Steve Martin

Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, writer, producer, actor, musician, and composer born in Waco, Texas and raised in Garden Grove, California.

Becoming a household name

In the mid-1970s he made frequent appearances as a stand-up comedian on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. That exposure, together with appearances on NBC's Saturday Night Live (SNL), led to his first of four comedy albums, Let's Get Small. The album was a huge success; one of its tracks, Excuse Me, helped establish a national catch phrase.

Related Topics:
1970s - Stand-up comedian - The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson - NBC - Saturday Night Live - Let's Get Small - Catch phrase

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His next album, A Wild and Crazy Guy, was an even bigger success, reaching the #2 spot on the sales chart in the U.S., and spawning another catch phrase, this time based on an SNL skit where Martin and Dan Aykroyd played a couple of bumbling Czechoslovakian playboys. The album also featured a top 40 hit "King Tut", released in 1978, was backed by the "Toot Uncommons" (better known as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band). Both were million sellers. Both albums won Grammys for Best Comedy Recording in 1977 and 1978.

Related Topics:
A Wild and Crazy Guy - Dan Aykroyd - Czechoslovakia - 1978 - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Grammy

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In these and his two other albums, Martin's stand-up comedy was self-referential, sometimes self-mocking. It mixes philosophical riffs with sudden spurts of "happy feet", deft banjo playing with balloon depictions of concepts like venereal disease. His style is off kilter and ironic, and sometimes makes fun of stand-up comedy traditions. A typical gag might be interrupted for a sip from a glass of water, and just as he was about to speak again, he forcefully spits the water onto the floor.

Related Topics:
Riff - Venereal disease

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