Steve Martin has sold millions of comedy albums. He helped make Saturday Night Live what it became. He’s a wild and crazy guy who wrote the book — his own kind of book, of course — on stand-up comedy. That was before he became a leading man in a series of Hollywood films, from The Jerk to Pennies from Heaven to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels to LA Story. Martin’s turn as the solipsistic film producer in Grand Canyon, wherein he helpfully informed us that “all of life’s mysteries are answered in the movies” is as indelible as they come. King Tut? Fuhgettaboutit. Killer. Rubber chickens, arrows through the skull. Ladies and gentleman, the comic genius Steve Martin. (And we haven’t even touched on the plays, and the books.)
Counting the awards Martin has won would take all damn day, though you could start with Emmy, Grammy, and Mark Twain Prize. Still, the public’s memory is short, even when the public is trying to be kind. Martin was tickled by a recent tweet praising his genius. The well-meaning fan wanted people to know just how awesome Steve Martin really is, so he told people: “Steve Martin such an underrated stand-up comic please people go back and watch his classic stuff.” Martin was “shocked, shocked” to learn that he was underrated. He “didn’t realize” until now. Martin was ranked No. 6 on Comedy Central’s list of the 100 Greatest Stand-up Comics.
I didn’t realize I am underrated. https://t.co/oFKZsTUeFI
— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) August 27, 2016
