Steve Martin & Martin Short Talk Comedy, Alternate Careers & Regrets | Epic Conversation

- No, I saw that there were only two buttons were open, and your stomach was out, but it was cool. - It's the new look, it's brat. [drink trickles] It's brat. - It's brat. [lighthearted music] - So- - Erh! - I have a question for you. - I have a question for you. - Your name? - What's my name? - Marvin. - What's my middle name? - Hayter, H-A-Y-T-E-R. As opposed to the internet version of hater. - What is that? - Well, that's people that troll people, yeah. It's an interesting connection, because haters are trolls. And you have worked as a troll in Ireland living under a bridge. - That's true. And it's so great to be out in the open. - And do you, when you go to a leprechaun bridge, before you cross it, you're supposed to stomp three times to let the troll know you're there. - Four times if it's a foreigner. - Is that true? - Yeah. - Is that from- - "Schmigadoon". - [Steve] "Schmigadoon". - [Martin] "Schmigadoon", yeah. - So what was the first time we ever, no pun intended, hung out? [both laugh] - Well, that was when we were swimming at the Y. - No, I don't mean that. - No, you don't mean that. We were making "Three Amigos", we started bonding. - Bonding through humor, I would say. - Yes, one-sided humor. Then I remember we would have amigo-ettes dinners with our wives. - By the way, we don't say amigo-ettes anymore. Just, you know- - Why not? - We don't say kitchenette either. - We don't. - No, 'cause it implies a lesser of a kitchen. - I see. So anyway, we used to have these dinners, and we would laugh and laugh. - Yeah, I remember thinking, "God, I really like this guy." And then I remember when you had your first child, Catherine. - Yes. - And you presented her, and I thought, "I'm now gonna see this guy less", 'cause you had this kid to attend to. - I know, and you had that bitterness and anger. - Yeah, I still have it. - And then we just continued on, because I always have said, we've talked about this before, that you make movies, you're in Yugoslavia with a bunch of people for three months, everyone knows everybody, you get intimate with everybody, and then you never see them again. - That's right. - So we made a conscientious effort, I believe. - Yes. - To not have that happen. - But you really sparked something. I have a real question for you. - You do? - These Yugoslavian movies you've made, yeah, I haven't seen them. Did they come and go? - They were never released. - Or maybe just in Yugoslavia. - One was called "Spartan 2", and I was a warrior. - [Steve] Wow. - A little warrior. - So you were miscast? - Yeah, a little bit. But the point of it is, you make a decision. Will you continue on with someone. I think we've made five films together. I think probably my favorite are "The Father of the Bride" 1 and 2. That's meant so much to so many people, especially when they're about to get married. What is a typical fan statement that someone says? - Well, a lot of times, not a lot of times, sometimes, a young woman will come up and will say, "My father was having a very difficult time, "I was getting married "and he was having a difficult time with it, "and we watched 'Father of the Bride' together". And they said, "We would watch it like this." And I go, "What do you mean watch it like that?" "We'd block out Marty Short?" [Martin laughs] No, and they say that that movie helped them bond. But, you know, I, we, can't take full credit for that movie. - I can actually. - Yeah, oh. - Franck brought joy to people. - Well, you know, the original remake script was very different than what it ended up to be. - In what way? - The original script they had made the young woman kind of a motorcycle girl, and she had a very- - I thought that it was written by Nancy and Charles. - Yeah, I am telling that story right now. - Yeah, but you know what, I have a flight to- - Well, I don't. - So I can't, you know, most people tell a story- - Well, if you're so proud of this flight, can I see your ticket to verify, or are you just saying that? - No, it's an e-ticket. [Steve laughs] - It was pitched by the studio that Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers had a great interest in doing "Father the Bride". And so they came in and completely rewrote the script from scratch, made it much more touching, and I think absolutely did the right thing. - And when Chevy Chase said no, is that when they went to you? [Steve laughs] - Kieran Culkin was in "Father of the Bride 2", I believe. - And 1. - And 1, and he was 11 or 10. And he was a kid, so his acting was new. And then when I saw him on "Succession", I thought he was so great, and he went from this raffune- - Whatever that means. - Rough around the edges. - From Chaucer's era. - No, anyway, I'm not even gonna go there. - I found him raffune. - You asked me about, I used the word shamefacedly, then I started thinking, I don't know that there's a word shamefacedly, I know there's shamefaced, 'cause I see it on you all the time [laughs]. - That's right. - We have to mention the stellar Diane Keaton, - [Martin] The brilliant Diane Keaton. - Yeah, and I was talking to Meryl Streep just last night, as a matter of fact. - Well, so you know everyone famous. - Well, and I was saying there are two actresses I've worked with who never do a bad take, one is Meryl Streep, one is Diane Keaton. There's always something real unusual, new, in every take. - Totally agree. - And I'd like to say that about you. - Well, why don't you? Oh, I see, anything else? I have always found my experiences with people coming up to me, I can always tell what they've seen. Like if it's a 45-year-old guy, if I'm in an airport, I know it's "Three Amigos". - Ah-Huh. - If it's a young lady in her late 30s, she will talk about "Father the Bride". And if it's a guy who's 28 who looks like he's on meth, it's "Clifford". [Steve laughs] - I can always tell when someone's complimenting you and they haven't seen the movie. - Yeah. - For example, when I did my second film after "The Jerk" was "Pennies from Heaven". [Martin claps] Thank you. And it is a dark, dark drama. And people will come up and say, "I saw 'Pennies from Heaven', so funny." [Martin laughs] - Well, I think maybe just your face exudes comedy. - Well at that time. - [Martin] Yeah. - I'm very curious, because you've kind of always been interested in show business, that I know from your past and stories you've told, but I know there was a fork in the road at one time, because you also had an alternative possibility of a career. - Well, I grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, which is about 50 miles from the border. And so we would only watch American television through Buffalo. And therefore all these shows that I would see, and was influenced, it never seemed real that I could do it, 'cause I was in a different country. So I wanted to be a doctor, and not because I cared about science, I was just a fan of Chad Everett's work on "Medical Center". And then I went into pre-meds for two years and realized this is a mistake. So I switched to social work, and then had more time to do theater in university and left an actor. It was kind of a perfect four-year experience. - And your first little hint that you might be funny? - Well, I grew up in a funny family, but certainly- - Like I did. - Yes. So you actually had a hand mic at the dinner table. - Yeah. - Who likes dating? [Steve laughs] Did you ever do that act? Now, what about you, did you always wanna be in show business? You were a magician early. - I didn't know anything about show business, I didn't even know what that was. But I did know I liked comedy. You could do all kinds of psychological reasons of being a show off or getting attention, but I just liked comedy, and I loved Laurel and Hardy, we both loved Jerry Lewis. - Right. Lucy, I love Dick Van Dyke. - Dick Van Dyke was unbelievable. - Were geniuses. Even as a young actor, I used to put D-V-D beside a certain speech, meant do Dick Van Dyke, or I'd put SL, Stan Laurel. - Wouldn't that be D-D-V-D? Do Dick Van Dyke? - No, Dick Van Dyke. Okay, D-D-V-D-W, do Dick Van Dyke well. - Yeah. Now, I know one of the earliest things that happened in Toronto was momentous, the production of "Godspell", tell me about that. - Yes, well, I was still in university, and I now decided to take a year off to try acting. And I auditioned for a show, "Godspell", it was 1972, I think it was March 25th the day I got it. And I remember it was very interesting, you'll like this part, that the whole, they only hired 10, and it was Gilda Radner, it was Andrea Martin, it was Eugene Levy, Paul Shaffer, myself, and Victor Garber was Jesus. I remember that was a day that stands out in infany, as FDR would say, how do you pronounce that word again? - I don't know, that's fantastic. - Great, and tell me about your first big job. - My first big job, I've had several first big jobs. - Really, so this is a long story? - No, my first big job was getting work at Disneyland. And then in that little parentheses was getting a job at The Magic Shop at Disneyland, because then, no, Marty, then I was able to perform for people. I was demonstrating card tricks, and doing that sort of thing. - [Martin] Interesting. - Then I got a job at Knott's Berry Farm. - That's where Knottsby came in. - You can't do my bit. - No, I'm not doing your bit. - No, I would say it "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour". I was 21 and I got a job, in a complicated way, working at the "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour". - That was great. And you've always been a communist? [Steve laughs] - Comedy writer? - Oh, comedy writer. - I do have a regret. - What? - About the "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour". I was 21, I was a young writer, and the mantra of the age was never trust anyone over 30. - Right. - And so, in this fluke situation, I got hired as a comedy writer, and I'm like the young writer, I'm 21 years old. There were the older writers who had been there for years working with them. And there was a little bit of animosity toward us, the younger writers. But there were two writers on there, Hal Goodman and Al Goldman, and they were old-time comedy writers. Years later, now I'm listening to some of my favorite old-time radio shows, like Jack Benny, and they go "Written by Hal Goodman and Al Goldman". And I go, "Wow, how stupid was I "that I didn't go to them and say, 'Talk to me'". - I think it's completely natural though. It is stupid. - Thank you. - And you are stupid. - Yeah, thank you. - But, no, I think that I was the same person, when I was in my 20s, I didn't trust anyone over 30. Now, I don't trust anyone over 90. - [laughs] Because you don't know they're gonna be there the next day. - Well, I can't imagine. - Jiminy Glick has had a revival. - [Martin] He has. - It started as you would do interviews as this character Jiminy Glick, who was kind of the most ignorant, [Martin laughs] offensive interviewer, who really didn't know his subjects. When did that start? How many years ago did that start? - I had a talk show for King World, and I wanted to create a character that would go to junkets. - And then you got the "Jiminy Glick in Lala Land", which was a show that you did. - No, that was a movie. - A movie, it was? - Yeah. - Huh. - And you were in it, by the way. - I know I was in it. - Yeah. - But I thought it was also a half-hour TV show. - Boy, you've really done your homework. - I have. I'm Jiminy Glick. - It was a half hour show on Comedy Central [laughs]. - And then did a movie and everything. And then we do it in our show in sort of ad liby way. And then you had a big comeback with it on Jimmy Kimmel. - Well, I don't know if it was a big comeback, but I certainly was on Jimmy Kimmel. - And there was, not a disagreement, because you're hosting the show for four nights. Question came up, should I do the whole show as Jiminy Glick? And my opinion was, "Well, once you get out there, "you're kind of stuck in the outfit." So I would recommend doing a little piece. But you did it as all of Jiminy Glick, and there was this huge support and revival. - Well, you've always been there to- - To steer you wrong. - To give me suggestions, and to steer me wrong, and it's been one of your great charms. - But anyway, so now it's back, so what in your long history with Jiminy Glick is your toughest interview, or, no, your most delightful, present company excepted. - They were all great. We did a great one with Spielberg. I loved the one we did with Mel Brooks where I was able to ask him, "What's your big beef for the Nazis?" But they were all delightful, and yours was hysterical. - I found the less the interviewee does, the better for the show. - [Martin] Right. - Is that kind of accurate, 'cause you don't try to top Jiminy Glick. - I remember interviewing Alec Baldwin, and we did it eight minutes, and then we took a break, and I said, "So what shall we do now?" And he said, "Ask me about women." And I said, "Okay, so you worked with Hillary Clinton." "When she's banging on your door at 2:00 in the morning." - He was saying that? - Yeah. "Needing it", "Really, what about Meg Ryan?" "Same thing." Anyway, "Dianne Feinstein?" "Oh my God." - He's a funny guy actually. - Hilarious. So "Only Murders in the Building" was co-created by you. - Yes. - And you are involved in the creative of each season. - Hmm-mm. - And we've had these brilliant guest stars. Which guest star has either shocked you or delighted you the most, other than Meryl Streep? - As you know, we have had a roster of guest stars, especially comedy guest stars. I consider Meryl Streep a comedy guest star too. - [Martin] Absolutely. - Because she is absolutely hilarious. And kind of each one better than the other. I mean, you work with Melissa McCarthy, and she's being hilariously funny, and then suddenly you have this dark intimate scene with her, personal scene. - Well, she's a brilliant actor. - You realize why these people are stars, because they're really good. Can't really name one. I didn't know much about Eva Longoria, and she came in and killed it. - Killed it. - Killed it means good [laughs]. - Eugene Levy, my God. Kumail Nanjiani, how about Molly Shannon? - Molly Shannon is staggering in this episode, because she has this, "Now!" [laughs] - We had a screening last night, she was making me laugh everything she said. - Yeah. Now I know as a kid you were very interested in show business, and you had an inner life, shall we say. - [Martin] I did. - Up in your attic, tell us about that. - Well, this is a long story, but sure. So I'm like 15, I'm 16. So I had this imaginary show, Steve, Steve!