Martin Short Says He Would ‘Phone Billy Crystal’ if He Ever Had to Replace Comedy Partner Steve Martin
With “Only Murders in the Building,” Martin Short is receiving a late-career resurgence and in no small part thanks to longtime friend and collaborator Steve Martin. In addition to the series, the fourth season of which premieres this week, Short and Martin have co-starred in “The Three Amigos” and the 1991 remake of “Father of the Bride” and have staged multiple national comedy tours, including their 2018 routine, “Steve Martin and Martin Short: An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life,” now available to stream on Netflix. Despite their close-knit bond, in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Short was quick to respond when asked who he’d replace Martin with should he need to.
“Oh, I’d phone Billy Crystal,” Short said.
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Martin had been asked a similar question in his recently released Apple TV+ documentary, “Steve!,” to which he responded he’d probably quit, but Short couldn’t resist a joke at the expense of his comedy partner. He even says he’s made the same joke to Martin’s face.
“In the show, we do each other’s eulogies,” Short said, “and there was one joke I did about Steve: ‘I miss you so much, although Billy’s been looking so great in rehearsal.'”
If Short’s quips over his dynamic with Martin illicit concern, have no fear. This is just their shtick and they’re gonna keep doing it as long as they have the chance to. Earlier in the interview, Short pointed out that there was very little Martin could to to make him not want to work with him.
“Steve used to have a joke: ‘What I love working about Marty, he understands the concept of 60-40.’ But the reality is no, these are not issues that mean anything to us,” Short said. “I think what would affect me with Steve is if he was rude to a waiter, or if he snapped at me, and that’s the furthest thing from anything he’d ever do.”
In discussing this unlikely occurrence, Short was also reminded of a game played at a dinner party held by the later Nora Ephron, in which he tried to get people to admit the worst people they’ve worked with.
“Everyone was famous around the round table — I won’t quote the names -— and I said, ‘Who’s the biggest prick that anyone has ever worked with?’ It was amazing how many people said, ‘I don’t really think I have worked with any pricks, honestly.’ Nora’s husband, Nick Pileggi, who of course wrote ‘Goodfellas,’ said, ‘I can’t really think of anyone.’ Nora said, ‘Nick, you work with murderers!’ He said, ‘Yeah, but not pricks.’ And then it got to Nora. She said, ‘I can’t believe this table. I have a list of nine people! I’ve been trying to whittle it down!'”
Season 4 of “Only Murders in the Building” streams on Hulu this Tuesday, August 27.
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