in two Father of the Bride movies—Martin as harried patriarch George Banks and short as flamboyant wedding planner “Franck” Eggelhoffer.
Both men of course have longstanding connections with TV’s Saturday Night Live. Martin as a frequent host (15 times) and guest (19 times) stretching back to the original cast. He created characters like Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber, was one half of the “wild and crazy guys” (and Czechoslovakian) Festrunk Brothers and sang his 1978 hit “King Tut” decked out like the Egyptian leader.
Short—in his sole season during the mid-‘80s after years on the Canadian sketch show SCTV—gave audiences the nerdy Ed Grimley, Jiminy Glick, squirmy corporate exec Nathan Thurm, and Lawrence Orback, one half of the synchronized swimming team (with Harry Shearer) from a memorable short.
So, which of each other’s characters or sketches on that show is their own personal favorite?
“For me, there’s a lot of hilarious Steve Martin moments on that show. But the one that stands out most is the ‘Dancing in the Dark’ segment he did with Gilda [Radner]. That was just magical,” Short says, before waiting for Martin to return the compliment.
“Steve??” Short asks.
“Oh, um…nothing about Marty,” Martin says in mock answer. “I would have to say some of those SCTV characters were so weird, like Jackie Rogers, Jr. And the synchronized swimmers. Which is now, I would say, politically incorrect.”
“Why?” Short says, seemingly genuine.
“Well…maybe your character isn’t so mentally…there,” Martin replies.
“I don’t think that’s fair!” Short says. “You know, when I did that piece, I had just broken my shoulder and my collarbone and broke three ribs in a bike accident a month and a half before. And the reason we choreographed it that way [Short demonstrates moving his arms, but not higher than mid-chest] was because my arms couldn’t reach higher. A little-known fact!” [Note: The video seems to have been scrubbed from any official SNL or NBC outlets].
Today, the pair are also co-starring together on TV in the second season of Only Murders in the Building. On the Hulu-streaming comedy/drama show, they (along with Selena Gomez) play true crime buffs and podcast hosts who try to solve…well…murders that happen within the confines of the Arconia, their New York City apartment building. It’s been well received, and was recently renewed for a third season.
The show shares—at least thematically—plot matter with the long running British crime show Midsomer Murders, in which an awful lot of vicars and garden club ladies and local ne’er do wells get bumped off in the same quaint English village.
“Oh! I love that show! I’m on season 15!” Martin says. But when asked what the pitch would be on a sales brochure for the Arconia, the pair turn into instant Mad Men.
“I’d say ‘Buy an Apartment and Carry a Gun!” Martin offers.
“You Might Get to Live a Year!” Short adds.
Steve Martin was born up the road in Waco but says what he loves about Houston are its art museums [Martin is a well-known fine art collector and aficionado]. He singles out the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
“They even have a Rembrandt! And I used to know [MFAH Director] Gary Tinterow. He was a drawing expert here and we started to become friends and then he moved to Houston. I should invite him to the show. But I don’t know how to get a hold of him.”
When Martin is told that this connection can be made, he seems happy, but notes that COVID still means they may not be chatting it up over a glass or red wine and a rare Picasso line sketch.
Martin and Short were on a tour of the UK in early 2020 when the pandemic hit and shut it down immediately. They’ve since done some makeup dates, even for masked audiences.
“I thought they would be muted behind them, but they haven’t been!” Martin says. “It’s been an interesting thing. We even have new material to put in the show this weekend, and that always makes me excited.”
“Especially,” Short can’t help but add, “the Ted Cruz stuff.”
Steve Martin and Martin Short play 8 p.m. on Friday, October 21, at the Smart Financial Centre, 18111 Lexington. For information, call 281-207-6278 or visit SmartFinancialCentre.net. $89.50-$129.50.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
