Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Best of 2021: Steve Martin and Martin Short

Episode Date: December 23, 2021

Willie looks back on his memorable interviews of the year. Since starring together in The Three Amigos in 1986, Steve Martin and Martin Short have worked together on the blockbuster Father of the Bride movies, toured the country making relentless jokes at each other’s expense, and most recently they’re starring in a hilarious series about three neighbors working together to solve a murder in their New York City apartment building. In this “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the two comedy legends to talk about that series Only Murders in the Building and their 35 years of friendship. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another special edition of the Sunday Sit Down podcast where I'm picking my favorite conversations from 2021. And no list would be complete. I don't want to say it's my number one favorite, but I'm also not saying it's not my number one favorite. My conversation with Steve Martin and Martin Short. Need I really say more? They co-starred in the hit Hulu series Only Murders in the Building this year, alongside Selena Gomez as three strangers of obsessed with a true crime podcast. They've been friends for decades since they met on the set of the three amigos, where they co-starred, of course, with Chevy Chase. They also did Father of the Bride together. Their chemistry is beyond unspoken. It's like two brothers who were born at the same moment, two twins who understand each other implicitly and live together on some other wavelength. They are so funny. As an interviewer in a case like this, you kind of just sit back and watch them do their thing together. So please enjoy again.

Steve Martin and Martin Short on the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Guys, thanks for doing this. Great to see you. We're happy. We're happy. I told you I just got caught up last night. I'm through episode four. Yes.

So much fun. I'm watching it, not only with my wife, but 14 and 12-year-old. Wow. And how are they into it? Totally into it. And let me ask you question. Is it bothersome because of the F word? We've crossed that bridge in our house already.

We don't use it in the house, but in movies and media work good. We've missed that totally now. So, Steve, take me back to the sort of genesis of this show, the idea for it, where it came from, and at what point Marty enters the picture. Well, it's very hard for me to remember when I had this idea, but it was at least 10 years ago. And it actually started, because it's lengthy, I'm going to tell the whole story. I was at a party with a very good friend of our Sandy Gallen, and Sandy Gallen was a great guy. He both knew him.

And he was a manager. He represented Dolly Parton. And Frank Sinatra? No, he represented Dolly, Whoopi, Cher, and Neil... Armstrong? You know, this is what I contend with. It's this kind of memory. It's unbelievable.

What day did we meet? We met July 14th, 1985. Is that true? Yeah, absolutely. It's unbelievable. I do have... I thought I might have H. Oh, no, no, I'll do one joke.

And then we'll, then we go back to your part and we can snip. Okay. I thought I had H. Sam. Do you know what that is? Oh, right. Where you can remember every day in detail. Yeah. Right.

And I said to someone, I think I have H. Sam, like Mary Lou, I couldn't remember H.S. So I knew I didn't have it. Go ahead. So I'm at a party at his house. We love this guy. He was great. In fact, he suggested I was writing songs at the time, and I played one of the songs. He said, Dolly Parton should record that.

And he called her, and she said yes. And Dolly Parton recorded one of my songs. That's incredible. Yeah. And so anyway, so I'm at a party at his house, and we really like the guy. And there's three older Broadway actors there. And Sandy came up to me and he said, you know what? You ought to write something for them.

And thought, you know, that's actually a good idea. And so I started thinking about it and came up with this idea of three old guys. who, but this is 10 years ago, I remember, who live in a building, and they'd like true crime, and they decide that they would like to solve some crimes, but because they're older and tired, they would only solve murders in the building.

They're not going to go downtown. So that's where it came from. And then, you know, one day I'm telling Marty the idea, and, you know, he liked it, and he said, you know what? I said, what? We're old. So that's how we thought, okay, well, maybe we can do this thing.

Is that how you remember it? You, so was Marty, did you have him in mind when you were thinking through this at all? No, I had nobody, no, I had these three actors in mind. Okay. And then it just sort of drift, you know, you don't get, you just think about how much work it is and everything. So they asked me when I pitched it to Dan Fogelman and at, what's the name of the company? Try more. I'm making that up.

I have no idea. Sure. We'll insert the right. Yeah. Try more. T-R-I-M-O-R is the way I'm seeing it. Try more presents. And he said, would you do it, be in it?

And I wasn't thinking of being in it at all. And I thought, well, I'll do it if Marty does it. And then he signed up immediately and there we were. And then somebody had the brilliant idea to bring in Selena Gomez. Well, that's, I mean, that is really, I talked about my 14-year-old daughter. That's where the interest is piqued. Yeah, no. We love you guys.

And my daughter says, Selena Gomez is in it? And boom, now she's in. And by the way, it's such a perfect, unexpected match. You know, it's like there's us doing our thing. And then when the camera comes to her, it's like it rests on her face and her thinking, her internal acting. It's beautiful for the triangle of performances. So do you jump always, Marty, at the chance to work with Steve? This idea comes up.

It's going to be the two of us. We'll shoot in New York. We'll have a good time for a couple of months. Absolutely. And then, and don't leave out John good often. No, I was going to say Dan Fogerman. I got mixed up. John Hoppin and Dan Fogerman are brilliant, brilliant people.

So, you know, every element of it seemed like ideal. You know what? It always goes through that thing where you have managers and they're going to raise all the flags. And there were no flags. But also, we really did it on our own. We didn't run by anybody. Actually, the idea of having, I know this is so boring and you can cut this out,

but the idea of having watched with dead. I know. I saw the cameraman walk away while I started. this story. They're drinking your tea. And so my agent called and said, I think you should have lunch with Dan Fogelman and Jess Rosenthal. And I said, look, I know what these lunches are. They always call up and they say, you should meet Wes Anderson. You should meet so-and-so. And I go, well, I love Wes Anderson. Of course I'll meet with them. But it's supposed to generate a project. And by the time you've had lunch with the two people who want to have lunch, they're so over you. You know,

well, I've done that. So I don't need to do anything with that guy. But this actually worked. I just had a lunch. I said, I'm not even going to pitch an idea. You get a turn to talk in a minute. And I talked, I said the idea, and we kind of had the feeling like, it's not a bad idea. It's the first time I heard it out loud.

So you saw. I think it's a fabulous idea. Really? In a building and make it about New York? And the characters are just so good. And did you shape? that character, the backstory of Oliver and everything he's been through. No, Steve actually wrote the backstory of all that.

I mean, we knew that he was... An ex? The details of splash and things like that, no, but... Well, I didn't write Selena Gomez's character. That was written by John Hoffman and the writers, because that wasn't a part of the element. And I feel the cameraman coming back. I'm talking about Selena.

We have key words. Yeah. But you are amazing. I was thinking, you know, just before I was back in my room, Googling my symptoms, I was thinking about Steve, and he is an unending creative source. He never gets writers blocked, no matter how much you pray for it. He doesn't.

He doesn't. It's amazing. And it was just a great idea from the beginning. Wait, I was going to say something. I had a joke so I could. No, no, the original idea was that I was an actor from the 90s who had a big hit crime show. Right. Because I've always fascinated by people in show business who have these huge careers.

And then the show ends and it just kind of stops. Right. So I wanted to play that. And I thought Marty would be, oh, I didn't write it for Marty. I just wrote it for a guy who was an off-Broadway director who never quite, you know, made it and because even an off-Broadway director can have a huge, huge ego.

Oh, of course. We've never had a hit. Exactly. There is some, if anybody who lives in New York, there's a real familiarity to the building is sort of the Apthorpe and the Ensonia and all those kind of mashed together. And something that happens in New York

where people live in a building together but they don't really know each other and the person right on the other side of your wall, maybe you've never met. Right. And here comes this event in the case of your show that brings them all together. Right. And it's because they're all these true crime podcast for... And it's such a great vehicle for...

Because the greatest actors in the world live in either Los Angeles and New York. They're great actors for up. But the amount of every time you cast any smaller role or big role in this series, every actor is like, why isn't he a massive star? In the city, right? In the city. Yeah, it's filled with actors. It's amazing.

Good actors. We've got great, you know, Jane Lynch, Tina Faye. Yeah. Sting. Sting. I didn't know if we went. Nathan Lane. How about Nathan Lane?

It's incredible. Amy Ryan. We were in awe of Nathan Lane. We would have scenes with them and we weren't acting. We'd just stare at them. It's like, Nathan Lane is so unbelievable. Then your line would come up and you go, oh, Nathan. I mean.

So when the idea for Selena Gomez comes through, you two guys, I suspect, are not terribly familiar with her music unless you want to surprise me with that. I would, yes. So what did you think when you heard that name? Well, I thought it was kind of a brilliant idea because right away it seemed all generations brought in. Instantly, I thought it was a good idea. And I never heard any other name besides Salinas.

That's true. Yeah. There was no other name. I know they probably have lists. You know, there was always with a list. But when it got to us, it was only Selena. Yeah. And we thought, wouldn't she do it?

And then we had one of those Zoom readings. And that was an audition. She was hired, and we hung up, and Marty and I called each other, and she said, she's fantastic. She's got this slight, people are picking up a slight kind of a New York accent. I don't know if she's doing it, or that's her, or what? She's from Texas, so probably not. Yeah, but she's got that, there's a, in a later episode at one point, Steve says to her, I want you to be less mean.

And she just looks at them and says, I know you do. By the way, that was already been on. Does that been on? Yes. Yes. Yes. You should watch a show or read the scripts. No, I don't want to.

I got other fish to fry. She also has, I think, on the show, but also when I watch you guys do press together, she has sort of a charming eye roll at the two of them. Absolutely. Generally speaking, like, here they go again. It's surprising. First of all, people say, is there a regeneration gap? And I say, well, of course.

Yeah. It's what you want. I don't want to be up and talk the lingo of a 29-year-old. You know, so there is that, but I'm always surprised. Using the word lingo kind of covers that idea. You know, I'm always surprised at what she's shocked at us by. Because it's always something, I'm like, really you're shocked at that? And it's kind of a fun shock.

He goes, you know, like we just said something shocking. And, you know, she outshocked us by, you know, 10 million. Yeah. And she's got like 300 million. Instagram followers. It's not that. Every week I hear that it goes up. It's crazy. It started. She has 190 million. Then you start hearing, she's got 220. No, I think it's now 260 million. She's way up there. Yeah. She's among the highest. So something that couldn't have been part of the pitch 10 years ago was this idea of the podcast at the center of it. No, that came up. That came new. Which is so brilliant because, boy, it's so intense right now.

You know, it was almost ahead of the curve because, you know, this would have come up like two years ago. And I kind of think it was in the last two years that started, you know, these big numbers. Yeah. I mean, there's a scene that was already been on. So, I mean, Tina Fey is hosting a podcast. And in the middle of our meeting with her, she sells it for $30 million. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She just turns in her chair, closes the deal.

Yeah. My favorite thing is she turns and she's actually killing time. So we have a scene together. Yeah. But she's also twirling the phone line. You know, with her finger. It was almost like a 50s secretary movie. Yeah.

Right. She's closing a $30 million deal. So it raises the obvious question, do either or both of you listen in real life to these crime podcasts? Because you play it well. I do not. Not at all. No. I do. And I've listened to a lot of crime podcasts and watched a lot of true crime shows.

And I think, you know, I know what you're saying. That guy's sick. Well, that means the rest of the nation is sick too. Yes. But I like the solving part. I find that, I like the scientific solving and clues and tracking. down and CCTV. In fact, even now, because of this show and watching these shows, I'm always thinking, just walking into my life, thinking, what's my alibi? If something were to happen right now,

could I prove I was in my car? Yes, I've got the GPS, and there's a CCTV camera, and I wave at it. What is your crime that you're afraid of? I don't know. It could be anything. Are you planning anything? No, I'm not planning anything. No, it's some other crime, like, God forbid. But I'm I could always prove, I'd be the first suspect. I would be, you know, absolutely. I'd be the first suspect. And then replay, you know, my eye rolls at you on television when you do, you know, some joke that doesn't work, which is often.

So do you, Steve, do you watch Dateline and those kind of shows? Are you that deep into it? So you're really in it. Why did you read the news or something? I do read the news. Oh. So are you principally objected to the crime podcast or just not interested? You know, I just feel that there's a.

So much despair around that I just don't want to hear about another person's murder. And first of all, why should you research a movie you're working on? Oh, that would only get in the way. You like going in blind. I am playing a director. I know the theater. I've been on Broadway. Yes, you have.

Won a Tony, as a matter of fact. Isn't that unbelievable? It's incredible. It's incredible. He won a Tony Award. You know. Well, you won a Tony. Oh, no.

No, I've won an Emmy. an Oscar and a Grammy. And this guy has won a Tony. That's the one you want. That's the one I want. Well, it's perfect for him because it's the ego. Yeah. You know what I'd like to do?

It would really be great. But if you'd lend me your Tony for just, you know, like parties and stuff. Just put it up there. And then you give me the Oscar. No, and I need the whole say. I need the whole set. You change the plate maybe to put your name on. I mean, you've been nominated a bunch.

You deserve one. To Tony, I've been nominated. Yeah. Soar spot. You know, I got put up the show. You should have had it. Yeah, right. By the way, is that horrible what I just said?

What did you say? About my awards? It is kind of. But it's horrible. What do you mean? Well, you know, somebody else should have said it. Well, no one is that obsessed with you. No one cares.

You'd have to have quite an ego to bring that up normally. The reception to the show has been overwhelmingly great. Yes. And if you read the reviews and just word on the street. We're 100% on rotten TV. Oh, now you've ruined it. Oh, really? Oh, because now someone's going to go, oh, really?

I'll show them. Well, so what? Yeah, you're right. It takes you 100 to double digits. No, we are, honestly, you know, we've had a long career in show business. But a hit is fantastic because, you know, they're rare. You know, a real hit is a very, very rare thing. As long as you've been in show business, they don't, it's not like everything you put out is a hit.

And so it's especially at this. point in my life. I remember seeing the Tonight Show once with Johnny and Tony Randall was on. And Johnny said it was like the 70s and he was doing the odd couple and it was now a hit. And he said, how long do you think you'll stay with the show? And Tony said, that's the dumbest question I've ever heard. I'll stay with it as long as it is a hit because hits are rare. And it's true.

And he's right. Yeah. And also, I mean, it's the two of you. So the expectations are high. But there's never any guarantee that it's going to go well. But I wouldn't think there's... Sorry. I didn't think there's high expectations.

It's just like, oh, well, let's see. I'll check it out. I think sometimes that can be a detriment. The expectations become too high. Right. Yeah, right. Well, you don't have that problem. No, no, no.

Yeah. What's it like for you guys who've seen a lot of different forms of show business to put something into the atmosphere now in this streaming universe, where part of the job is to help people find it by sitting... Me and doing things like this. I love it. Do you? Because, you know, when I first started, I was in television as a writer.

Yeah. You know, and then I sort of became a stand-up. And then I had specials, television. This is what you did then in the early 80s. If I had it do all over, I wouldn't do it. But then you put a special on, and then some monstrous show is up against you and you're wiped out. Right. But here, you can do a good show, and somebody will find it.

You're not going to be wiped out by competition, you know. You like it, too, Marty? You like streaming? I do. I mean, it's kind of, but it is like all things. You can make a movie that no one cares about and five years later. It's a cult classic.

And so things always find itself. But this is fascinating because it's, some people, for example, I was told, are going to hesitate to watch it because they want to watch them all at once. This is a whole new way of being entertained. No, I love that. And I, well, I'm not going to say that

because I got, you know, I got tired of going to movies because the volume was so intense. I'm really, seriously, it's just way too loud for me to listen to. You know, I think it's an age thing, but you think. No, no, Bieber's going through the same thing. Beaver. Beaver. I thought you meant like, leave it to beep.

No, no, I don't know what you meant. Well, that's the age thing. Do you guys, I mean, this part of working together, okay, we've talked about the show, but how much fun is it for two buddies? known each other for 35 years to kind of hit the road together and promote and totally I wouldn't do it any other way honestly I mean I tour with the band but we have we have good camaraderie too sometimes we do that but basically I wouldn't do it no I think the only thing you can really control in a work situation is the hang in show business you can have the greatest

experience making a movie and then it bombs and the critics hate it so the only thing that you can control is do you have fun while doing it And Steve and I, you know, we do shows, live shows together, but we also have a great dinner the night before, and we have great glasses of wine afterwards and discuss it with the band. That's the fun of it. And you've been doing it, as I said, for 35 years since you met doing the three amigos. Well, people ask me, they say, what's your favorite movie that you ever made?

And I say, well, I don't know, because here's why. There are three things to a movie. How much fun you had doing it. Was it a hit? And is it any good? Right. And when those things land together, it's fantastic. But sometimes you can love a movie just because you had such a great time making it. Right. And was that the case with three amigos? Was it instant for you two guys? It was not an instant hit. No, I know. This relationship. Because it feels like... Yeah, no, we got along instantly. Instantly, all three of us did. And again, you make a movie or you're on location for months. And sometimes you never see those people again. So you make a conscientious effort. I think I'll keep. up with that guy and it was mutual and also we got lucky because we did other movies together father the bride wanted to that's true prince of Egypt Prince of

Egypt but we were already friends by them but but I'd say father of the brides really put us at a you know a comedy frame of mind you know to be friends would you say that no okay well I think so it's over no we were friends before that well I know but in fact We've been to Europe? There's so much. I can show you a photo album and you'd be sick at how ridiculous. No, we went to Europe to promote Father of the Bride. Yeah, yeah.

That was in 96. In 89. Remember we went to Ireland and England? Oh, that. Yeah, no, I thought you meant on a movie. That was two years before Father of the Bride. You know, that's not Europe? Is it UK Europe?

Oh, sure. Wow. You know what? If you would give up the... Who shot who? Who? Stop tape. Honest of God.

Do you know that we fought Germany twice? You know that. Wow. I think of Europe as the continent. Well, that's your problem. I mean... I don't, when I land in Ireland. I think of Venus. It's part of the United States.

Who cares? I'm insane, clearly, if I feel that. When I land in Ireland, I don't say to the locals, it's so great being here in Europe. Maybe you're thinking of Brexit, how they've sort of broken away. That's it. I'm trying to help you out. Yeah, thank you. Wow.

Who's the prime minister of Australia? Okay. Remember the next question. I was ready to say Boris Johnson. You switched it up at the last minute. I have a lot of connections in Australia. You do? I do.

Name one. Nick Grinville, the ambassador, a consul general, of Australia in New York City. Let me do Willie's work for him. The cameraman have walked out again. No one's here again. Mention Selena will get them back. I didn't realize, I guess I should have known this, Marty, that Three Amigos was your first movie. Yes.

Because we'd known you on SNL and you were in the bloodstream. So that was your first movie. So what was it like to walk in with Steve Martin, who was already Steve Martin and Chevy Chase, who's already Chevy Chase? Well, it was a little bit intimidating, but they were very nice to me. They're very, you know, we had to play three close friends. So I had to, the first couple of weeks, do an impersonation of someone really relaxed. But they made it very easy. we immediately bonded through laughter and scrabble.

And before you knew it, you felt at ease and like this is a great thing to be doing. And the legend has it your first conversation or maybe one of the first when you came to the house to get the script was a dig at Steve. And so the relationship was set forever. Yes. Do you want to tell him the dig? Yes. I went to Steve's house to pick up a script for Three Amigos.

You know, he wrote it with Lorne Michaels and Raymond. and I walked into Steve's house and his old house in Beverly Hills and I looked around and there was a Picasso and there was a hopper and I said, how did you get this rich? Because I've seen your work

and you said I'm toward the end of the meeting I said it was great, great meeting you I expected more charisma. But anyway. But it was kind of the natural instinct and it was overwhelming. And by the way,

he really did. say that. Yeah. And I kind of remember my reaction, which was like a, kind of a curious side eye. Like, so is this, you know, that's a daring thing to say to someone you've never met, you know, and then you sort of like, am I going with this? Or am I? And, you know, it was just comedy, comedy. We just, we love hanging out with comedians. Because I think there's a, thank God I wasn't from Ireland, where you would have said, have you ever thought of going to Europe? So your family goes back to Ireland.

You know, I'd love to take on a trip to Europe. But that seems to me that first moment form the basis for the foundation, at least, for your friendship. If you watch your tour, if you watch the Netflix special, even the two of you acting only murders in the building. I mean, I'm sure you have lifelong friends. Oh, yeah. And a big connection has been humor. That's it.

I think it's... Is that true? Oh, sure. Absolutely. But I would say, like, you're, I'm guessing, you probably have friends in the business who do the same thing as you. Or do you have rapport with them? Yeah.

Because you know what it is. Absolutely. And we have that with comedians of all stripes. Yeah. You know? But there's also something about a person you're comfortable with enough that can insult them constantly. Oh, yeah. That means you're really close.

And you know, I mean, we're often asked, do we ever go too far? Do we ever have to apologize? and it's never. By the way, that's not the only thing we do. We actually have conversations. Sure. Or we talk about how the show went or, you know, things to improve. Like, if we do a live show, we walk off and go, we don't be, right after the bow, we say,

I think we should cut that one thing or move it up to the front or this. Or I'll say to them, you know, we'll just be having comment. I'll say, what do you think of Angela Merkel and you'll say who? Yeah. You know what? to be great as if she lived in Europe. That's where she should be. You're going to regret that comment for a long time.

I think, I don't think of the UK as Europe. I'm sorry. So it's an opinion. I'm angry. No, it's a fact. It's a fact that I don't think that. I want it to be separate. You mentioned Father of the Bride, when you guys did that in 91, 30-year anniversary coming up, by the way.

That's crazy. Obviously, a great movie, great screen. great characters, but you never could have imagined how well it would do. And commercially. And through time. Yeah. And it's held up. You know, I always thought, I don't know what your questions would be.

I'll wait. No, go ahead. Okay. I've always thought, this, you know, we did a remake. Yeah. And now they're doing another remake. And I, at the time, I thought, this movie, this subject will be remade through time as the time has changed because it's a universal subject, a father and his daughter and getting

married. be more fundamental. So I already knew they were headed for another remake and probably another remake after that because times change and that, but the core heart of it will always remain. Well, it's also a perfect title. Yeah, right, right. It's like first wives club. You knew that had to be a, yeah, right, perfect title. And how did you shape and create Frank, one of the great characters in movie history? Wow. You heard, I heard them. Yeah. I heard it. I didn't want to hear it. Yeah. Well, you know, it was written that way that when they meet Frank, that Diane Keaton and Kimberly Williams' mother and daughter would understand it, but Steve couldn't understand him. So it symbolized his isolation from the process. And so we just did a million takes, variations. And the director and producer were a little apprehensive of this idea, too, because it was a sincere film. And this is this heightened character. I kept thinking, as long as I didn't wink into the camera and say,

aren't I funny, we'd be fine. And then I went to a wedding after we stopped shooting. I won't tell you who, but I'll tell you a little. And it was a big, fancy wedding with a wedding planner, and he had his initials embroidered on his shoes. Oh, wow. We missed that. So, you know, you can't, life is broader than any character.

Was it based on anything you'd seen? No. Just a kind of person. Yeah. Yeah. Right. And Steve, what did you think when that movie exploded the way it did? I mean... Here's actually what I thought. I thought, because I've watched movies come out, movies that I've done. And then there'll be massive hits at Christmas or something like that, other people's films. And then when that came out and it opened just before Christmas and it was doing so well and building, I thought, oh, it's my turn. There you go. You felt it was just justice, really. Yeah, yeah, he did.

It's like, yeah. European justice. Isn't it called Irish justice? Irish justice? It's your next film, Irish justice. Ooh, that's a good title. Ooh, that is a good title. Liam Neeson.

This might be an uncomfortable question for either of you to answer, but why do you both think this relationship works so well? Steve, what is it about Marty? What is it about Steve? There's definitely a yin and a yang thing that goes on here. But why do you think this has endured, this friendship, and this professional partnership? You know, one thing I say is, you know, first of all, we don't talk every day.

It's not like, A.D.M. You know, you know, games. And even when we talk, I don't necessarily listen. No, he puts the phone down. And so there's that, that we have other lives. Sure. You know, this is like a fun thing. we get along on a humor level.

I don't know. And humor is very superficial. I mean, you can joke and we can joke and we can joke without ever getting to the core of anything. So it's just up here in fun. Like I said, I'd never say to Marty, are you okay? You know, a real friend would do.

Well, no, you would if you really thought of it. But I don't think, I think that we both, first of all, we work very similar Lee. In a very, we like a loose, happy set, joking, all that, and it makes us better. So there's that. And then, why else are we friends? I think it's a very hard thing to explain.

It's like ask any friends. And that have a hard time. He has more money, and that's a seductive thing. He's like, to me, like an older brother's older brother. What do you think is so funny? about Steve. Why is he so great as a comedian? Oh my God. I mean... Nothing? No. I mean, it's... You always feel self-conscious of the story, but in 1980, I didn't

know Steve, and I'm watching the Grammys, and Steve comes out to present the best album of the year, and he's in tails and a shirt and studs and no pants, boxer underwear, garters up to here, and he makes no acknowledgement of it. The audience is hysterical, and he starts reading the nominations, and by the third nominations, a little bold man comes out running with a pair of pants on a hanger, and Steve looks at him and says, well, it's about time. And then he puts the pants on and continues to read. And I thought, that is the most brilliant joke. I would pay a gillion dollars if I could have done that joke. So, and I didn't even know him then. So I think his mind is hilarious and he's deeply kind.

You know, I think if you were that talented, but a bit of a jerk, there would be no relationship. You know, there wouldn't be. I find, you know, first of all, we just have a, you know, we're going to talk ourselves out of a friendship. That's what's going to happen. I can't believe you said that. No, no, we just have a kind of an ease.

But in terms of his comedy, whenever I look at his old specials and things, I go, that's how. That's, I can't believe you're doing that. And the ears and the big head and all kinds. By the way, it's my head, but thank you. Yeah, I know. Yeah. No, you wear pieces.

No, I know. That's true. And I find the characters are completely so big. Jackie Rogers Jr. It's just. An albino pop star. Yeah. That makes sense.

How about Jiminy? Jimmy. I mean, you've been interviewed by Jiminy. I'm shocked that he gets away with. it. I mean, it's so devastating to the person you're interviewing. Yeah, but they were all. Yeah, and all friends. But you're playing an idiot. No, I know. But when I, I'm, my favorite lines was to Mel Brooks when I said, what's your big beef of the Nazis? And he said, what's my big beef? What's my big beef? I don't know.

I think they're rude. So it worked out. It's brilliant. Oh, it's so good. And do you have a favorite character of Steve's through the years. I played the same thing. Something he's done. Or favorite special or a moment that stuck with you. I think Roxanne is my ultimate favorite. I mean, I love, you know, the first four comedies, and I love it. But Roxanne seemed to combine it all and great, great acting.

So I would say that's your high water mark. That was a long time ago. Yeah, I killed for you to hit that mark again. That's why I like only murders in the building. Yeah. I remember I once said to him, it was like the 90s, and I was at my cottage. And I said, you know, all my two sons and all their friends are obsessed with the best of Steve Martin, S&L on DVD. And Steve went, it's a resurgence.

I'm back. But it was with the weak, exhausted arm, too. You've said Marty, too, beyond the funny and all this connection, is that Steve was a great friend to you when Nancy passed away. Right. And that meant the world to you to have somebody who you had somebody laughs with, be there in that difficult moment. She wrote a song in honor of her, a brilliant song, the great remember. What did that mean to you to have them at your side? Well, I, you know, listen.

By the way, everybody was, you know, Marty has a lot of friends. But, but, of course, it was magnificent. to have those kind of friends in those tough situations. I'm telling you, Marty has a lot of friends, and there's a lot of demand on his time, because he gets, you know, invited to parties and things, because he's really fun at a party. And I've told this before, but I say, if I'm hosting a dinner party, and I'm going to invite, you know, three or four couples, whatever, and I invite Marty, you know, and somebody else and somebody else,

and then if Marty says, I'm sorry, I can't come, I cancel the party. Is that true? Well, it's not really true, but what's the point? Well, yeah. But it's a good symbolic story, you know. I think you called him the perfect person. I did. Well, actually, it was when Carl Reiner died,

and I wrote a piece for the New York Times, kind of a memoir of his life. And the opening paragraph was, I said, I've known two perfect people in my life. One is Carl Reiner, and the other is that son of a bitch, Martin. Take it as a compliment. Absolutely.

I'll take anyone I can get. I know you've got to go catch a plane. so I'll let you go. But Steve, I'm interested in what else. Your sort of portfolio of creativity is sort of astounding, whether it's, you know, playing music or Broadway or film or anything you've done. What else do you see out there? Well, there is something.

You know, first of all, this is what I'm dedicated to this show. I love the show. Only Murders in the Building. It's perfect. It's perfect for us. It's fun. It's in New York where I live. It's all kinds of things.

But I, when people ask me, how do you do all this stuff? And I say, well, you know, I don't have a job. I just wake up and there's nothing to do. So I've come up with stuff. But I am working on, I've done some cartoon book with Harry Bliss, who's a great, great cartoonist. And we wrote a ton of cartoons. And now we're working on a book called A Memoir of the Movies, which we're going to do cartoon strips of stories and anecdotes that I remember from the movies. Oh, from your movies. Oh, wow. They didn't want to write a big book about it because it's just like, just anecdotes.

But this is perfect for the cartoon format. But Steve's creative output, he thinks, is normal because he doesn't have a job. It's not normal. It's massive. And it continues. And that's what's so amazing about it. So there's books and there's movies and there's plays and there's, what's that line we do in our show? What an honor it is for me to be standing next to a man who's a playwright?

musician, a composer, and a world-class comedian. No, yeah, you say, it's an honor for me. Did you say that? Yep, yeah. And then I say, and let me say what an honor it is for me to be standing next to the man who is standing next to that man. One of our favorites. What about for you, Marty? What else do you see out there? You've proven you can do it all, too. You were just nominated for awards for the morning show. Yeah.

Or even what else? I kind of, you know, through the years I've been asked to direct things. Yeah. And I've always thought, you know, people like Steven Spielberg had a camera when they were nine and they were filming everything. Right. I was up in my attic going, weather wise, it's such a cuckoo day, you know, with a fake mic. And so I think that, you know, you go by what you've been told by life. And that is, I like being in front of the camera.

I love to perform. I love, I'd love to do another Broadway. show someday. I'd love to do all those things. But I've no really interest in behind the scenes or anything provocative like that that would be cool to talk about. Just keep doing what you're doing. Just keep doing what you're doing. Hey guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Steve Martin and Martin Short right after the break. Welcome back to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Now more of my conversation with Steve Martin and Martin Short. You've been out on tour together. Yes. You have the big Netflix special.

How do you put those together? You're not stand-ups out in the club trying material. How do those come together to make that tight hour or hour-tend? We'll use a little echo show thing and we'll talk and we'll have less sessions for a session. We work with writers. Yeah, we're with writers. And we work with we write. But also we, because we have a structured show that, we'll say it works, we can put in a new bit that might be one minute out of a show that works. And if it works, that's good. And if it doesn't, it hasn't harmed the show.

So we do it. I do it. I've always done it incrementally. Right. What's great about the show is you have music. You have the ability to insert music into it. So it becomes a full almost variety out. Oh, it's a classic.

And begins naturally with 10 minutes of insulting each other. Exactly. It's very important. Guys, thanks so much. Congratulations on the show. It's a blast. Thanks, man. My big thanks again,

to Steve and Marty, not every day. You get to sit in a room with two comedy legends. What a blast. If you want to hear more of my favorite conversations from 2021, like this one, plus any of my interviews from the entire year, be sure to check them out now on the Sunday Sit Down podcast. And don't forget to tune into Sunday today every weekend on NBC. I'm Willie Geist.

Thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast.