April 14, 2006

• Be oblong and have your knees removed.
• I'd also like to put in a plug for Cruel Shoes.
• Fuckall, that last link is in no way associated with Steve Martin. My compleat apologies.
• That last link is also so incompleat. They've missed all kinds of stuff he's written.
• Man, I remember Steve Martin! He used to be so funny! Whatever happened to him?
• he was in a Beumb.
• *juggles cat toys*
• Steve Martin is hugely overrated.
• If by "overrated" you mean "incredibly influential" then, yes.
• The Spanish Prisoner is one of the best movie ever made.
• "incredibly influential" in the same way that Tab cola is.
• I agree. You know who else sucks? the Beatles, and puppies. And oxygen. ooh, look how edgy we are!
• You're comparing Steve Martin to the Beatles? Sorry, no.
• yeah but he does stand up well against puppies... and you should see what he did with kitties.
• Well, back when I was a young pup, everybody had memorized Wild and Crazy Guy and Let's Get Small, word for word, nuance for nuance. The more dedicated among us also learned Comedy is Not Pretty, but that was nearing the end of the run. We still use some of those bits today as a sort of slang between us. That's what I mean by hugely influential. We understood zany. It was smart but goofy - it was anti-authoritarian during a "revolutionary" culture without being threatening or cruel. (Well, except for the shoes.) After Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid I think we all realized it was over, but every one of us still enjoys it when he succeeds and the cachet of his civility is just bonus. That cat was the best fuck I ever had, too.
• The "Chy hates X" joke hasn't ever gotten old, EVER. It's funny in EVERY SINGLE fucking THREAD! I can't wait to see him complain about matzah in the next thread, it's THAT GOOD!
• "have you seen what they charge for carpet these days?...I think I'll just buy two squares and strap them to my feet"
• There's a class of American 'comics' who aren't -- Martin's one of them.
• Tab cola had a profound influence on my life.
• There's a class of American 'comics' who aren't -- Martin's one of them. I like The Man with Two Brains.
• I will settle for a man with a single brain. Just so it works.
• The Jerk was hilarious. So was Pure Drivel.
• Reminds me that i should watch The Jerk
• Martin is kind of like the folk music of comedy; he has a lot of talent but he exists in a world not everyone likes to visit. Pure Drivil and Let's Get Small are two of my favorite comedy texts of all time.
• I thought the bits in The Jerk were funnier when I heard them on Let's Get Small.
• Steve Martin only means anything to Americans. Outside of USA, nobody thinks he's that spesh, if they've even heard of him. The fact that he keeps making movies that are truly fucking awful doesn't help. Now, Monty Python, the Goons, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor; these are truly influential comedians. These people really influenced comedy, globally, not just me and a couple of my mates swapping punchlines over a crate of Pabst in Poughkeepsie.
• ying tong iddle I po.
• I'd buy that Steve matters more to Americans. His stand-up spoke to a certain understanding of ourselves as Americans that was perfectly timed and twisted funny. Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce, don't have that kind of timing. You could argue they don't use it, but that's beside the point. Steve was/is smart, calculating, excellent and generous - as a comedian. So I'm still interested to see what he's got to say. Because he was that good at a very difficult art. That he's made such a range of work afterwords just speaks to his multidimensionality even if it doesn't strike home. Richard Pryor et. al. were more influential to the natives of Crapsuckistan. So? I live in fucking Poughkipsee and if you can do the cat toy bit the right way, I know you know.
• To be honest, though, he has made a ton of crap films. Even he admits that he should have had his head examined for doing Sgt. Bilko. But he's also produced some brilliant work.
• I was surprised when I learned he was just an actor in most of them. I used to think he wrote everything, assumed he'd produced a lot, etc. But then I think "LA Story" and "Bowfinger" were the only post - "Dead Men" ones - oops no "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" - that I've seen.
• Shoot, and Grand Canyon
• Language is the most important .... um ....
• Favourite Martin video (of the ones i've seen) is "Steve Martin Live" This is his live standup from 25 years ago and I remember when i watched it for the first time, that hey, this guy is an original. In recent years, he's become more of a "regular" actor, he's traded that originality for mainstream sentimentality.
• Actually I think he's just wanted to move far away from standup, but the public sees the movies (and perhaps like me assume he had something to do with the writing) much more than his actual writing, or his interest in painting.
• After reading some of the background articles, you're right Pete. Looks like he just got tired of being in standup and wanted to move on...
• Men With Banjos Who Know How to Use Them (Featuring Steve Martin) on David Letterman
• How'd I miss this thread? I love much of Steve Martin's stuff. Like this. Har! He has an elegant goofiness. Or a goofy elegance.
• Man, the growing omnipresence of YouTube makes Napster look like the slimmest of passing fads.