To Me

 Steve Martin once noted that "Comedy is not pretty." Steve would know. In this particular exercise, I would like to assure you that I will not be discussing cancel culture. The bit that I highlighted from Mister Martin includes the line, "I think a person should get to know someone and maybe even be in love with them before you use and degrade them." You might not think that's funny, but as he says, comedy is not pretty. 

What we laugh at, it turns out, is pretty subjective. My wife has no patience for the Three Stooges. I get that. Larry, Moe and Curly are not everyone's cup of tea. Or seltzer. I have heard that there are those who have similar feelings about the Marx Brothers. I might argue this point and find out that there are more people with this odd opinion, but this is the relative magic of show business. Sometimes the magic works. Sometimes it doesn't. 

Which brings us to another Martin. Martin Short. In an op-ed piece that appeared on the Slate web site, scribe Dan Kois wondered if Mister Short is"a comic genius or the most annoying actor on Earth?" Again, humor is subjective, and over the course of fifty-plus year career there have been some quiet moments. Not every appearance has been, as they say, a Maserati. But it's probably worth noting that half century in show business that might lead one to the conclusion that he had a certain aptitude for his craft. SCTV, Saturday Night Live, more than one hundred other televisoin and film appearances. 

Someone must think he's funny. 

Steve Martin thinks he's funny. Steve and Martin have been working together since 1985. in movies, on film, and an ongoing comedy tour that has been meandering across the country since 2015. Something's working there. Comic genius? That may be a little steep, but I don't think that the most annoying actor on Earth would continue to get work all these years later. There are a great many anecdotal suggestions that some people found Martin Short funny. 

Has it always been pretty? Not at all. Annoying? Often. But that's the funny part. 

Funny to me.