An Interview with Steve Martin

Life on the stage is perhaps the most volatile endeavor one can undertake. From personal experience I can attest to how difficult it is, being up in front of an audience. All eyes fixated on you. You’ve got to be very much in the moment, living organically – believing in the truth of the story you are telling. I can also attest from personal experience that comedy, be it written or performed, is the most difficult medium to master. It requires a degree of fearlessness which few possess: you must be comfortable with yourself to the point that, should a joke fall flat, you have the resilience to continue creating, to continue dwelling in the reality of a scene or a story.

I have a great deal of admiration for individuals who pursue what they want in life, especially when the feats they wish to realize appear to them as obscure, intangible dreams. Steve Martin is such a man, leading a life that is worthy of his childhood aspirations. He is very gifted at what he does: writing, acting, and improvising all in the name of humor, of providing a brief escape from the stresses of everyday life. He’s survived for over three decades in a business where fame is known to be as fleeting as a camera flash, all the while maintaining his sense of integrity as an artist, growing as a performer and as a human being.

In speaking with Mr. Martin, I sensed that he is an individual very much grounded in what’s important – life in the limelight has not polluted his sensibilities. He can still recall life as a struggling comic, and that mentality has remained with him for the entirety of his career. Cracking an occasional joke, Steve Martin clearly evidenced that comedy permeates all facets of his existence; how it is very much a part of both his professional and personal lives.

What perhaps struck me most about Mr. Martin was how he views himself: with resolute confidence in his work. In talking about a negative review he had received for a play he had written, he spoke bluntly and concisely: he had written a play while the critic had only written a review. He can handle the acidity of an occasional bad review, put it on a shelf, and move forward – and maybe that’s why he’s been able to persist while so many of his contemporaries have fallen by the pop-cultural wayside.

To try and keep my ramblings somewhat concise, I’d like to end on a brief discussion of what it is that can be learned from performing. I had asked Mr. Martin a question along the lines of, “Does comedy help you to better understand human nature?” – to which he responded that acting, holistically taken, has helped him in everyday life to know when people are being genuine, and – at the risk of sounding like Holden Caulfield – when they are being phony.

Words of wisdom from a man who in all probability is the most genuine comedic voice of his generation.