NO OFFENCE, MI AMIGO
Martin & Short tease each other effortlessly
They got the title wrong, typically and self-deprecatingly: it most certainly won’t be An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life if you catch Steve Martin and Martin Short when they roll into Place des Arts on Sunday.
Go figure that two of the sharpest wits of several generations would hook up decades after successfully going solo and become the hottest comedy tandem around. Just when most performers their age contemplate retirement, Martin, 73, and Short, 68, have taken their act on the road for a few hundred shows over the last five years and have no plans to slow down. They have done more than 80 performances this year alone.
As amply evidenced in their Netflix special, which has the same title as the stage show, Martin and Short bounce off one another effortlessly, hysterically and lovingly. They pull no punches in pointing out each other’s neuroses and frailties. They also sing and dance, but stop short (for now, anyway) of putting seltzer down each other’s pants, in the words of the Mary Tyler Moore Show’s Chuckles the Clown.
Think of them as a postmodern Abbott and Costello.
The two first met more than 30 years ago working on Three Amigos, and later collaborated on the Father of the Bride movies. They have been tight ever since, so much so that they even have their colonoscopies together (along with Tom Hanks).
The genesis of their act goes back to the 2011 Chicago Just for Laughs fest, when Martin and Short interviewed each other onstage.
They kibitz that they’re “desperate for attention and needy as hell” and say that if they had saved money, they wouldn’t be here now, but don’t believe it. “The Jerk and the Gnome,” as they refer to themselves, are lapping up every minute of it. Their chemistry is sublime. Sparks fly as soon as the two hit the stage, and it all seems so spontaneous.
“The truth is that every comedian worth anything makes it look improvised,” Martin says in a phone interview with Short. “Chemistry is a hard thing to define. I’ve seen married couples on screen, including myself, have no chemistry with their spouses. It’s a mystery what defines chemistry, but I think Marty and I have it on screen and off screen.”
“We have had a long, long friendship and many funny dinners together with many funny people,” Short says. “So our natural kind of energy is to be funny and ironic together, always.”
“This is the first time that I’ve had free time in a long time, and it’s very interesting to devote my time and creative time to this one thing,” Martin says. “I was
starting to ask myself if I still had it to dream up one-liners, but this has been really fun.”
“And even when you have a creative idea that you’re convinced of but doesn’t work, that’s fun, too,” Short says.
Still, one gets the impression that they start ripping each other apart as soon as they get together. “We kind of do,” Martin says.
Such as Short referring to Martin’s pallor: “Mike Pence is so white, he makes Steve look like a member of Wu-Tang Clan.”
Martin relishes pointing out that he has won an Academy Award, five Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, the Mark Twain Award and Kennedy Center honours, while Short has won squat.
In fact, that’s not true: Short has won a Tony Award.
“But, very kindly, for the sake of the joke, Marty won’t say he’s won the Tony,” Martin says.
“No, no, no,” Short stammers. “A Tony must always win out over self-promotion.”
And a comedy show breaks out on the phone, as Martin explains their Montreal performance will not be a repeat of their Netflix special: “We have a lot of new bits and new jokes and new funny songs. … This is Steve speaking. Marty has the high, feminine voice.”
Martin does allow that Hamilton-born Short disproves the classical conception that Canadians are bland and boring. In acknowledging that Canada has taken shots from U.S. President Trump in free-trade negotiations, Short states he won’t be bullied.
“To take a beating from Donald Trump is not something that anyone wants to take lying down,” Short says. “Or sitting up.”
“Marty can be kind of shocking sometimes,” Martin says. “What sometimes surprises me is his willingness to offend.”
Short is effusive in his praise for Martin’s comedy genius: “He has this particular Steve-ness.”
“Actually, if there were any truth to anything we say about each other or to each other, it wouldn’t work,” Martin says. “It’s completely in fun.”
“Yes,” Short jumps in, “but the (SPF) on Steve’s sunscreen really is infinity.”