I present my latest Would-Be Weeble...Steve Martin as seen in The Jerk (complete with the necessities: chair, paddleball, ashtray, and desk lamp). It seems like an unlikely toy and yet when I was a boy I appreciated Steve Martin easily as much as Luke Skywalker or Bugs Bunny. King Tut, Balloon Animals, Groucho Glasses, Arrows through the head.. only a kid can properly relish that stuff.For me there was usually a challenge involved in seeing Steve's work. Saturday Night Live was naturally off limits, I had to wait for the R-rated Jerk to air on network TV before I ever had the pleasure, and I can't forget how it pained me when the Steve Martin TV special "Comedy Is Not Pretty" aired after my bedtime. (I remember making an out-of-bed request for a glass of water just in time to watch a kid get run over by a drunk (played by Steve) driving a steamroller.) The fact that he was forbidden certainly added to his appeal, but all these years later I'm still a big fan.
Ok, I promise I've got some non-Weeble related posts in the hopper, but one must act when the inspiration hits.
UPDATE: Watch the "That's all I need" scene from The Jerk HERE.
See Steve Martin's brilliant Flydini routine HERE.
Ooh, I remember the Steve Martin special. I think we're only a few years apart, but I had somehow conned my parents into letting me watch at least part of it.
ReplyDeleteThe only part of the special that remained with me in the years since was the steamroller. I was dying of laughter when I saw the flattened kid on the street. Seemed like forever to regain my composure. Sick humor took me young.
Kirk this is a great weeble.
ReplyDeleteNow I understand your fascination with steve martin and how you can claim that the original kings of comedy are Steve Martin, Steve Martin, Steve Martin, and Steve Martin. I had no idea he held such an iconic status in your child hood mind. Now I get it.
Any idea if that special ever saw a release on VHS or DVD?
Anonymous-
ReplyDeleteWell, at least I got to see the most memorable part! Steve Martin made for the perfect careless drunk. (was he even wearing a tuxedo?) And when he hit the kid I was quite shocked (I guess I thought that a show airing after bedtime would go ahead and show the kid's bloody smashed carcass) then I was quite relieved to see the cartoon-like flattened boy. The relief only added to my laughter. Now that's comedy.
Chuck-
All these years I've been using mere words communicate my love affair with the comic stylings of Martin. I should have known it would take a fake Weeble to get my point across. Let's not forget the time I jokingly predicted he'd be in the People "most beautiful" issue.. and then he was!
IMDB shows that the special was never released in any format.. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0336189/
however, I know I saw the steamroller clip on another show years later.
If you track down this clip fortune will favor you.
What's one sure sign that you might in fact be a blossoming little gay boy? That the only reason you watched The Jerk the first time around was because Bernadette Peters was in it. I was like nine years old and had only the littlest idea who Steve Martin was but already owned cast albums with Ms. Peters in them... sigh.
ReplyDeleteSo what are the chances of a series of Broadway Diva Weebles? : )
Over the summer I was going through old videotapes and found a tape on which I had long ago recorded "Comedy is Not Pretty" and "Steve Martin's Best Show Ever", which was recorded live (I think) on SNL's stages and features lots of original SNL cast members.
ReplyDeleteBoth shows were great. I used to watch them over and over again in my youth...
Somewhere (maybe when working at a video store?) I came across a tape of another, earlier Steve special, "The Funnier Side of Eastern Canada", that was ok, but not as consistently funny as the other specials. It was not so much a sketch show as a showcase for his comedy routine, and a kind of weird travelogue for Canada. I still have that tape, too.
I'll try to get some of the skits up on YouTube for your viewing pleasure...
John
that flydini routine is pretty great.
ReplyDeletenemo- That's another reason why The Jerk is so great.. it has something for everyone!
ReplyDeleteBroadway divas would kill me if I made them into weebles. It's a very unflattering shape. :)
John- The internet would indeed be a better place if you put those skits on YouTube.
Hey - is there any way to get a copy of Comedy is Not Pretty from your tape? I am the kid that was run over by the steamroller and believe it or not I don't have a copy. It was on youtube for a minute but they removed it! John if you are still out there...
ReplyDeletehey ntutak- I'm afraid I don't have the set up to rip that video. Sorry I can't be of more help. Good luck in your search
ReplyDelete