Steve Martin promises a 'forgettable' Sunday evening in Rosemont
What do you ask someone who's been incredibly famous for the better part of four decades?
What question can you pose that he hasn't already answered many, many times before?
And that's the trouble with interviewing Steve Martin.
Ahead of his show with longtime pal and fellow comedian Martin Short Sunday at the Rosemont Theatre, ironically titled “An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life,” Martin spent a few minutes indulging some requisite questions and cracked a few jokes at his own expense during a 10-minute phone chat.
He even laughed at my joke.
Here is an edited transcript:
Q. The program is called “An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life,” but how do you ensure you can deliver total memory loss?
A. (Writer's note: This is where I crack him up!) Hopefully because they're laughing a lot. We always try to start from a negative position because then you don't promise too much, so you can't lose. But we have a lot of fun doing the show together.
Q. Can we expect any surprises?
A. We don't have any surprises planned, but the whole show is a surprise because it's very new and we're always surprised and ad-libbing things and coming up with things on the spot.
Q. You and Martin Short clearly have great chemistry, but what annoys you about him?
A. You know, Marty Short is one of the most joyful, unflappable people I've ever met. He really lights up a room. He can talk to anybody and be charming with anybody, and I just don't have that quality. And I really hate him for it.
Q. What is it about the banjo?
A. I've had a love affair with the banjo since I was 16. It was popular with folk music, which was very popular in the '60s ... the banjo was in use a lot in trios. From there on I just loved the sound of it. I was finally able to get a banjo and I was just determined to learn it I just loved it so much. I loved its emotion. I loved that it could be played quickly, slowly. I found it a very emotive instrument.
Q. Is there someone you would love to work with, but never have?
A. There's a lot of great directors. I just got to work with Ang Lee and that's something I never thought would happen with me. And it was a real joy, so in that sense, I'm really fulfilled. There's so many good directors out there, and now I'm blanking on his name, the director of “Moonrise Kingdom.”
Q. Wes Anderson.
A. Yes! Exactly. I love his movies. So does my wife, so she's really encouraging me.
Q. Have you tried to create a project just to be able to make something happen with someone you wanted to work with?
A. When I was 16 I put on a vaudeville show just so I could be in it. I had to produce an entire show, just so I could have four minutes. (Writer's note: This is where he cracked me up.)
Q. You only gave yourself four minutes? You're a tough producer.
A. Well, I didn't know much about timing then.
Q. Because you received such accolades for “The Spanish Prisoner,” many expected you to take more dramatic roles in the future, but they never materialized. Why?
A. The Ang Lee picture is quite dramatic. It's based on a book called “Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk” and I play the owner of a football team, so it's a very, uh, I won't say serious role, but it's a real person and he's not being funny. The movie is very interesting because it's shot in 3-D and it's a drama. I think it's one of the first exclusively dramatic movies to be shot in 3-D. Unless you consider “House of Wax.” (Writer's note: I should have laughed harder at this joke.)
Q. Do you find it harder to be funny at times of great tragedy or easier because everyone really just wants to laugh and feel better?
A. My one experience with that, where I actually had to be funny approximate to a tragedy, was when JFK was shot. I was doing shows at the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott's Berry Farm. I assumed the shows would be canceled because everyone was so stunned, but the owner said, “No, we're going on.” And I was really surprised by how much the audience could laugh. And I thought, “I'm going to remember this, that there is a need for escape.” And the second time it happened was when I was hosting the Oscars the night the Iraq War broke out. And I remembered that experience and thought, “I don't have to worry too much about it.” I did some acknowledgment, and then went on with the show and it seemed to be fine.
Q. Which movie are you proudest of?
A. It's constantly changing. There's probably a top three or four, but certainly “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “Roxanne,” and “The Three Amigos” turned out to be a really popular movie. “The Jerk” was my first movie, and I wrote it with a couple of guys, and it seems to have some enduring viewers anyway. I know I'm leaving some out. Certainly “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” I remember. The joy of making those movies I remember too and that's really part of why you like them, because you have such great memories of them.
Q. Were all the F words in the “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” rental car speech in the script?
A. Yes! Absolutely. And in fact, I suggested to John Hughes afterward I said, “You know, you ought to do one without it so if they show this on an airplane or on TV there is that cover.” I don't know if they show it on TV or cut the scene or what, but there's an alternate scene shot without the F word.
Steve Martin and Martin Short: “An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life”
Where: Rosemont Theatre, 5400 N. River Road, Rosemont, <a href="http://ticketmaster.com">ticketmaster.com</a>
When: 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22
Tickets: $45-$160