All language subtitles for Masterclass Steve Martin Teaches Comedy - 22. Steve s Comedic Inspirations

You know, by the time 1950 came around,

I was five. And then in the early 50s,

we got a television. And television

changed everything because as a kid,

there was no access to media at all.

Even films. I never even had seen a

film. So, when the television came in,

they showed the Little Rascals that I

thought were hilarious, but more

importantly were Laurel and Hardy. And

Laurel and Hardy are, if you haven't

heard of them or you haven't seen them,

they're comedy geniuses. They were very

gentle. Uh, one was tall and, you know,

one was kind of overweight and one was

thin. And they're still revered in the

comedy world. And I really think they

influenced me quite a bit. I was born in

Texas. We would drive from Texas to

California and back and forth a couple

of times and we would listen to uh Jack

Benny on the radio who who I believed uh

influenced me a lot. I think he

influenced Johnny Carson quite a bit. Uh

his timing he he was uh

self-deprecating.

He was kind of vain. And I realize today

how much of that those qualities of Jack

Benny crept into my especially my modern

day uh performing meaning uh currently

now there was Jerry Lewis uh who was

just zany and fun and very skillful ve

very skillful comedian and doing comedy

outside u you know what was really going

on at the time the more conventional

comedies and uh there were so many

sources of comedy. And what these people

did, whether they directly influenced me

or uh indirectly influenced me, they

made me love comedy and making people

laugh. I mean, let me qualify that. I

don't know if it was making people

laugh. I I don't I don't know that that

sounds uh it sounds altruistic,

but there was something about being up

on stage and trying to be funny. Um

that just made me want to do it.

I think I developed a love for physical

comedy from watching uh people like

Jerry Lewis, uh Stan Laurel and

certainly uh Hardy. Uh they had such

delicate moves and um you know some is

was just extravagant like Jerry Lewis

and some was extremely subtle like

Oliver Hardy and I think both

incorporated those I incorporated both

those styles. uh you know it's really

physical being physical is is kind of a

freedom of expression. There's a

beautiful uh scene uh by Jerry Lewis

illustrating physical comedy and of

course there's Charlie Chaplan was you

know unbelievable at physical comedy. Uh

there's a beautiful scene by Jerry Lewis

where he's uh in a a room with valuable

voses on pedestals, which is already

odd, but and he would back into one and

it would fall over and he would just

catch it by its hind just as it's about

to strike the ground and put it up and

back into another one and turn and then

catch. And I don't know the origin of

that. Maybe he probably thought it up,

but it maybe have may have roots in old

jugglers. Uh,

but I don't know how that would work

today. I mean, it'd be great to see

someone revive it. You see phys physical

comedy in uh circuses, cirusle,

it's a good example of physical comedy

being funny unto itself with no jokes. I

was at the circus once and a clown came

out. Thought he was great.

He was a clown

and he had 50 arrows in him like he'd

just been shot. So he had arrows all

over him and all he did was come out for

eight minutes and die. So it' be going

oh it appear oh

and it start to fall and then it go oh

and it get up and then stagger and

stagger and he did it you know for for

however long and it was just brilliantly

funny. You were just laughing. There's a

Laurel and Hardy bit

where uh there I think it happens in a

bar

and Laurel is annoying Hardy in some way

or vice versa and Hardy has a hole in

his shoe and his toe is sticking through

it and Laurel reaches down to his toe

and stretches it

like this far and snaps it back. It's

one of the most unexpected

jokes I've ever seen. Uh, and surreal

and it worked completely in context and

and you strangely believed it.

And then there's another bit um that

Laurel did

where he uh Hardy's watching him and

Laurel takes his hand like this

and he takes some tobacco,

he pours it in his hand and he goes like

this. Then he takes a match and he

strikes it and he lights it like this.

And then Laurel goes

and smoke comes out. I don't know how

they did it.

Uh, and it just frustrates Hardy. Um,

these just great wonderful little

isolated bits that kind of live on.

Here's a couple of things I picked up

from Jack Benny.

one,

he made jokes on himself.

He wasn't uh he didn't do insults. Uh he

didn't do put downs. Not that there's

anything wrong with that, but I liked

his style that he allowed himself to be

the butt of the jokes and kind of be the

arrogant one. I always found that

quality hilarious in people when they're

arrogant because

it's so

arrogant to be arrogant, especially in

this world and especially in comedy

where things can go so wrong from moment

to moment to moment. And it's a it's a

field that you can never quite master.

Uh,

and that's a good thing because if you

could master comedy, it would be boring.

If you could sit and write a joke or

think of something, go, "Well, that'll

work." Then you go out and it works.

You're not walking on the edge. And

thankfully, comedy can never quite be

pinned down. And often the thing you

think is guaranteed

to work

doesn't work at all. But go back to Jack

Benny. Um, one thing I I learned from

Jack Benny, too, and this was uh written

about him. I did, not something I

discerned,

he allowed

other cast members on his show to get

the laughs, too. He wasn't saying, "No,

I've got to get all the laughs." and he

knew that his show became better by

letting the peripheral characters or

essential characters also be funny and

get his goat. And it was a big lesson

for me. I thought if you're even on

around a laugh, uh it's also reflecting

on you. Uh and it just is is it's the

greatest feeling. You know, we're

talking about teamwork is what you're

really talking about. You know, I I felt

in watching these uh great performers

just a sense of joy. You know, I didn't

I they were effortless. I didn't see

them working. Steve Allen was just so

spritly and alive. You know, one of my

my one of my favorite jokes Steve Allen

did on his television show and he was he

was always pounding the desk and being

funny and he said he said, "The news is

traveling so fast today." Remember this

is 1955. He said, "The news is traveling

so fast today. Throw me that paper." and

he somebody throws him a newspaper and

it hits the floor and he picks it up and

the headline says Steve Allen drops

newspaper on national TV.

I still remember these moments. I don't

know why I remember them. He said this

was just him talking. He was not doing a

joke. He said I one of my favorite

cartoons. he said is uh two guys in a

turret in a castle and they're hung up

uh like you know six feet of the wall

with their ankles and wrists

and one guy says to the other, "Now

here's my I am.