A Winning Show

Charlie Sheen aside, I say a show with an actor "winging it" can work.  Last week, I went to "A Conversation With Steve Martin" at the beautiful  Hanover Theater in Worcester.  I know, Worcester, right?   Even Steve acknowledged that, as he came out and said "It's always been my dream to speak in Worcester Massachusetts. Tonight I will come closer to that dream."

To me, this was 2 hours of pure delight (btw-some musicians don't even last 2 hours.) I have always loved Steve Martin's work. His stand-up was different, original, and both really smart and really dumb at the same time. A couple of his movies (Planes, Trains, & Automobiles and The Jerk) are among my favorites. He was the best Oscar host (besides maybe Letterman.) Since I don't read that much (shocker, I know) I haven't delved into his literature, but his memoir, "Born Standing Up" was a well-written, fascinating look at how his career started and how something so "fun" can actually be stressful, lonely and scary. And his bluegrass music is top notch, as his banjo playing is for real (He said he put banjo into his stand-up act to fill time because he only had so much material.)  And his Tweets are worth following.

The Worcester show was an unscripted talk guided by Joyce Kulhawik. He was funny, interesting, human, real, charming, humble...I could go on and on. If you're a fan, like me, you could have listened all night. He clearly was pulling a lot from memory on the spot and seemed to really enjoy talking about his career and life. He also took some questions from the crowd which led to some fantastic ad-libs as he shot one liners at people.

In the interest of time, space and dimension (of which Steve once wished to be the master of) here are just a few highlights:

-When he created his comedy routine, he wanted it to be original. At one point, he had 20 minutes of material, but went through it to make sure it was "original." He was then down to 4 minutes and challenged himself to create more.

-He shared a really funny story about how Paul McCartney ended up singing a song on his new bluegrass album. It involved Steve writing a song, recording it on his I-phone and sending it to Paul. But it mostly involved asking. He simply asked Paul to do it. You never know unless you ask.

-Someone in the audience asked if he was shy or aloof. He answered by saying he was "a little shy but tried to be polite." He said when people approach him in public, it's hard to be "that guy in his act." He's "off (meaning not working)" and it's hard to pretend to be the best friend of someone he just met.

-When making movies, some of the best stuff was the stuff they wrote "on the way to work." He cited a couple of examples including writing dialogue for "The Jerk" in the car with Carl Reiner, and improvising with John Candy on the set of "Planes, Trains, & Automobiles."

He ended the night by playing 2 songs on his banjo. It was a quiet way to end a night I'll never forget. The memory was all I need. And this paddle game. And this lamp...