People do think I'm Jewish. But we're Irish Catholic. My father had a brogue.
Martin Short
The mark of the man is how he responds to situations. You're not going to avoid tough times. We're all over the barrel some of the time. What are you going to do about it?
I think I'm funny because my family, my siblings were funny.
My natural state is to be happy. I'm naturally buoyant. I wake up feeling, 'What a great morning!' I've had some tragedy in my life, absolutely, but I don't know one human being who hasn't. You either learn from it and become empowered by it, or you become a victim to it. It's life, after all.
All you're trying to do in an improvisation is get as much material as possible for the editing room.
David Lynch and I almost made a movie together in the late '80s. We had lots of dinners and lunches. He's a very cool, hip guy. This film, let's face it, is like an homage to him, I would imagine he'd find it funny.
Everything alters and changes with time. Some things that are considered triumphs, and 10 years later, they're considered minor.
No one is any one thing.
I pretend I'm one of the royal family when I'm in a hotel and that the hotel belongs to me - it is a palace.
'Nice' is not a common label for comedians, but it is for Canadians. I like it.
I've done lots of improv things but not a whole movie.
All these things that enter your head are assignments. You write them up and then throw them out there and if someone wants to do it, your assignment is done.
Anytime there's originality and comedy combined, it's very potent for people who love comedy.
No one doesn't have loss. No one doesn't have pain.
Some people you work on a film with, and then they disappear.
I have a kind of objective luxury about my career.
My mother was the concert master of the symphony. Absurdity and eccentricity were not criticized.
I've never done an improvised movie as a fictitious character. I think that's the challenge.
Often audiences vary... but I've always found Milwaukee to be a fabulous place to play with great audiences and very hip.
I hate to lull the audience into letting them think that something is something. It's always fun to defy expectations.
I have sometimes imagined my own death and brought myself to tears.
I know if I were to drop dead now, people would probably write nice things in the obit.
I was a huge fan of Steve Martin, as everyone I knew in comedy was.
When kids like Steven Spielberg were eight and nine and 10, they had little cameras, and that's all they wanted to do. When I was 10, I was in my attic pretending to host my own variety show. Spielberg wasn't. That's why he's a film director, and I'm doing what I'm doing.
I've always thought one of the tricks of being an actor for a long time is keeping yourself interested once you've figured out how to pay the rent.
Any time you're honoured by your home, it's a bigger deal than most.
Comedy is so subjective. If you trip and fall down, some people will laugh, and some people will say, 'Oh, physical comedy is so pedestrian.' Some people look at Three Stooges as lowbrow; some people consider them artists. No one is wrong. It's just a personal take.
I think loss can fuel how you lead your whole life.
What I learned, a little too late, was that the 'traditional' Martin Short target viewer weighs under 300 pounds. Unfortunately, I was on during daytime.
What's great about being a character actor is you know that you can survive forever. It's not about the gloss of your eyebrows.
One of my great influences was Don Knotts as Barney Fife.
You try to figure out things to keep yourself interested. It's very easy to get lulled.
You go through publicists because it's easy for a publicist to say to another publicist, 'No'.
Sometimes people get passionate about the obscure jokes.
Someone once asked me what was the weirdest question I was ever asked. And I was stymied.
I've chosen to treat my life more like a party than something to stress about.
Being the youngest of five, you're adored, you're fueled with confidence.
Why does 'I Love Lucy' still make people laugh? Because she's a specific character who has real reactions.
I think that even though the characters were heightened, the 'SCTV' cast were all such strong actors they found a certain truth in playing them. I think that's why the show stays fresh and timeless.
I think Canadians are great satirists because we sit in the middle of these two giants: Great Britain and the U.S.
My job is not to analyze my career. But I am proud of the amount of work I've done and the amount of commitment I've given to it. That makes me proud.
There's a lot of insecure, sad people in any profession.
When you get to a point where you're successful enough that you can say, 'I don't have to take any job anymore,' and you're still good at what you do, how do you decide what work to take on? I think the answer is that you pursue what you enjoy. In my case, it's variety.
You can do 12 great takes, but if the director is no good, he'll end up picking the wrong one.
Trump is Trump. Some people find him hilarious. I don't find it hilarious, but you can't say it's dull. There's nothing credible about Donald Trump.
Eugene Levy is my closest friend.
I remember, as a kid, nothing struck me funnier than seeing Richard Nixon look into the camera and sincerely tell everyone he didn't know where the 18 minutes had gone from his tapes. But there was all this sweat on his upper lip. We knew he was lying. He knew we knew he was lying. But he was determined to tell the lie.
I'm just drawn to the odd guy, the man who is full of it, the guy who has limited talent but is pretending he's a genius.
Comedy is a weird thing.
