[ Cheers and applause ]
-Thank you! -I think that applause
had my name on it. -Ahh, maybe.
Well, hello. -Welcome to the show.
-Hi, James. -You had some trouble
finding a seat there. -I'll tell you what.
I'll tell you what. Because the last time
we did the show, we got some criticism afterwards because the viewers thought we
were sitting too close together. And --
-I have a photo. -Show the photo.
See what you think. -Well, I mean -- [ Laughter ] -You look like it's one suit. -I know.
-It's fantastic. -It's like from the circus
or something. Look, we're as close
as Kanye and Trump. Look at that. -You couldn't get floss
in there. And I don't know why I did that. I mean, you had no place to go. Maybe I was trying
to get on camera. Are we too close now?
I don't want to -- -No, you're perfect
the way it is. And I'm just so happy
you're here. -Okay. -You are two of my --
two of my comedy heroes. -Ah, thank you.
And we love you. We are this close to
following you on Twitter. -Thank you.
-It's true. -We're going to make
a decision... -Tonight.
-That is amazing to hear. And, you -- By the way,
let me just say. This is ridic--
You never age. You don't.
-Thank you. -You are now like
late night's Jared Kushner. -Thank you so much.
That is so thoughtful. -And your energy. I can smell
your dragon energy from here. It's so amazing. -You are now, like --
You're America's dad. [ Laughter ] And that certainly
worked out for Cosby, so it should be fine for you. [ Audience groans ] -Oh! -Oh, man.
-And there's Steve Higgins. Steve Higgins looks like things didn't work out so well
for Harry Potter. [ Laughter ] -I'm happy that you're here. You're here, together, though. -You are so loose
and good, Jimmy. You know, that monologue
was hil-- I mean -- And, by the way, just because the audience doesn't
laugh out loud... [ Laughter ] ...doesn't mean that they're
not laughing on the inside. -[ Laughs ] -I heard laughter, Marty.
You did? -Yeah. Well, it was Jimmy's. -[ Laughs ] Come on.
-No, that's true. Jimmy is to giggling what romaine lettuce
is to E. coli. -Thank you. Well, I --
That is so thoughtful. Now, you were saying,
all joking aside -- -I'll tell you
something about Marty. This is a compliment.
This is actually a compliment. "The New Yorker" mag -- Ohh.
No, I'll take those. I'll take those.
-Are you sure? -No, you do -- Here.
Let me iron them. Iron them out for you.
There you go. -Yeah. No problem.
-There you go. -Thank you.
Appreciate that. "The New Yorker" magazine,
which is one of the great magazines
in the world, called Marty one of the greatest
TV talk-show guests of all time. -I agree. Absolutely. [ Cheers and applause ] I agree.
-No, no. -Wouldn't you agree? Yeah. -No, there's got to be others. -And -- What did you say? -There's got to
be others, surely! -No. -Well, actually --
And I was pleased. But also, hey...you know. And I had to deal with that. And I actually -- You know,
I ran into Oprah at a party, who always has good advice. And I said, you know,
"What do you think about this? I'm feeling a little funny." And she said,
"Look. He is your friend. And you should celebrate
his success." And I thought,
"That is really good advice." But I think
the best advice I got was from Tonya Harding's mom... [ Laughter ] -Ow. ...who said, "Just, you know,
give him the pipe..." -The old pipe
to the knee, there. -Are there things that you've
learned from each other throughout touring and
getting closer together? -Oh, my God. Over 33 years
as of today you mean? -Yeah. I learned from Marty, that
he's a very generous person. And I mean that. If he picks up a check
in a restaurant, he always draws a little heart
right on the line where the tip is supposed to go. [ Laughter ] -That is very thoughtful. -Steve.
Let me tell you about Steve. -What have you learned about me? -Well, I mean, the most
fascinating thing about Steve is that he's not afraid
to hit someone else's kid. -Oh, that's so thought--
That's very interesting. -I'll tell you something
I've learned from you. And I mean this.
-What? What? I have learned from you, you do not need a pool
to have a pool boy. [ Laughter ] -Hey!
-I did see that somewhere. Yeah. You talk about learning
something from someone. This is what I learned
from Steve. That a urinal doesn't just have
to be used for number one. [ Audience groans ] What? What have I done now? I thought I was your favorite! [ Laughter ] -Here you are -- This weekend,
you're at the Beacon Theatre... -Yes.
-...with your stage show. -The Beacon Theatre
here in New York. We're doing two shows. [ Cheers and applause ] And they are sold out tight,
except for maybe 2,000 seats. -[ Laughs ]
-I think it is sold out. And it's such
a historic theater. It's an honor to go there, because there's
so many great acts. I mean, last year,
I saw Seinfeld there. And he was so funny,
I left in disgust. [ Laughter ] No, I mean,
touring with Steve is just -- Well, Steve, at his age, doesn't so much tour
as he wanders off. But still... [ Laughter ] And I don't think -- I don't know what
you're talking about. -Oh, my goodness.
He's wandering now. Steve! -No. Listen.
Let me tell you something. Nothing connects with the
millennials like banjo playing. [ Laughter ] I listen to Steve on the banjo,
and I just close my eyes, and I pretend I'm on hold
with Cracker Barrel. [ Laughter ] -Oh, my goodness. You have a Netflix special,
May 25th. Oh, my gosh.
It's this right there. -Oh, you and all your questions. -I didn't get to one question.
Martin Short should change his last name to "Steve".
Just sayin'..
Fallon tried his best to ruin it
Holy crap, Fallon, turn it down a notch.
Steve and Marty have one very important thing in common: both of them are gifted writers, performers and comics, but neither one of them is actually a stand-up comedian in the traditional sense.
Steve Martin got around this by completely rewriting what stand-up comedy was, and deciding that he would do his own, absurdist/intellectual act and pass it off as stand-up comedy when it's more along the lines of performance art. If you listen to his classic stand-up albums, it's different than pretty much anyone of his era other than maybe Andy Kaufman: he recites absurd third-person prose poems he has written (Cruel Shoes, The Smoker), does extended physical comedy bits, intersperses his performance with completely serious banjo playing while in silly costumes.
Martin Short tried to be a deconstructive stand-up like Steve Martin early in his career, and adopted a very similar "pompous, detached intellectual" character to the role Steve Martin has been playing since the late Seventies. But it wasn't working for him. He gave up traditional standup and went into character-comedy instead, improvising and vamping as a number of grotesque, effeminate characters. Some of these have fallen by the wayside- he's not fond of bringing back Ed Grimley as much as he used to, and "bad Doug Henning" is sort of dated- but he's spent over twenty years as improv vehicle Jiminy Glick... and the fey, narcissistic "Hollywood monster" Martin Short likes to present himself as in most public appearances is just as much of a character.
(I read his autobiography "I Must Say" when it came out a few years ago, and he reminds me a lot of David Lynch as a writer and as a philosophical/spiritual person. Both of them feel this yearning for traditional faith structure but chafe at traditional organized religion, so a meditative philosophy on life has become crucial both to their personal and creative lives. Not in the least what I expected from a grotesque clown.)
Is Jimmy Fallon always like this? He reminds me of that obnoxious guy at comedy clubs.
Steve Martin never fails to impress with his comedic timing. The way he slides into the Tonya Harding joke, to kick off this whole thing, was effortless.
Two great comedy minds that I've loved my whole life and I couldn't even finish the video because Fallon was a fucking mess
Do people actually watch Fallon? I can't sit through 2 minutes of this shit and I'm not talking about Steve and Martin who are awesome. Fallon ruins it.
Again I have to bring this up...can someone please make a Jimmy Fallon Bingo/Drinking game?