This past week marked the celebration of Steve Martin receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute (A.F.I.) for a long and impressive career in film and comedy. While there are some who are likely unsure as to why Martin is a legend, I am here to give a brief look into a storied career full of great moments. The following 10 pieces may barely scratch the surface, but I highly encourage you to check out more of his work and get ready for the broadcast that will air tonight on TBS (check local listings). What he has given is an impressive look into intellectual absurdist humor unlikely anyone before or since. So, let's get a move on with 10 times that Steve Martin was the best.
"A Wild and Crazy Guy"
It seems most important to begin a tribute to Steve with a look at where he inevitably got his break: in stand-up. Having gotten his start on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, he quickly formed a routine of gags based around magic tricks that went horribly wrong or were very unimpressive. As he developed as an artist, he began to create a look (man in a white suit with an arrow through his head) and his share of catch phrases ("Excuse me!"). He made lowbrow humor into high intellectual comedy that culminated in a series of great albums that collected these bits. Among his most beloved is "A Wild and Crazy Guy," which was based off of the Festrunk Brothers character that he created on Saturday Night Live. His set is so tight and his asides so confident that it is impossible to imagine anyone not liking him, which was largely the case. The album was a milestone in stand-up comedy as well as definitive proof that he was not just funny, he was a phenomenon before transitioning almost exclusively into a film career.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Say what you will about the highly flawed and sometimes embarrassing ode to Beatlemania from The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton. It definitely embraces the creative side of the band's output and even makes for some of the least pretentious and most interesting covers that the music scene has ever had. Among the highest achievements is the rarely singing Steve Martin belting out "Maxwell's Silver Hammer." If you wonder what that sounds like, just imagine what quizzical sounds like. He isn't the best singer, but the passion that he throws into the cover manages to create one of the best covers of all time (alongside Bill Cosby's equally ridiculous "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"). The Beatles worked because they were willing to be silly and creative: a perfect fit for Martin.
Saturday Night Live
The comedian hosted the variety sketch show an impressive 15 times (Alec Baldwin beats him by one). In fact, it is easy to mistake him for being an early cast member because of how often he was on. Still, it is always a noteworthy episode when he decides to make an appearance. One of the cases ended up creating one of the most iconic, or at least one that produced a lot of "Best of Steve Martin" DVD material, episodes in the show's run. In season 3, episode 18; Martin was joined by the first ever appearance of The Blues Brothers. This was also the episode that introduced the world to King Tut: easily his most memorable sketch. It is one of the very rare "perfect" episodes according to fans. While he would also do other routines, most were transcendent to his stand-up career - though we were always glad when he pulled out that banjo.
The Jerk
There are many that claim that Steve Martin peaked in 1979 with his lead role debut. It is true that he never found a role that was as immediately satisfying as Navin Johnson. He was the poor black child who went from rags to riches to rags while getting into various nonsensical situations. His dog was named Shithead and it featured one of Bernadette Peters' greatest film roles (as well as this blog's name). For the most part, this is the purest form of Martin's comedy in which situations no matter how silly could be played with a straight face and a certain discomfort. You don't have to follow the plot to love it. You just have to have a sense of humor, and that is what the film does better than anyone else. There's too many iconic lines to really get into it here.
Pennies From Heaven
Here's where his career could have gone into an existential crisis too easily. Having achieved acclaim for The Jerk, Saturday Night Live, and a ridiculously successful stand-up career, what exactly do you do next? In 1981, he did the unexpected and participated in a musical tribute to the 20's. While it has become a sort of sore thumb in his career, the choice to do more serious work following a very funny career is astounding and a high mark in his career, even if it doesn't rank among his greatest. While he would go back to comedy quite quickly and often, the choice to do more serious work meant that he was willing to challenge himself as well as his audience in ways that reflected his growing separation from his goofy beginnings. It also showed that he had charisma.
The Muppet Movie
It isn't often that a felt puppet gets considered for Oscar consideration quite like Miss Piggy. Then again, there hasn't been anything quite like The Muppet Show. The first of many films set the bar for what this franchise would be on screen. While there were a lot of cameos from the likes of Richard Pryor, Bob Hope and even Mel Brooks, it never lost focus of its anthropomorphic protagonist. With Steve Martin being a long time collaborator, it makes sense that he gets to have a cameo while wearing shorts as a servant who gives Kermit and Miss Piggy bad wine. It was one of his early dives into children's movies (a venture with mixed results), and ranks among his best proving once again that a simple cameo can go a long way.
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
In an era where green screens and computer animation are commonplace in weekly cinema, it is interesting to know that Steve Martin was decades ahead of the trending curve. With this comic noir, he inserts himself into classic films with some of the most iconic actors of a generation long removed. In some cases, he stars alongside very dead people. It is an achievement in direction and technical effects as well as more evidence that even at the height of his cinematic powers, he was willing to challenge his audience. It may be a deep cut that mostly cinephiles will appreciate, but he adds just enough silly jokes to keep the noir from feeling too isolating.
L.A. Story
In recent years, Steve Martin won an Honorary Oscar. While many wouldn't associate his work as being worthy of an Academy Award, I wish to hold up L.A. Story as the unsung masterpiece. Having penned the screenplay, Martin's loving ode to all things Los Angeles takes simple actions such as driving on the freeway and turns them into comedic insights into a culture that has always been worthy of lampooning. It is both his most mature, romantic, comedic, and assured film that he has ever released and one that is more deserving of remembrance not only in his cannon, but also as one of the great films about Los Angeles as a city as well as an attitude.
The Academy Awards
The common complaint among viewers is that The Academy Awards have terrible hosts. While there have been more prolific names than Steve Martin (only hosting three times), there have been few as immediately memorable. Depending on your love for his shtick, he can simply riff in his familiar assurance and still manage to entertain. No moment however was more memorable than in 2003. Michael Moore had won Best Documentary for Bowling for Columbine. Giving a speech about a fictitious world, he was booed off of the stage. Following that speech, Martin summarized the situation by claiming that Moore had just been helped into the trunk of his car. It was an edgy joke that worked and one that unfortunately isn't done more often at awards shows.
"Born Standing Up"
One of the lesser appreciated sides of Steve Martin is what he has done away from the camera. He has written various prose like "Shopgirl" and "Cruel Shoes" and has made an impressive career as a banjo player. However, he also turned in one of the best celebrity biopics with a look at his years in the stand-up game. In candid detail, he explains his early roots as a magician working at Disneyland and how fame eventually ruined him. It is a heartbreaking, honest story that showed that Martin, for as successful as he was, knew when to quite stand-up. It just happens that he is thankfully really good at writing prose about his downfalls that you'll laugh occasionally as well.
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