Empire Australasia

THE KINGS OF COMEDY

STEVE MARTIN AND Martin Short have been making each other laugh for 34 years. Right from the moment they met, in fact, when Short — then a rising comedian — went to the home of Martin, then a risen comedian and movie star, to discuss working on ¡Three Amigos!. Short took one look at the expensive paintings hanging on Martin’s walls and drily remarked, “How did you get this rich? Because I’ve seen your work.” Rather than eject him from the premises, Martin warmed instantly to the younger man, and so began a friendship that has spanned decades. Only on occasion would it cross over into the professional realm, with Short deploying an outrageous and undefinable accent to steal the show in both Father Of The Bride movies.

That changed recently when they decided to become a full-blown double act, taking a very funny show first to Netflix (for the special, An Evening You Will Forget For The Rest Of Your Life) and then a global tour (The Funniest Show In Town At The Moment). The latter, like everything else pretty much right now, has been delayed, but it gave us a chance to get these two comedy legends together and talk about their shared philosophies, their collaborations and, of course, their enduring friendship. And, despite a faltering phone line, the leg-pulling that started all those years ago continued unabated…

We reunited the pair of you, with Chevy Chase, for a ¡Three Amigos!

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Empire Australasia

Empire Australasia2 min read
Comment
The Suicide Squad (Empire, December) looks very male and very white. It will be interesting to give it the once-over with the Bechdel-Wallace test and view the film through the lens of diversity. ANN, NUGENT, TAS From what we could see, the Squad
Empire Australasia2 min read
No./ 3 How Toby Kebbell Found His Ideal Role
TOBY KEBBELL HAS gone from junkie to monkey during his 20-year career: after hurtling onto radars in Shane Meadows’ Dead Man’s Shoes , and later as a drug addict in Guy Ritchie’s RockNRolla , he later moved into motion capture as Koba in War For The
Empire Australasia2 min read
No./ 5 Meet Nic Cage’s New Foe: A Martial Arts Alien
EVEN FOR NICOLAS CAGE, an actor hardly known for his subtlety or realism, the premise for his upcoming sci-fi actioner Jiu Jitsu is a doozy. The story goes: every six years, an alien comes to Earth, and demands that nine worthy warriors fight him. Wi

Related Books & Audiobooks