Word: martinisms
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...these people have what it takes to become a successful comedian. First, you have to be funny; second, you have to be able to maintain your comic appeal for a long time--what good is a profession that you can pursue for only a few years? Although comedian Steve Martin may not be able to long maintain his frenetic style, he is now at the top of the profession. His fans emulate his manic delivery as well as his jokes, and Steve Martinisms are now popping up in conversations all the time. With the Martin delivery, an expression like...
...Martin has enjoyed an incredible success on television. Martin, one of the most popular guest hosts on the Tonight Show, recently broke from the traditional routine of walking on to the stage to deliver his monologue. Instead, he drove out in a small sports car, raced across the stage to say hello to that night's stand-in for Ed McMahon and then drove back across the stage to greet the band...
...Much of Martin's comedy relies on sight gags, which he pulls off very well. He may walk onto the stage and claim to be a professional comedian and then proceed to knock over the microphone. Or he may display his bunny ears or an arrow stuck through his head. At a concert earlier this year at Symphony Hall, Martin wanted to give his audience their money's worth and offered to show them "something you don't see every day." At that point he began to jump up and down and scream like a depraved lunatic...
...something like that on Martin's first, and so far only, record, "Let's Get Small." That's the main drawback of the album, which is very funny in places. "Let's Get Small" was recorded live during a performance at the Boarding House in San Francisco. The effect of Martin knocking over his mike is just not the same on a record as it is when you see him do it. And the faces Martin makes as he plays the banjo are very hard to imagine when you're sitting in your living room listening to the record...
Even the flicks this week may be outdone by a television movie, The Storyteller. Airing Monday at 9 p.m. on channel 4, the made-for-T.V. flick stars Martin Balsam as a Hollywood scriptwriter who struggles with guilt after his film about arson prompts a 12-year-old boy to set a fire where he dies of smoke inhalation. It may not be Crime and Punishment, but it sounds better than the usual television fare...