"We're here tonight to honor Tom Hanks..."
January 8, 2014 8:28 PM   Subscribe

 
Big's not really a comedy.

I wonder if maybe they had Bosom Buddies in there and it got the chop because one simply does not mention Bosom Buddies.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:42 PM on January 8, 2014


Hanks is pretty laid back about Bosom Buddies, Turner & Hooch, and the like. He talks about that kind of stuff on his Nerdist interview.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:17 PM on January 8, 2014


Martin's speech for Paul Simon's Kennedy Center Honor in 2002 is even funnier.
posted by New Frontier at 9:27 PM on January 8, 2014 [1 favorite]


"You know, a lot of people come to me and they say, "Steve, how can you be so fucking funny?" There's a secret to it, it's no big deal. Before I go out, I put a slice of bologna in each of my shoes. So when I'm on stage, I feel funny."

Steve Martin is a genius - busy and uneven. Half of his work I wish he hadn't done, the other half I wish he'd do more of.
posted by vapidave at 9:58 PM on January 8, 2014 [2 favorites]


got a condo made of stone-uh

this must have been really funny but i wasn't allowed to stay up late enough to see it.
posted by Colonel Panic at 10:12 PM on January 8, 2014 [1 favorite]


He's always been a funny dude, and has sailed into his golden years with a lot of class and grace. OK who here loved LA Story, despite it being what it was?
posted by Windopaene at 10:14 PM on January 8, 2014 [12 favorites]


Steve Martin's turn on The Muppet Show is one of the strangest they've done, and that includes the terrific ones they did with John Cleese (which he co-wrote and where he plays straightman to the whole horde of them), Spike Milligan (where he upstages the whole lot of them -- !) and Dudley Moore (where he directly participates in the B-plot of the episode).

The premise is, the show for the evening has been cancelled. Kermit's taking the opportunity to audition new acts, he invites the audience to stick around and watch if they want. As a result, it's the only episode of the Muppet Show with no laugh track. The laughing you hear is the Muppet Show staff reacting to what they see. And it's got several bits of classic Steve Martin, one of the most brilliant comedians ever seen.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3
posted by JHarris at 11:41 PM on January 8, 2014 [10 favorites]


Steve Martin's turn on The Muppet Show is one of the strangest they've done

AV Club agrees
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 4:25 AM on January 9, 2014


A few weeks ago I found A Wild and Crazy Guy and Let's Get Small on vinyl at my local record store for 3 bucks each. Best thing that's happened to me in months.
posted by Rangeboy at 6:50 AM on January 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


OK who here loved LA Story, despite it being what it was?

Loved LA Story. Own two copies on DVD. What is this "despite" you speak of?

The only criticism I could come up with is that it's sort of a vanity project because it's a love letter to his then-wife Victoria Tennant. But it's such a great love letter! And it's really quite a serious examination of the foibles we all convince ourselves of. That first line shines down through the movie: "Let us just say I was deeply unhappy, but I didn't know it because I was so happy all the time."
posted by aureliobuendia at 8:47 AM on January 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


The problem with Steve Martin is that he allowed all this crap about comedy and standup and acting and being in plays and writing novels to deny the world - for decades, mind you - a damn fine bluegrass banjo picker.
posted by Naberius at 8:55 AM on January 9, 2014 [3 favorites]


Watching L.A. Story feels very different to me now, because it is a love letter...to the woman he later divorced. I wonder how Martin feels when he watches it now?
posted by Chrysostom at 8:57 AM on January 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


OK who here loved LA Story, despite it being what it was?

I'm a Bowfinger man, myself.
posted by KingEdRa at 9:35 AM on January 9, 2014 [2 favorites]


The Jerk is all that need be known to cement Steve Martin's genius status.
posted by stenseng at 10:38 AM on January 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


I genuinely love Shopgirl. And his standup albums should be encased in gold and shot into space.
posted by lumpenprole at 3:45 PM on January 9, 2014


L.A. Story is pure genius: funny, romantic, and downright poignant.

My two favorite scenes: posted by zooropa at 4:08 PM on January 9, 2014 [3 favorites]


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