Martin Short

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to Good Hang. I'm Amy Poehler, and we have a great guest today. It is Martin Short, the hilarious and kind and generous and just deeply talented person who I grew up loving and love even more now as a grown adult. We're going to talk to Marty, as his friends call him, about Canada and the SNL 50th and only murders in the building and how it felt to have COVID and not be able to accept an award that he won. But what's really exciting is we're also going to talk to some other comedy legends who love Marty and who want to talk nicely behind his back.

and tell me questions that they think I should ask him. So joining me before we get to our interview are Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, and Colin Jost. This episode is brought to you by Zoom. Many of us have been there. The calls where you zone out for one second and miss six key points. The quick check-ins that are anything but quick. Because here's the thing. Every conversation creates work. With Zoom, though, the conversation itself can actually move work forward. Zoom is now a full system of action that can actually complete work from the context of your existing meetings, calls, and chats. No more post-call panic. No more inbox avalanche. You talked about it. Zoom got it done. Visit zoomahead.com to learn more.

Maya and Colin, I'm being asked, would you mind flipping your phones to the side? Yeah. And I know this seems weird, but can you hold your credit cards up to the screen too? Oh, yeah. We just need to see. Yeah, we need the CV, the CVV. We need the DVD. Jost, I don't know if you know, but I already did a podcast with Tina, who nicely came in to be interviewed. I look forward to doing one with you. Maya, I look forward to doing one with you. Yes. And Jost, you were name dropped in the interview that Tina and I did. We were talking about. How much we love going to the Lampoon. So we're doing this thing.

where we're asking people to kind of talk behind people's back in a good way. So I've got the great Martin Short on today. Never heard of him. And you've all worked. Yeah. Never. But I bet he's good if you like him. Yeah, I like him. I think you should check him out. I think he's funny. I found him on TikTok. Oh. So I guess my question is, what, yeah, you know, how much do you love Martin Short? What do you love about him? What do you think I should ask him? When I think about him, I think he's evergreen. He's...

He's always funny. And he's always up for being funny. And he will always make you laugh. And there is just an unbridled joy in him in the pursuit of being funny. I mean, don't get me wrong. He works hard at it. But you can see that he loves it. And you can also see that he loves to be among funny people. There are some funny people who love to be solo acts. And he's not one of them. I think he's one of those people that thrives among the funnies.

He's just like a great guy. So inherently, that comes through somehow through the comedy, which makes you love him more. When I found out that he had a stamp in Canada... I was like, oh, that checks out. That makes sense. You're perfect. Wow, I've got to look at the image of that. Is it just him or one of his characters? My memory is it might have been one of his characters. His character from Halfway. It's a regular stamp, but he owns it. He bought it. Canada is a much cooler place because I think Catherine O'Hara has a stamp too. I'm just saying. I don't think any of us are getting stamps in the next four to four years. So I'm going to ask him about a stamp. Tina, Jost, anything you feel like I should ask him or anything you want to say about Marty?

I love Marty. I want to claim my love for Marty early. I love him. I've also had a crush on Marty from decades before everyone else. I came to New York City when I was maybe in college, and you used to be able to go see Broadway shows for free by being an usher. And so I was ushering at a production of Godspell in the early 90s, late 80s, with Trini Alvarado. And I remember us ushering, and I turned around, and I saw the two people that I handed their programs to were Paul Schaefer and Martin Schultz. And I was like, because of course Marty had been in the original Toronto production.

But also, I was like, I was starstruck. And also, I was like, also, where's Q? Anyway. I'm on record. You're not alone, buddy. You're not alone. So I do, I would love to hear him talk about that Toronto production of Godspell because I think that cast was incredible and it was like Gilda Radner and I want to say Andrew Martin. Eugene and Paul Schaefer. Yeah. And then the other kind of question I was thinking about was, you know, everything that we, everything that we know Marty from, that we grew up with, it's all canon, right? Like everything from Father of the Bride and Three Amigos and Clifford, all these things and SCTV to us, it's all just like comedy Bible. I wonder for him during that time, if he ever felt like

frustrated with being like the funny person like was was he happy with his career in that time or did he did he want more and and does he does he feel differently now but just because i feel like we also all look at our own things going like oh i should i should be doing this i should be doing that but does does he know that he has this tremendous body good question was he was he ever grouchy about it at the time oh good question and josey i'm doing a counterpoint right yeah yeah you're doing what actually sucks about yeah not a nice person Hasn't made me laugh. I was just realizing this. He was actually weirdly my first SNL character I ever saw because I went on a studio tour when I was young and I saw Ed Grimley in stuff backstage or promotionally around and I didn't even understand what it was at the time. But I always remembered it being funny and that was my first character I saw.

there before i watched the show wow and i loved i mean three amigos i just loved those and my grandpa so couldn't understand three amigos and my brother and i watched it all the time and my grandpa was just like what is this i don't understand it we love that i guess my questions are like i was wondering did he have any did he have any like rivals in comedy at different times in his life but do you think okay this is this is a good question do you think i should be asking these kinds of questions on this podcast because i think marty's a great person to try it out on because he'll see he's so kind of graceful i also think i just watched that um that weird year documentary and i also would be curious to hear a little bit of that one, one year in that cast on SNL. And it was like, I don't know if you talk about this either, but like for the SCTV cast, were they, were people like hooking up in that cast too, the way there was like early SNL, you know what I mean? So Jost, your questions are, who was your biggest enemy and who did you hook up with? Okay, those are great. Those are, I'll start with those. Maya, thanks for taking a break in the middle of your show. Amy, this was a really good thing.

Thanks, Maya. Whoa. Great hang. Great hang. Good hang. That's my show. My show is great hang. Damn, that's going to be better. No, I disagree. It does sound better. It does sound better.

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Well, you know, that makes me feel good. Thank you. I don't feel like I got any time with you at the SNL 50. No. Well, the only thing we got was COVID. You know, everyone got it. Okay. Not only do I know that everyone got it, but so we were doing this thing on this podcast where we're asking, I'm reaching out to people who know you or like friends of yours or ours to ask them what I should ask you. So I just did a Zoom with Tina, Maya, and Jost. And all three of them have or had SNL COVID. Yeah. They all got it. Yeah. So did Amy Schumer. Yep. Meryl. Dang. Mike Myers.

Now, I've done scenes with all of those people, and I shared a dressing room with Meryl. I did a scene with Mike Myers and Maya. You got nothing, I know. But did you have a good time? Like, how was the experience? Oh, it was great. The whole thing was great. Yeah. I mean, on the Thursday, Steve and I went down to the Comedy Cellar with Simon Rich and John Mulaney, I mean, to try out material, which is an insane idea because as we were going down there, I said to Steve, when was the last time you went to a club like this? You went, uh, 1966.

So when they saw him, they went insane. Were they suddenly not going to laugh at his jokes? Yeah, right. But do you guys do your, because I want to talk about your tour that you do, because Tina and I are basically copying what you're doing. But do you go on the road and try out your stuff before the tour? Never, never, never. Yeah, I feel like it's not a genuine, you just can't. No, no, no, no, that's what, you know.

Ali Wong, the great stand-ups, will do that. And then they burn their material. Yeah. And I think it's hard to get an honest laugh. To your point, the audience is too hot. Yeah, they're really excited to see you. In Steve's case, they're saying, okay, they're both alive? That's so weird. So much for newspaper articles. And so already you have them. There's a famous story, Jack Benny.

I think in his last concert in England, he was like 80 or something. And he came out and got a 12-minute standing ovation. And then his first line was, I'm not that good, you know? So there's an element of that. I wanted to talk to you about the congratulations on winning the SAG Award. Yeah, two of them. I know what you mean. You are nominated all the time, and you don't win. I never win. And then the time that you win, you're not there. COVID.

Is that a bummer? I wasn't even watching. I was watching The Brutalist. Uh-huh, sure. You watch it every night. Well, you know what it is. Yeah. It's like Elon Musk. You need a positive sense of, like, a big warm blanket around you before bedtime. So you always put on The Brutalist. I do that, and then prescriptions. Yeah, I start with The Brutalist. No, so then someone said, turn it on, and I was stunned. I mean, it was like, that's what Selena Gomez said. We always lose. Well, I related, not to front door brag, but I have been nominated often and never win. Never. How many Emmys do you have? Only one.

But I think I've been nominated. Let me pretend to not know the number. No, but it is something in the 20s. Steve says in our show, I say, how many Emmys do you have? He says, I want to say five.

I want to say five, but I have one. But I was thinking about you because I know for me, every single time, no matter how much I've tricked my brain into knowing who cares, it doesn't matter. There's this weird physiological moment that happens when you're just the split second where you're thinking, maybe I'll have to go up there. Maybe I'll have to give a speech. Does that happen to you? You know, it has happened to me, certainly. But I will tell you, in this experience of only murders in the building, we're starting our fifth season, absolutely never had a consideration. In fact...

That you were going to win? No, not remotely. In fact, I think that some, you know, the publicist sends you things and they were SAG predictions. And there were like three other people. And gold derby races or whatever. And there was always like, well, if it isn't Jeremy Allen White, I'll tell you it will be Jason Siegel. I mean, it was like. You were never even close. So how did you win the SAG? Who did you sleep with? I guess I'm a beloved. I guess I'm, you know. I guess the actors. You become this stupid icon. Give it to the actors and they'll vote for anything. I leave it to actors. They'll vote for anybody. No, but I mean, I was bummed to see you not be up there, but I was wondering if you cared. I certainly.

It would have been thrilling to be there. But I do find that stuff of you have to get up and did you forget a name. I agree. And then if you pull out a piece of paper, you're a wimp and you don't have any soul. You know, I saw Timothee Chalamet just speak. Totally. He killed it. He was so good. And what I'm going to do next time, if I ever went again. Okay. I'm going to get up there and lower the mic so that I can lean down to it like he did. That's a power move. Yeah, that's a power move. To talk like this. When you're this lanky. Yeah. You know. And I agree. You either have to kind of free ball it and just be, you know.

off the top of your head and just talk about how you're feeling or you have to have really good jokes. The in-between is stressful. Right, right. The in-between is stressful. And then also leaving out that name. Yeah. Like, oh, I forgot to thank Selena. Yeah, right. That would be, would that be the kind of thing that would keep you up? I would feel badly and she would say, it's cool. There's no one cooler than Selena. Yeah. She is so cool. She is so cool. How did you guys, I mean, I'm sure you've told this story many times in other places, but never to me. Well, because you just started a podcast. That's right. Yeah, that's right. And usually when I see you at parties, you're a little bit removed. Yeah. Yeah.

It's like looking over the shoulder. Yeah, I just want to see if there's another more famous person there. Mike Myers here? Yeah. I like to not settle in until I find the alpha in the room. Oh, I know. Oh, I know. And I've talked to people who know, and I won't elaborate on that. But the only murders, how did Selena get, like, how did you guys get her? Was she attached with you at the same time? No, no, no, no. It started off, Steve was at a party at Sandy Gallen, I don't know, 13 years ago. And sitting on the couch was Ron Rifkin, Joel Gray.

and someone else. And Sandy said, those three, you should do a show for them. That's all he said. And Steve's driving home and he's obsessed with true crime and watches it all the time and thought, well, gee, that's interesting. I did three older people who solve crimes in a building, but they'll only solve a murder in the building because they don't want to travel. And so he had the title, he had everything, and then he put it on the back shelf for a few years. And then had a meeting with Dan Fogelman. Dan said, any ideas you have? And he said, oh, yeah, there's one idea. And it was suddenly into production. How it got to be Selena, I don't actually know. I know that Steve phoned me and said, would you like to do it? And I thought it sounded great. And, you know, it was work. Yeah. You know, if he had said you want to do the Chrysler Industrial, mainly for we're bringing the duster, we're bringing that car back, I'd say, sure. And you say.

You say that there's a check. Is that what you're inferring, Steve? No, anyway, so I was excited to say yes, and then brilliantly they went to Selena. You know, if they'd gone with someone, another older person, it would be Murder, She Wrote. Yes, it's so smart. It's so smart, yeah. It's so smart, and I'm just curious, I don't know, maybe I can have her on here and ask, like, what is the... Bob Balaban, that was the third guy. Oh, yeah, Bob Balaban. I love Bob Balaban. They were three on a couch. They were three on a couch. He's such a good actor. I'd be so curious about, like, what made Selena sign on for another TV show. It must have been you and Steve. She must have known she was signing on to something premier and funny. She has that taste. You know, I'm sure. I mean...

I've told this before, but certainly the first day of shooting, it was, we were in the height of COVID. First day of shooting? Yeah. So we had to wear shields and masks. Yeah. And so I had never met her. We had Zoomed in read-throughs and stuff. And I'm driving to work thinking, well, she could be a nightmare. Yeah. I mean, she's a pop princess. She's, since she was 14. What if she's, I thought, oh, if she's late, forget it, Steve will quit. Because that's his Achilles. Well, what if she doesn't know her lines? Or what if she's, what if she's mean to people? And all those things go through it. And literally, I met her in the makeup.

room, and she smiled, and I thought, okay, she's just adorable. And she's never been a second late. She's such a pro, it's a joke. And then all these endless guest stars we've had year after year have all been, again, impeccable. Maybe they're afraid of Steve, I think. Interesting. Well, maybe we have that in common, because I feel like people are afraid of Tina.

and not afraid of me, and I want them to be more afraid of me. No, no, they're never going to be more afraid of you. But do you want people to be more afraid of you, or do you like that they're afraid of Steve? No, I like, Steve is like the Pope, you know? I mean, some of these famous comic types, they like me. It's fine. But when Dave Letterman or Howard Stern is around Steve, or Jerry Seinfeld, it's like, oh, hi, Steve. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't know why, because... I know why. I think it's because...

Steve just doesn't talk as much. I think the power move is to not talk as much. The quieter you are. So that's my big problem. Yeah, that's your problem. And this is my problem. Yeah, we're two yack heads. And we're like, hey, this is me, this is me. And you just have to stay quiet. And everybody projects everything on you. So you're saying...

It's like a line in the movie Jiminy Glick and Lala would hold for applause. We improvised it a great deal. In Jan Hooks, Elizabeth Perkins was complaining that her husband needed sex three times a day. And she said, oh, honey, I'll tell you, you got to get a blow up thing because listen, I've had four kids. Fucking me is like fucking a purse. And you saw Elizabeth Perkins shake her hand because she was supposed to be bringing it up to her mouth so she doesn't spoil the take. And I said, Dixie, remember when we discussed the word mystique?

Jiminy Glick, Marty. Well, let's just, let's focus a second on Jan Hooks. Okay, you're right. Was there anyone funnier than Jan Hooks? There were a few women at that SNL 50th that I was really missing that I really wish I could meet because I've never met. One of them was Gilda and the other was Jan. Never met either one. Never met Jan.

And she was the Kristen Wiig or Kate McKinnon of the cast when I was growing up. Jan was so talented. Such a good actress. So funny. And moving. We did a special together in 95 where she played everyone. Everyone from David Letterman's mother. She played Brett Butler that was so, so vicious. She's so good. Yeah. I missed her. And I loved Lorraine and Jane holding up Gilda's picture. Oh, I love that. Love that. I loved that. Yeah. I had a great moment with Lorraine and Jane where I...

I didn't know Lorraine that well. I've just kind of, like, seen her at events over the years. I felt very bonded with her by the end of the weekend. I don't know if she felt the same way about me, but she was just... No, she didn't. She didn't. I asked her. Damn it. I said, who did you bond with? Who didn't you bond with? And she... Well, she always talked about the word surprise, surprise. So it shocked me.

She didn't like you. She didn't. Oh, I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. She kept nodding her head no. She said, I'm not a fan of the chatty chat. She was like, I wish she was quieter. Oh, my God. She said, like, Steve Martin. He's like evil. Oh, I'll tell you what. They make you work for it. You know who I wanted me, this Tina Fey. Totally. Yeah. Damn it, I felt that. I felt that. But her and Jane, she shared two things with me that I loved. One was just a small detail, but I loved it. She's like, Jane and I are getting ready together, which I just love. That's a very girl thing. Like, who are you doing hair and makeup with for the party? And Jane and Lorraine were getting ready together, which just warmed my heart. Like, I love that. And also, they just both seemed great.

I was like, I said, you two look great. You seem great. And we kind of had a moment where we said, you know, women know how to age. Like, they do better with aging than men. Well, some do. Most.

You disagree? Well, okay, let's put it this way. Let's go. Let's go. Yeah, if you're talking about someone who's had, I said suture, who's had 15 facelifts and then has that look. But that's, I think, I think we get a little confused that, well, maybe I'm wrong, but we live in Los Angeles and we see that a lot. But the rest of, like your average people in Los Angeles. I'm sure, I'm sure. Like, look at women, look at men and women when they turn 50. It can be, it's, I don't know, every school reunion, high school reunion I went to, the women look pretty great and the men. They look bad? Terrible.

Marty! Okay, here's what's not good. Going bald is tough. That I don't even mind. Who's the most handsome bald person? Paul Schaefer. Paul Schaefer. Most handsome bald person. Fabulous. Yes. I say of Paul that I've known him since 72, and even in 72, he looked like a maitre d' on a spaceship.

Anna and Will killed as Bobby and Marty at that music thing. Oh, my God. And I said to Will after, I said, okay, did that take you two months or three months? He said, we learned it today. Today. And Anna was doing a great impression of Paul playing them the part because it was like he was playing 45 songs at once. And it was complete chaos. And they crushed it. And to me.

Tina and I were talking about this after. To me, there was something very proud of, I felt very proud of all of us. I don't know why, but it felt like a win for all of us that these two great sketch comedians came out. I mean, I feel this way when I watch you work and when you and Steve are together, like can come out and just settle a crowd and just own the room. There's a joy when people are not nervous that I love so much. And also neither character.

or forget actor, but neither character they were playing was trying to be funny. Yeah. They weren't trying to, they weren't saying laugh, they were just being sincere in who they were. And it was, oh my God, was that a triumph. I thought Bill Murray killed. Yeah, everybody was incredible. How about Maya and Fred as friends? Incredible. Like Fred can do these physical things, the slightest. There's no one funny on Fred. I agree. This is what Fred said to me. Fred Armisen for everybody listening. This is what, first of all, well this is visual, but his dressing room is beside me. So I would pass his room and he'd be on his phone and I'd say, hey Fred, and he'd go.

See, Fred, you're not really asleep. Oh, hi. How long have you been here? Fred, I just saw you. And the other thing he did, which she completely convinced me was true, was when I left the stage after the good nights. He said, why did you call Paul McCartney Tony McCartney? I said, what? Yeah. I mean, you said, oh, Tony McCartney.

And because I didn't know Paul was standing beside me, I thought, did I? And then I told Bill Hader this and Bill told Fred and Fred sent me a text like a few days ago. Sorry, I thought you knew that was a joke. I literally thought I said Tony McCartney. The stupidest thing in the world. Tony McCartney. Tony McCartney? I wish I said it, of course, you know. Not knowing Paul's name. Fred used to send me long texts about his flight schedule, like when he was arriving, what airport, what time to get picked up as if I was picking him up from the airport. He is so deeply funny. He also does a bit that I love where if you haven't seen him for a long time at a party and you go, hey, Fred, he goes, hi, how are you? He pretends you're just a fan bothering him. He's so funny.

He loves a bit. He does a million of them too. And everyone's funny. Yeah. But people feel that way about you. People feel like the way even we were talking earlier with Maya and Tina and Joe. So like people feel that way about you, Marty. Of all the funny people, people think you're the funniest. I don't think so. Because. Okay. Well, okay. Thank you. But I find that I find what I do with like Fred is if it's at a party, I'll say, did you hear what Fred said? Yeah. There's a lot of, did you hear what Fred said? I agree that I think Fred is like genuinely one of the funniest people I know. But.

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This episode is brought to you by Google Pixel. So you're trying to catch up with your friends over drinks and all these notifications keep popping up on your phone, which is so distracting, but you can't just ignore them because, you know, what if it's the babysitter? Well, the new Google Pixel 11 Pro has the coolest fix for this. It's called Highlight. You can keep your phone face down and an LED light on the camera bar will glow when your favorite contacts call. So you can stay focused on the good vibes. Ask more of your phone and try the Google Pixel 11 Pro. Check it out at store.google.com. The thing that I love about watching you is, and I don't know, maybe you're faking it, but I feel like the lesson I learned in SNL and beyond is if you are enjoying yourself.

people will enjoy themselves. Oh, absolutely. But people don't really apply that often into the work that they do and even into the comedy that they do. Some people can't hide it. You know, I used to think that even if I was at work and I was feeling low about something, I would do an impersonation of myself happy. Yeah. And then that would get me happier. Like when I started doing talk shows, I kept thinking, first time I did an important American talk show would be December of 82 Letterman, 1230 show. And I thought, what is the gimmick here? Oh, I got to do an impersonation of myself at a dinner party, really loose and having fun. But I got to get it down to eight minutes.

Yeah, that's deep. I remember Lauren telling me when I was doing Update, you have to do a version of yourself for Update. That's, yeah, a removed version of yourself. Are you doing that? Yeah, that's right.

Nothing worse than dry lips, is it? I get them constantly. It's actually a problem of mine. I love that you needed me to do it to feel free that you could do it. Yeah, I mean, I can't do it. That's too rude. But if my guest pulls out lip balm. How many of you looked over and I had bright red lips? I wore red lipstick. I love a lip balm. It's one of the things about LA that really crushes me is how dry it is here. Very dry. Is this your home base, LA? Like, this is home? No, I was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. And then when I was 22, I moved to Toronto.

which is 40 miles east of Hamilton. I've been to some of those lakes we talk about outside of Toronto, and it does not get warm ever. Oh, it does. I was there mid-August. And it was about 55 degrees. I know, but this is going to be... Sorry. Okay, well, I'm going to say it, and then we'll be criticized. But it's a real girl thing to say. To be cold? Yeah. How dare you, you motherfucker. I do a cold plunge, motherfucker, every day. Okay, but let me say something again. I've got to get in trouble again.

A girl thing to be cold. No, no one's going to be mad about that. A girl calls a cold plunge. That's not what a guy calls a cold plunge. I'm doubling. I mean, you're right. I don't consider 71 a cold plunge. Yeah, I mean, when I say cold plunge, I mean, oh my God. No, not like real cold. Like I sleep without my socks on. That's a cold plunge. No, I have a high tolerance for cold. I proudly got into cold plunging like five years ago and I do it all the time now. Like every good podcaster. I'm, you know, decades older than you. I would think that I'd say, I'm going to do a cold plunge and be dead.

You did, just floating right in that cold plunge. No, I slowly built up. It was during COVID, and I was genuinely, I was so anxious. So what temperature did you start, truthfully? Truthfully, I was so anxious and depressed during COVID that I was trying all these different things. And so I would do the sauna, and the cold plunge was about 48, 49 degrees. And how cold would you get it now? Same. I don't do it any colder. Maybe the coldest is like 47. Right, but that's cold. It's cold, and I started by just like going in and out, in and out for years, and then building up, and now I can do a couple of minutes. And it is, I cannot.

How about just a cup of coffee? Just a lovely cup of coffee in the morning. You know? I want to talk about your tour because Tina and I are on tour. I know. And we asked you for advice. I don't know if you remember or maybe. You probably sent some glib. You did. Well, you said you gave good advice. You gave a lot of good advice. But because we've been doing a show on tour, it's been the best. Oh, it's the most fun. It's a dream come true. Well, this is what it is. This is what it is. Because you and Tina love each other. Mm-hmm.

Then there's a rehearsal. There's laughs. There's a dinner. There's perhaps a glass of wine afterwards. So it is kind of like as much fun as it can be because you're happy to see everybody. And I know this sounds silly, but because I was never a touring stand-up or a musician, I don't think I ever sold tickets where people knew they were going to get me. You know, I was either part of an ensemble, part of a sketch group, part of an improv show, or I was hosting something that wasn't.

The fact that people show up already knowing that you are who they want to see, it just gets so much out of the way. Well, that's why, you know, you've done corporate dates. Now, they can be tricky because they're not showing up for you. They're showing up because, you know, they work for Tide. And so you kind of have to be prepared for it. Hi, everybody.

Nothing. And not take it personally. Yeah. Oh, yeah. But when people have paid to see you, it's a great compliment, and they're happy to be there. I know. It's the silliest, most obvious thing, but I realized our first show, oh, people knew it was going to be just us. Yes, that's right. And they paid to see us. And there's like an honest exchange between your performance and their ticket. Like, I do the show for you. You come and pay for it. Like, it feels very honest, whereas I feel. Well, see, that's the other thing. I think that if, and Steve is similar to me, and I know that Tina and you are the same. If you felt.

or if I felt that Steve was kind of walking through it that night, then I'd say, you know what? This has been great. We did it, but we can't do it anymore. Because that would, and vice versa, he would like be stunned. So I think that there's certain things in partnerships that goes without saying it. And that commitment to understanding that people not only paid a lot of money, they got a babysitter. There was a dinner maybe, you know, it's. Yeah. We have like tons of women who come with their friends or mothers who are bringing their daughters. Right. This is their night out for the month. Maybe they got a hotel room. And.

And we're the same. When we were done with the show, we look at each other and we're like, we gave them a good show. Oh, absolutely. That's what we feel good about. Yeah. I know. But I must admit, especially doing different Broadway shows through the years, I've rarely met.

anyone that just will walk through it. I'm always amazed when I go to a Broadway musical and it's, let's say, Wednesday matinee and it's maybe not the greatest musical. You still can't believe the talent on stage. I know. The level of the work, like they're working like it was opening night. Yeah. And I don't think their computer knows how to do it differently. What was it like? Like a lot of people in comedy, I obsess about those early Toronto days and you all together. That was crazy. Crazy. I mean, one of the questions Jost wanted me to ask you was...

Who was sleeping together that we didn't know about? You don't have to answer. But he wanted me to ask you. Oh, I used to be able to, there was a big picture of the Godspell cast, and I'd go, day by day, day by day. Oh, dear Lord, free things I pray. No, it was the 70s. Yes, it's so good. I mean, that period of time with all the people that you were there with, because you were there with who, Paul? I was there with Paul, Gilda. Yep. Andrea Martin. Yes.

Victor Garber, Eugene Levy, we were on the same cast. Wild. And I remember Stephen Schwartz, it was down really like 500 people. It was like American Idol the whole day. It was a callback day. And friends were at the back cheering on friends.

And, you know, Gilda got up there in bib overalls with pigtails on either side going and saying, zippity-doo. And I thought, oh, that's the saddest thing I've ever. And they said, you're hired. And I thought, oh, maybe you have to rethink because I'm doing my funny valentine. But it was just, she was exactly what they were looking for. And then we all just got there. But I remember Stephen Schwartz. It was down to about 12 people. And it was between me and another guy. Do you remember the guy? No. I want to call him and say his name is Andrew. I never saw him again. But I just remember Stephen Schwartz. He was like 24 at the time himself. Went like this.

Andrew, you're so, so good. But I think we're going to go with Martin. And I'm still in university. It was like. Wow. So Eugene and I, who are friends, went back. And there was a payphone. We kept borrowing each other's dimes and phoning people. And tell them what happened. And it was a dream. Now you weren't in university anymore. Now you didn't have to study any more exams. You could stay up as late as you want. You could drink beer at the end of the show. And he told you in real time. Yeah, right there. At the end of the day, we knew. Wow, wow, wow, wow. It was unbelievable. I mean, can I ask you a little bit about Gilda? Because we talked about Jan. But the things I hear about Gilda.

And it just might be my projection, but I just feel like I would really love her. Oh, you would have been madly in love with her. What I can't always balance is like how, like you said something about her one time about like she just was so comfortable with her own, just the story you told, her own weirdness and strangeness. Like her own, like she really knew. She was just, you know what, she was just every, you know, I've said this before, every girl wanted to be her best friend. Yeah. And every guy wanted to go out with her.

I remember she came up to the first rehearsal and said, hi, Marty, I'm so happy to be here. She had her finger on her forehead, and I said, okay, good. I knew she was doing it, and then she pulled it and she had a big pimple. She was just so original, the size of her purse, the fullness of her hair. Yeah. And, you know, I fell for her madly. Yeah.

Tell me more about that. Because it's just so sweet. How old were you when you guys fell for each other? I was younger. I was 22 to her 26. Wow. And we would break up and get back every couple of years. What kind of attachment styles did you have? What does that mean?

Do you have an hour? But were you anxiously attached? Were you an avoidant? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. In fact, I'll tell you exactly what is very interesting. Gilda had, you know, emotional ups and downs. And I had just gone through a period where my parents had died. Right. And my mother had died. And all she wanted to do was live. And she was the happiest person in the world. So to me, one of the issues that Gilda and I had where we'd have fights about was, I think...

What do you have to be not happy about? You're talented. You have family money. Everyone loves you. Everyone wants to be your friend. Everyone wants to date you. No one is funnier. You get the biggest laughs of anyone on stage. But I was only 22. I didn't understand. Look, we're learning a lot of things about gals today. One is they can't handle cold. We did not learn that. Duh, mood swings.

So I mean, I'll like make a list of the things I've learned about you. But you say something really beautiful, which is you did have, you had a lot of loss early in your life. And you learned that lesson that some people learn and take away, which is, you know, we are here once. You've got to figure, you know, like we have to enjoy life. I've never understood why for some reason, because my brother died when I was 12. My mother, when I was 17, my father at 20, why I didn't become victim of that. Why I became oddly empowered by it to the point that I could be on stage and put my hair up in a point and say.

I think it's funny. Yeah, totally. I mean, and not be, did they like me? I don't know. Do they, I was never that, and I think because I grew up in a very funny family. I was youngest of five, Irish Catholic, and if they liked you, then that's all you cared about. And you just might have been built that way. There's just like your nervous system was. Right, and some people understandably become, you know, victims of these.

tough situations. But don't you feel like that's the, I mean, for me anyway, that is the thing about getting older is realizing, oh, the simple lesson over and over again that we all process differently. Like I cannot get someone to be happy if they're not, or I can't get myself. And as a parent, you know, because we always want to solve. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's some kind of version of that, what you talk about, that joy of being alive that does come out in the stuff that you do. And also what I love about you is you also play very, how do I say this? Like sharp and

biting characters. Like, you're also really funny at playing people who are not rooting for you. And, but we love, like, okay, Jiminy. So Jiminy. Yeah, no, but I mean, we love morons with power. We love, you know. Yes, that's a better way to say it. People who, I mean, to me, the idea that Jiminy Gleck was a guy who had a staff working for him and someone was afraid of screwing up the lunch order. I said tuna. When I say Dijon mustard, it does not mean French. It's in their quivering. You know, it's kind of like, can you imagine the staff when they leave after delivering Trump his 48th thing of Kentucky Fried Chicken? What they're privately saying.

I don't call this hot. Yes, sir. And Jiminy, to me, is a very familiar person in the world in the past 20, 30 years of, like, press that I've had to do. Oh, completely. That kind of person who, to your point, king of his kingdom. King of his kingdom. And you come to them, and this is how we do things, and they're inquisitive, but, like, mean, and they hate women. Oh, yeah. Dave Foley from Kids in the Hall said, Marty, oh, you finally created a character who's as mean as you really are in life.

But I think that's what I'm getting to is do you think you are meaner than people think you are? Probably. But I think that, you know, my father was sarcastic and Irish and mean. I mean, I remember taping, recording two and a half hours of present opening on Christmas morning and you hear my father, oh, Michael, what a lovely, I wonder what Michael would give you if you had money. You know, it was like, it was just all that stuff. But teasing is a love language. Yes, yes, yes. That's what I do for people. The thing that was weird for me doing Jimny Glick was that because it was improvised, I would say things that.

even shocked me afterwards. Like, I remember interviewing Edie Falco. And she was in the middle of an answer, and I went, shh, just because I asked you a question does not mean that I need an answer. Thank you. And she said afterwards she was really thrown, because being shush was her Achilles heel as a kid. Oh. So you can see it. It was also so insane. It was so insane. It was a great, great moment, though. I mean, Jiminy is the videos that people watch, that my people watch, too.

check like to just get a huge serotonin boost like it is Jiminy videos all the way we Tina and I all of us send each other those videos almost every week still I love that they just are they're so funny I think it is that ability to say the worst things. Yes. And have no fingerprints on it. Like I said, you know, saying to Mel Brooks, what's your big beef for the Nazis? And he just kind of goes, my big beef? My big beef? I said, you're always knocking the Nazis. Oh, it's time for Mel Brooks to knock the Nazis. And he goes, I don't know, they're rude. And the guests, it was completely, like they didn't know what questions. The only thing we ever did once was Steven Spielberg. I said to Steven, okay, at one point, I'm going to ask you.

to describe how you view the role of a director and kind of look off. And so what we planned was, and the only time we ever planned anything like this, is that he was talking, the camera stayed with me, and I slowly got down in the chair and crawled to grass service and took all the candies, put three donuts, put them in my pocket, crawled back, crawled up in the chair, and interrupted, oh, that wonderful. God, Jiminy forever, Jiminy forever. You have a stamp in Canada. I do. Is it a picture of you or one of your characters? It is a picture of many characters. So it's a many-character stamp? Yes.

It's a stamp. I have a coin. Wow. Yes. Was that cool? Unbelievable. Did they have a ceremony and everything? No, they didn't have a ceremony, but they had, or they did, and I didn't show. Probably more like, you know what I mean? They did. They had a guy except for you. Yeah, they were doing a whole bewitched tournament on TCM, and I wasn't going to miss that. No, a coin. I have, yes, a stamp. And so does Catherine O'Hara. I heard. The great Catherine O'Hara. So does Jim Carrey. Mike Myers.

All heroes of mine. I was 12 and 82. Were you on SNL? What year were you on SNL? SCTV. At 82? I joined it in the spring of 82. So how many years were you on SNL? One.

Wild. What was your first year? When I started 2001, I started two weeks after 9-11. Wow. That was the time when it was like, you know, will we ever laugh again? Comedy is dead. Right. And I remember thinking, but maybe not. Maybe it's, you know, maybe we should still laugh. Yeah, my first show was the Giuliani show with the first responders on stage. Right. Who was the host? Reese Witherspoon, musical guest Alicia Keys.

And that was September 29th or something, 2001. And, you know, it was like, you know, the beginning of any jobs, like, where are the bathrooms? How does this work? How do you get anything on? And we're not going to do anything political for three years. Comedy is over. New York is, you know, hurting. We're going to, you know, there's anthrax in the building. But isn't it interesting that that happened then? COVID happens over and over again. This idea that how can we get through this?

personal people have personal tragedies in their life it's like over and over again we think how can I get by and for me and maybe for you like comedy just continues to be the thing that I think pushes people oh absolutely yeah because it is so absurd our life yes that that these perfect lives will end one day and um and that tragedy exists there is a reason that the two masks are comedy and tragedy because they're both preposterous and I think comedy has saved my life endlessly, endlessly, you know? And being so lucky to be in the family I had, this Irish Catholic youngest of five siblings that are all still so close and all so funny and all of us do wordle every day and everyone is mean to each other and insult each other and it's perfect. It's the best.

I hear someone laughing. My father would never, never had dinner with us, you know, because he had his big, he was Irish, and he was a successful guy, but he'd have his big... He had an Irish brook? Yes, cross my leg and count her mouth. Marty, get down here. And so he would come home, we'd be in the nook having dinner, and he'd have the newspaper with his gin and ginger, no ice, because the Irish feel ice is addictive. So he'd sit there, and he'd... Marty, don't shovel the food in like an animal do. Thank you.

And then one time he got up and he said, Michael, keep eating. I'll make sure the dogs don't connect. It was just, and of course, if you weren't the brunt of it, you found it hilarious. Yes. But that's, that's love. Yeah, I know. That is, the fact that somebody feels like you can take the teas. Yeah. Is the highest compliment. People ask Steve and myself this a lot. And I'll ask you, have you, like Steve and I insult each other a lot. You know, I mean.

In life, it started with me insulting him in life because that's how I grew up. And then we insult each other on stage. But people always wonder if I've ever gone too far or hurt his feelings or I didn't mean to. It never has happened. And Steve will answer that question by saying, I think it's because we just know we'd never intend to. Yes, that's right. And Tina and I have a different dynamic. We don't really insult each other. Well, you'll fight over the heat, right? Like if it's too cold in the room.

you'll say, ooh, that's my blanket. I mean, do you ever do that stuff? No. You know? But I think, you see, it's so funny you say that because I think of you ladies as a... That's where you should stop. Well, no, I just think of... You should just stop. Don't think of us. So you never say, okay, Missy? You don't say that? Okay, that's my blanket? No, we're really, we usually are the same temperature as you. So sorry, why should I? So I shouldn't just verbalize what everyone's thinking? I don't think everyone's thinking it. I think it's very personal. Okay, whatever you think, it's fine. I don't know if you notice this at all, but...

There's a lot of, this is my personal fake food, some of my personal fake food collection. So we've been trying to figure out how to make the studio feel homey. You know, it's interesting. Yeah, which one do you like the best? A lot of people would have fake food and it would be boring to look at. Thank you. But the way you've arranged it, like the Cheez-Its. Well, let's talk about it for a second while we just have a second. For people who might be watching this rather than listening to it, there's a tiny little paper box of Cheez-Its. Yeah. And you think, oh, it's just a teeny tiny miniature box of Cheez-Its. There can't be anything in there. It can't be anything. It'd be silly if there was. Maybe there's a tiny Cheez-It.

Do you know what's sad about this moment? You actually know a lot about this stuff. This is my stuff. No, I know that's what's sad. But you know what? Oh my God. Sometimes when I'm like, I'm dieting, but I'm still hungry for something. You know what? When I have a tiny box of Nutri-Grain bars. Well, surely nothing's in there. No, it's a tiny, just a silly little box. It couldn't be an actual Nutri-Grain bar with an anthropomorphic face that's winking at you. Let's see if you can see that, right? See, a lot of people would find that disturbing. Yeah, not me. Not me, but meanwhile.

Well, thanks. Oh, hold on. Party. Hey, not to make a big deal, but this isn't real. This is a candle.

It's fake bread and it looks like a candle. See, if you were on a blind date with a guy and he brought you back to the park and you said, you want to see all these things? I've done that. I brought all my men through my fake food museum. And if some of it's fake and some of it isn't, you'd say, oh, okay. And I put it, yeah, and I go, let's go. Guess which is fake. I go, put it in your mouth. Put it in your mouth and tell me what's fake. That's how I go. Well, that was, I'm not, see, clip, clip, clip. I can censor. But look, a simple felt fake garlic. This isn't garlic. This is felt. Oh, you're kidding me. It's a felt tomato. Come on. Why you.

Oh, that is so clever. And you know what? Again, some people would have this and not make it interesting. But you describing it is really, really interesting. Oh, thank you. Oh, no, you can do props. Take your word for it. I'm a pirate. Listeners, Marty is putting a fake tomato in one of his eyes and pretending he's a pirate. It's this kind of prop stuff that's great for podcasting. I know. And you know what? It's so interesting. I realize now as I do it, it's one of the things that have kept me out of the big money. Prop humor. Prop humor. But you're making it work. What's that, an egg? This is a fake egg. ASMR. Listen to this. Well, it doesn't sound fake to me.

People make so much money doing clickety-click things with microphones, but not with a fake egg. But what a gift you have. If this is an indication of what your podcast is going to be, I think I wouldn't make a big cake to celebrate the second week. But certainly, I bet you'll finish this week. Yeah, we will definitely finish this week. We will definitely finish, yeah. And they've been very nice. But I wouldn't bother to decorate the whole place. I mean, you've got this stuff going. Oh, pancakes.

They just said, someone just said to me, great job, and let's finish the week. That's what someone said to me, and I take that as a good sign. Yeah, well, I think it's very good. So my last question to you is, and I'm asking a lot of people this, what is the thing you, like, where do you get your serotonin? What do you look at, watch, listen to? Where do you go? Who do you hang with? I mean, you're very funny friends, but, you know, what is something that you, like, genuinely laugh at, that you watch or consume? I can always turn on Annie Hall and just get lost in it. But I have great...

friends for a long time, decades and decades friends, who are all famous people in comedy. And everyone is funny. One time I was having lunch with Chris Guest. This was years ago when I was making this movie, Captain Ron. He said, Martin, what is this film about? And right away I knew he'd hate the film. I said, well, Chris, I play a man who has two children who inherits a boat. He said, I didn't say spoil it for me.

Do you have anything you like now that you're watching? Anything that's making you laugh? No. You know, truthfully, I am a news junkie. Well, this is, yeah. I watch, you know, Morning Joe. Every morning, I'll turn on CNN. So there are many, many things. I love Bill Maher. But there are many, many things that people say, you haven't seen that. I mean, when I go to the Emmys, I don't know who's a massive star or who's a seat filler. Because there's so much I haven't seen. But there's still that last St. Elsewhere I haven't seen. Have you all? St. Elsewhere.

God, I love St. Elsewhere. Love St. Elsewhere. Oh, but that St. Elsewhere was so. I'm telling you. The last time you've watched TV is St. Elsewhere. As soon as I said to Bill Hader, I'm so mad they canceled Arliss. All right. Well, I love you very much. Thank you so much for doing this. So I get paid. Yeah. Not in cash, right? No, in Bitcoin and Dogecoin. In Doge. Doge. And Dogecatcoin. Well, that was an awesome interview with Martin Short. He is the best. And now it's time for something we're calling the Polar Plunge, which is basically how do you get.

how do you change your day? How do you make yourself feel better? I do like to jump into cold water. I know it's weird, but I have a podcast, so I have to do it. But I think one way to change the molecules in your brain and give you a serotonin boost is to laugh. And there is no better laugh for me than Jiminy Glick. So do yourself a favor and watch that character played by Martin Short in a variety of videos online. Jiminy Glick interviewing Bill Hader when he stepped in for Jimmy Kimmel is so funny. Hader cannot stop laughing. And he just loves getting teased. And that kind of teasing between people who are mutually respectful of each other is like my favorite kind of love language.

So yeah, Martin Short, thank you for Jiminy Glick, the gift that keeps on giving. And if you have never watched that character, please binge it now. Thanks so much for listening to Good Hang. Thanks for hanging with us. We will see you next time. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paper Kite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullen, and Alaya Zanaris. For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.