“Through the years, I have learned that there is no harm in charging oneself up with delusions between moments of valid inspiration.”

Howdy folks,

Despite some of his rather insipid films, Steve Martin really is one of the most talented people in show business, whether it be singing, writing, acting, directing, standup, magic, dancing, and yes… even banjo.

1. Banjo
I’m a biased banjophile, so this is going in here first! Steve is a fantastic 5-string banjo player. (Yes, there are other kinds of banjos… don’t worry, I will have a post later with my favorite banjo type, the four-string tenor banjo). Here he is playing in a small group which includes Roger McGuinn of the Byrds.

There is another great clip of him playing his own composition, The Crow with Béla Fleck. (Fleck has a lot of neat albums–not limited to bluegrass– and plays a lot with Victor Wooten, the greatest bass player there is. Check him out)

2. Writing
He sure did turn a phrase in this great scene from The Jerk. Incidentally, this movie was directed by Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner’s father. Carl starred and acted in some hilarious shows in the ’50s and ’60s (including Dick van Dyke) and he also plays the old fellow, Saul, in Ocean’s Eleven, et al.

3. Singing
Also from The Jerk, in this scene with Bernadette Peters, Steve strums a uke and sings a very endearing tune, “Tonight You Belong To Me.” It was a mild hit for a lesser group of the 1950s, Patience and Prudence.

4. Magic
In a very early TV appearance, Steve does his dud magic act schtick. One of his first jobs was as a writer for “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour”, a great variety show in the late ’60s. Yes! In his 20s, he still had dark hair, believe it or not.

Also, check out his infamously hilarious magic routine for Carson: Flydini

5. Standup
An amusing routine with balloon animals. L.A., 1979.

6.-7. Acting/Directing
I went ahead and combined these for Steve’s short, “The Absent Minded Waiter”… quite the star studded affair. Marvin Hamlisch also wrote music for the excellent film The Sting with Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Teri Garr was the Bavarian hottie in Young Frankenstein. Buck Henry worked on “Get Smart”, “SNL”, and the screenplay for The Graduate.

8. Dancing
And finally, wow… Steve is able to keep pace with one of the greatest tap dancers of all time, Gregory Hines. This was filmed in 1981, shortly after Steve had released a musical (which didn’t do very well, sadly). The song, “Fit As A Fiddle”, is near and dear to my heart… it was written in 1932 by Arthur Freed and Nacio ‘Herb’ Brown in 1932 for MGM and used in multiple movies over the years, finding its most prominent place in the greatest Hollywood musical ever, Singin’ in the Rain (which happened to be produced by Freed).

After many years of being single, Steve just got remarried in July, so good for him. And he also likes “Doctor Who”, so that’s a big plus in my book. So there you have it… Steve Martin is the man!

Be seeing you!

.:re:.

“What is a movie star? A movie star is many things. They can be tall, short, thin, or skinny. They can be democrats… or skinny.” — Steve Martin