Short, Martin gibe their way to Riverside show
To the world, they’re comedy legends. To each other, great friends, good-natured punching bags, and lately, stage partners.
Steve Martin and Martin Short first worked together 31 years ago on “Three Amigos,” a high mark for both men in their “very, very, very varied careers,” as Short put it in a recent, joint Journal Sentinel interview.
For Martin, 72, that’s included an absurd and brilliant stand-up career in the ’70s; starring roles in comedy gems like “The Jerk” (which he co-wrote) and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”; writing novellas, an acclaimed autobiography and plays (including the Amy Schumer-starring “Meteor Shower,” debuting on Broadway next month); and a recent, prolific bluegrass career spotlighting his impeccable banjo picking.
The 67-year-old Short’s own eclectic résumé includes roles on “SCTV” and “Saturday Night Live”; zany comic creations like Jiminy Glick and Ed Grimley; and a busy career in TV, movies and on Broadway that included a Tony-winning role in “Little Me” and the sci-fi crowdpleaser “Innerspace.”
Now the occasional co-stars (they also appeared on the “Father of the Bride” movies) frequently share a stage as part of a touring variety show dubbed “An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life.” Also featuring Martin’s go-to bluegrass collaborators the Steep Canyon Rangers, and Short’s touring pianist
Jeff Babko, the show came to the Riverside Theater in 2015, and will return Oct. 8.
“Marty and I are very grateful to have this show come along,” Martin told the Journal Sentinel. “We have this whole part of our lives that is a joy to do.”
The comedians talked about what they have in store for their Milwaukee show, taking a few playful jabs at each other along the way. This is an edited, condensed transcript of the interview.
Q. The last time you played Milwaukee together Martin you told the audience, “If we saved, we wouldn’t be here.” Since you’re coming back again, clearly you’re still burning through money.
Steve Martin: The truth is we have because we’ve added stuff to the show ... that cost a fortune to produce, like ... photographic slides. Q. Tell me how the show is different from a few years ago. What can people expect?
SM: We have a lot of new material and within the context of the old bits we have new jokes.
Martin Short: The most fun part of the show is how much we actually enjoy creatively working together. So if you were backstage as we walk up, we would be talking about a joke we didn’t think played, a new joke that we think played great, or another idea. There’s a lot of improvising in the show; sometimes you stumble upon something and say, “Oh great, that should go into the show.” So you’re talking about that process after every show over two years, and there are lots of different and varying things from the show you saw.
SM: Just for the record, I wasn’t listening to what Marty said.
MS: And that’s our secret onstage.
Q. At the last show, one of my favorite parts was when you guys threw incredible insults at each other; they’re really spot-on and really brutal. Do you talk to each other about what you’ll say, or do you just write your jabs without consulting each other?
SM: Well, the truth is, Marty doesn’t mind my insults because all of my insults are based in fact. He would have to deny reality, and he’s not that kind of person.
MS: No, no, no. The reality is Steve and I had 14,000 dinners in our lives since we made “Three Amigos.” SM: I paid for all of them. MS: That’s completely not true. Steve is known as one of the cheapest people in Hollywood. In fact, when the bill arrives, people think he has an impediment in his reach. That’s a little play on words there. I was going to say that all our dinners through the years and all our times together have always been that comedic ribbing that close friends do, so we take that energy to the stage.
Q. Does anything stand out about your time in Milwaukee or the audiences?
SM: I’ve been through the city many times all my life as a solo stand-up comedian, and as a traveling musician and now as a member of a comedy team where one-half of the team is fantastic.
MS: Often audiences vary ... but I’ve always found Milwaukee to be a fabulous place to play with great audiences and very hip.
SM: And if I may butt in, I love to go to the art museum when I’m there, because it’s the one place I know Marty won’t be.
Q. Steve, you have ... this blossoming banjo bluegrass career . ... What drew you to focus so much on it in the past few years to the point that you wanted to make it part of this show?
SM: I think it’s hard to do two hours of solid comedy, and Marty and I both do music, and I think that’s a good relief, because you just can’t laugh for two hours.
MS: Although may I add some of the bluegrass songs with Steve and the Steep Canyon Rangers are hysterically funny, so it’s not that you’re just pausing your funny bone when you hear music. SM: Thanks for chiming in on that. MS: I thought that was very clever, and it was very convincing, considering none of what I just said was true.
SM: You wouldn’t know hysterically funny from a funeral.
MS: Oh, that’s nice, Steve. Way to go. You know what, I hope you and Jon Lovitz have a great time in Milwaukee. I quit.
SM: Oh, good. You know, the show sells out. I sell the show out. And then people go, “Oh, Marty’s coming?” And then we lose seats.
Q. Why is it important for you guys to carve time out of your busy schedules to continue to work together?
MS: Remember at a certain point when you’ve got the rent covered, you’re really looking for the hang, how much fun you have, going out to dinner before the show or after the show, and just the process of it. We started off doing this by interviewing each other at the Just for Laughs festival in Chicago, and it struck us that we had this chemistry.
Q. So are there any hidden talents at this point that we haven’t seen from either of you?
SM: I have to say that I actually have no hidden talents.
MS: I think part of that hidden talent thing is if you have a desire. If someone forced me to direct a stage show for example, might I surprise myself and say, “Hey, I’ve never done that, and I’m pretty good at that.” Maybe. But the main thing is at a certain point in your life you realize you clearly don’t want to do something, or you would have.
SM: I did have a surprise thing. Somebody said, “Would you like to curate an art show?” And at first, I said, “No,” and then I thought about it and said, “Actually, it would be fantastic, and I know a lot about this artist.” I wouldn’t call it a talent, but it surprised me.
MS: I saw the show and I wouldn’t call it talent, but I know what you mean.