Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martinis an American actor, comedian, writer, producer and musician. Martin came to public notice in the 1960s as a writer for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and later as a frequent guest on The Tonight Show. In the 1970s, Martin performed his offbeat, absurdist comedy routines before packed houses on national tours. Since the 1980s, having branched away from stand-up comedy, Martin has become a successful actor, as well as an author, playwright, pianist and banjo player,...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionComedian
Date of Birth14 August 1945
CountryUnited States of America
I thought 'Borat' was a breakthrough comedy, because it was really funny. It wasn't some studio-produced script with 14 writers.
Comedy is a distortion of what is happening, and there will always be something happening.
With comedy, you never know until you put it in front of an audience. You shoot it and a year later you have no idea if it's going to work. And then you get the response. It's great when it's good.
Comedy may be big business but it isn't pretty.
In my banjo show with the Steep Canyon Rangers, I do do comedy during that show. It'd be absurd just to stand there mute and play 25 banjo songs.
I took literally everything I knew how to do on stage with me, which was juggling, magic and banjo and my little comedy routines.
I always felt the audience sorta tolerated the serious musical parts while I was doing my comedy.
I can juggle. I started juggling as a kid. And when I worked at Disneyland, I knew a juggler there named Christopher Faire, and he taught me how to juggle. I used it in my comedy act for a while.
Working at the magic shop really gave me a sense of comedy because it was all jokes.
Comedy is not pretty.
Performing music is a way to do comedy, but without the obligation to do a solid hour, hour and half of a standup. I could intersperse it with music, so it became a really good format for me.
I did stand-up comedy for 18 years. Ten of those years were spent learning, four years were spent refining, and four years were spent in wild success. I was seeking comic originality, and fame fell on me as a byproduct. The course was more plodding than heroic.
With comedy, you have no place to go but more comedy, so you're never off the hook.
I didn't come from a wealthy family. I had no money. Maybe it goes back to naivete which is your greatest asset when you're young. If I was starting in comedy today and if it didn't work the first time, I'd probably quit. But I kept at it, kept at it.