Steve Martin, Harry Bliss team up on ‘Number One Is Walking ’
NEW YORK (AP) — Steve Martin has this funny theory about artists and careers, spelled out with comic timing.
“You kind of can always tell if someone hits a wall by their haircut,” he says.
Pause.
“And I’ll explain what I mean.” Pause.
“Like if someone was doing really, really well in the ‘70s, they keep their ‘70s haircut. If they did well in the ‘80s, if they keep their ‘80s haircut. If they’re moving along, their haircut changes.”
Pause.
“Now, I’ve had the same haircut forever.” And there goes the theory.
If Martin’s parted white hair — its evolution more a matter of age than of style — reflected his creative choices, it would have been an ongoing fashion show. Few contemporary writer-performers have succeeded in so many art forms: standup comedy, movie acting, television acting, playwriting, novel writing, with time made throughout for banjo playing.
His passions now include cartoon captions, honed through a collaboration with the New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss, brought together at the recommendation of mutual friend and New Yorker art editor Francoise Mouly.
“She calls me and says that she was having dinner with Steve Martin and he had some cartoon ideas and was I interested in drawing a couple of them up,” Bliss said. “We started emailing back and forth
and he sent me a couple of ideas — one I remember was about a dog panhandling. And we both kind of laughed. There was that initial spark. It was fun.”
Martin and Bliss spoke recently during an afternoon interview in midtown Manhattan, across the street from the New York Public Library’s main branch. Friendly for the past few years — “five years ago” was Martin’s favorite response when asked for any kind of timeline — they have formed a professional kinship built upon Martin’s words, Bliss’ images and a shared love for the satire and well-populated illustrations of Mad magazine.