Steve Martin - Live At The Troubadour 1976

May 22, 2023 8:01 AM

The chaos of Steve Martin's stand-up comedy in the 70s is legendary, and it's on wonderful display in Steve Martin - Live At The Troubadour 1976 [55m]. Physical, absurdist humor with some banjo tossed in. Filmed for HBO. Content Note: this is from nearly 50 years ago, and contains some objectifying but not completely awful language about women. There is a segment from 36m20s to 37m35s involving him "performing" a Native American song, but it is short and easy to skip.
posted by hippybear (40 comments total)

The sidebar showed an earlier appearance on the Tonight Show, and he's all decked out in a true '70s wide-lapel shirt. Interesting how over a short period of time he would refine his look to be increasingly conservative to maximize the disconnection with his humor.
posted by Ayn Marx at 8:54 AM on May 22, 2023 [1 favorite]

The thing about youtube is that it will now give you Steve Martin videos for the next decade. (And there's a lot.)
posted by Catblack at 9:23 AM on May 22, 2023 [5 favorites]

I haven't listened to it yet to confirm, but one of the YouTube comments notes that this is essentially Steve's Let's Get Small album material, which I listened to roughly a million times when I got it in 1977, when I was 13. That was a big year for me--this album and Star Wars. I still remember parts of it, which blows my mind. I think it was the only comedy album I ever bought with my own money.
posted by ceejaytee at 9:32 AM on May 22, 2023 [16 favorites]

Related
posted by chavenet at 9:50 AM on May 22, 2023

Does this one have the Cruel Shoes routine? I was thinking about that just the other day. I've always thought it was great, and yet for many years in life I have tried on the Cruel Shoes and bought them.
posted by Countess Elena at 9:50 AM on May 22, 2023 [9 favorites]

When I was a teen, Steve Martin's comedy albums were a huge influence on my sense of humor (along with George Carlin and Robin Williams).
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:51 AM on May 22, 2023 [8 favorites]

Steve Martin was a huge influence on my sense of humor as well, starting with probably his variety show work and early SNL appearances.

I've got tickets to see him and Martin Short do their thing in a week or two and I'm kind of excited to finally see him in person but I know it's mostly going to be an hour of him talking about being old. But I believe he does a banjo performance as an opener so there's that.
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:13 AM on May 22, 2023 [1 favorite]

I watched this on HBO when it was new; they had a ton of great comedy specials that were probably totally inappropriate for a 12 year old to watch.
posted by octothorpe at 10:18 AM on May 22, 2023 [2 favorites]

Just saw him and Martin Short and there's a lot of retrospective and "we're old" humor but there's still wackiness. The music's good if that's your thing as well.

Martin Short's main bit is more physical, wacky and out there than Steve Martin's though. I would love to hear other's opinions if they've seen it. Steve Martin's been there for so much of my life (57 yo) and I like a lot of his stuff but I've never been more than a casual fan.
posted by jclarkin at 10:30 AM on May 22, 2023 [2 favorites]

When I was 13 my parents and I moved to MN and I discovered their boxes of vinyl records and old record player. I didn't have the means or know-how to hook up the player to the high-fi, so I used to play records and just lay with my ear near the stylus. I listened to Wild and Crazy Guy so many times this way.
posted by matt_od at 10:30 AM on May 22, 2023 [14 favorites]

I recently listened to him reading his autobiography as an audiobook, and it was so good. It would probably make a great accompaniment to these videos, because you'd get all the context of what went into making them.
posted by EllaEm at 11:01 AM on May 22, 2023 [3 favorites]

This is third-hand, but it's still my favorite Steve Martin story. A friend of a friend used to be a UPS driver in Beverly Hills. Steve Martin was on his route, and he got packages like every day. My friend's friend would get buzzed in past the gate, and stand at the door waiting for Steve Martin to come sign. Apparently Steve Martin had a) big crystal glass panels in his doors and b) a bunch of pinball machines within view of the door. He'd be playing pinball when our guy got to the door, and he was really good. So the ball would last a long time, and meanwhile our guy is getting later and later for the rest of his route. Finally, when he lost a ball, Steve Martin would come to the door, and our guy is fuming. He'd open the door mid-set, and keep cracking jokes until our guy was busting up with him. Said this happened almost every time. He'd get genuinely furious, and then leave crying laughing.

Even if it's not true, I absolutely believe it could happen.
posted by PikeMatchbox at 11:48 AM on May 22, 2023 [20 favorites]

For the Steve Martin fans among us: His recent book Number One Is Walking is very cool. Sort of a memoir that tells the story of his film career in a series of New Yorker-style cartoons by Harry Bliss. Sounds odd, but it works.
posted by spilon at 12:00 PM on May 22, 2023 [2 favorites]

Let me second Number One is Walking, which I picked up at the library. It’s delightful.
posted by wittgenstein at 12:05 PM on May 22, 2023

Last year my young coworkers and I would talk about Only Murders in the Building quite a bit, as we were all fans. One day one of them came in all excited because she'd realized that Charles-Haden was also "the guy from Cheaper by the Dozen!"
posted by The corpse in the library at 12:42 PM on May 22, 2023 [3 favorites]

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is the movie you should suggest they watch.
posted by hippybear at 12:58 PM on May 22, 2023 [5 favorites]

All of Me and Roxanne are also both classics.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:20 PM on May 22, 2023 [1 favorite]

Kind of sad his old specials from the early 80s aren't entirely online. All Commercials has a lot of fun energy.
posted by Catblack at 1:31 PM on May 22, 2023

Last year my young coworkers and I would talk about Only Murders in the Building quite a bit, as we were all fans. One day one of them came in all excited because she'd realized that Charles-Haden was also "the guy from Cheaper by the Dozen!"

They might also enjoy LA Story, which co-stars that old lady from Sex and the City, which is a show their moms used to watch.
posted by The Tensor at 2:11 PM on May 22, 2023 [11 favorites]

Brings to mind a recent interview with Steve where he reminisces about his 1971 meeting with Elvis. [2.5min YT clip]
posted by fairmettle at 2:51 PM on May 22, 2023

I saw Martin at a casino theatre in Atlantic City in 1977. I think the Cruel Shoes were not until a couple or 3 years later. This was the heyday of King Tut and, like somebody said, some pretty cringey parodies of Native American culture. I can confirm that back in the day I thought it was absolutely howlingly funny.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 2:52 PM on May 22, 2023 [3 favorites]

Deadmen Don’t Wear Plaid and The Jerk. Two ends of the spectrum of his genius. See them while I make you a cup of my famous Joe.
posted by misterpatrick at 2:58 PM on May 22, 2023 [8 favorites]

The best thing about holding a party 47 odd years ago was having available Let's Get Small on vinyl. Come the wee wee hours, nothing could clear a room of party 'til dawn stragglers faster than dropping that on the turntable. It was magic. Utilitarian magic.
posted by y2karl at 3:36 PM on May 22, 2023 [2 favorites]

See them while I make you a cup of my famous Joe.

Just let me shave my tongue first.

I read a review once that said that, at its core, Steve Martin's act has always been about nostalgia in some form or another (usually turning nostalgia on its ear), and I can't unsee it. I guess you can take the boy out of Disneyland, but you can't take all the Disneyland out of the boy.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:19 PM on May 22, 2023 [1 favorite]

y2karl: The best thing about holding a party 47 odd years ago was having available Let's Get Small on vinyl. Come the wee wee hours, nothing could clear a room of party 'til dawn stragglers faster than dropping that on the turntable. It was magic. Utilitarian magic.

It helps to measure them by crawling into a balloon first.
posted by dr_dank at 7:24 PM on May 22, 2023

Come the wee wee hours, nothing could clear a room of party 'til dawn stragglers faster than dropping that on the turntable.

My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts served a similar function in a musical fashion. Albeit a few years later.
posted by hippybear at 7:26 PM on May 22, 2023 [3 favorites]

I always thought the clear the party anthem was "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" but to each their own.
posted by Ber at 7:35 PM on May 22, 2023 [3 favorites]

WOTEF risks a wee-hours drunken sing-a-long that results in bonds that keeps the party going forever.
posted by hippybear at 7:41 PM on May 22, 2023 [7 favorites]

I don't know what it says about me, but when I was 13 or so, I thought Martin was the greatest comic in the world (having just come off a high with Bill Cosby's comedy albums. I listened to his Let's Get Small record over and over and quoted it with my friends all the time.

Watching this now I just can't see what I found so hilarious. I mean, it's dated for sure, but a lot of dated comedy is still pretty funny. And I can't grok why the genius of Steve Martin has seemed to have left my sensibilities. I wanted to bad to be thrown back to laughing so hard my sides hurt.

Still, it was a blast from the past and I admit that he really was his own thing.
posted by qwip at 7:45 PM on May 22, 2023

"'Dead men don't wear plaid.' I still don't know what it means."

"You need a cup of my Java." The sigh.

His physical acting in All of Me is excellent.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:37 PM on May 22, 2023 [4 favorites]

I love Martin. Also, as the years go on the lead poisoning hypothesis makes more and more sense.
posted by fleacircus at 1:38 AM on May 23, 2023

The what?
posted by JoeZydeco at 4:41 AM on May 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

And I can't grok why the genius of Steve Martin has seemed to have left my sensibilities. I

Is this your card?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:04 AM on May 23, 2023

And I can't grok why the genius of Steve Martin has seemed to have left my sensibilities. I

Is this your card?

Ha, I think that might be it!
posted by qwip at 11:18 PM on May 23, 2023

> WOTEF risks a wee-hours drunken sing-a-long that results in bonds that keeps the party going forever.

In those days, my roomate and I kept a bottle of Malört in the liquor cabinet. Nothing clears off a drift of late-night stragglers like rounds of Malört shots.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 12:57 PM on May 24, 2023

Because you were fresh out of paint thinner?
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:35 AM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

I’m pretty sure I saw this on HBO back in the 70s as a 12-13 year old. My parents were not inclined to pay for HBO, but HBO had free preview weeks/weekends a few times a year so we kids got to see things we would not otherwise have. (The week they had Blazing Saddles was HUGE for my friend cohort.) Steve Martin’s goofiness was perfect for me at that age. I really think he should redo King Tut as King Chuck. (The intro really makes that SNL video, and it’s cool seeing Blue Lou and other members of The Blues Brothers Show Band and Revue in the sketch!)
posted by TedW at 1:17 PM on May 25, 2023

Interestingly, the first three albums were all recorded at The Boarding House, which is now a big apartment building, except for side B of Wild and Crazy Guy (WaCG, King Tut, etc.) at Red Rocks. I never noticed a crowd difference, so of course I'll have to listen to it again.

I'm curious about this set's differences from LGS, which is a true relic and an album I still have memorized, like all of the first 3 (70s kid). He said himself on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, that he stopped doing standup because he ran out of material, so he may have been a lot more formulaic and a craftsman of a single set at a time. Which is a throwback that goes to vaudeville and before where performers might have just a few unchanging bits that they did 6 nights a week for years.
posted by rhizome at 2:41 PM on May 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

Which is a throwback that goes to vaudeville and before where performers might have just a few unchanging bits that they did 6 nights a week for years.

Like everybody else in the world? [;)]
posted by y2karl at 5:01 PM on June 11, 2023

Yes, except it was a career!
posted by rhizome at 1:21 PM on June 13, 2023