“I Must Say” by Martin Short

Martin Short can make me laugh just by being on screen. Turns out, having listened to the audiobook recording of his 2014 memoir, I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend, he can make me laugh off screen too.

Perhaps the most startling factoid I learned while listening to the book was that Short’s kids are first cousins with Andrea Martin’s kids. As a long-time fan of SCTV, this was thrilling to hear. Their family get-togethers must have been bonkers. Andrea Martin is another person who can just make me laugh by virtue of appearing on a screen. Her role in the short-lived but excellent Great News was a reminder of just how hilarous she can be. (She also reminds me of my mom.)

The recording of the book, read by the author, is delightful. Honestly, I’m not sure how it would work as a print edition, since the book is filled with Short’s impressions, songs (complete with piano accompaniment), and comedic delivery. In some ways, it’s like an 8.5 hour podcast and makes for truly excellent listening on a commute.

Short recounts his life, from his childhood growing up in Hamilton, Ontario, to his experiences as a widower, following the tragic death of his beloved wife, Nancy, from cancer. Short has lived through a lot: at 12, the death of his brother David; at 17, the death of his mother; at 20, the death of his father. Yet, despite experiencing such unbelievable grief at such an early age, Short describes his youth as happy. And it really sounds like he grew up in a wonderful family. The role of family is a theme throughout.

The majority of the book is taken up with Short’s account of his life in showbiz. Like so many other successful comedians of the 1970s, Short got his start in the 1972 Toronto production of Godspell, for which his lifelong friend, Paul Shaffer, was musical director. Many other greats, including Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, and Howard Shore, starred in this production. He ultimately joined the fabulous cast of SCTV, before moving on to SNL, and then movies, television shows, and stage productions. The book recounts stories from many of these experiences (his account of his time with Nick Nolte working on Three Fugitives is very funny), but it never feels like reading a filmography.

As I have been studying more about the mechanics of comedy, it has been helpful to learn about the different categories that have been used throughout history to make something funny (what Scott Dikkers calls “funny filters”). One of the main categories is “characters,” and if there’s a vein of comedy where Martin Short shines as one of the world’s true greats, it’s this one.

The book highlights this by including several interludes, featuring some of the most hilarious characters Short has introduced to the world over the course of the last four decades. Ed Grimley. Irving Cohen. Jackie Rogers Jr. Nathan Thurm. And, of course, Franck, of Father of the Bride fame. His creativity knows no bounds. (It was also pretty fun to read about the essential role hair and makeup people play in his creation process.) He also discusses many of the other characters he has played over the years, including one of my favourites: Clifford. (I rewatched this recently with my older kids, and it still holds up as an insane, horrifying, beautiful exercise in absurdity.)

Throughout the book, Short comes across as deeply kind and, despite his many silly personas, quite reflective. He shares at one point a sort of philosophy of life that he guides himself by, which he calls “the nine categories.” The nine categories make up different facets of a life: self, family, career, creativity, etc. His approach is to evaluate himself in each of these, rather than in just one or two, with an aim of finding some consistency across categories. He talks about how it was helpful for him during challenging times in his career to recognize that, even if he was not doing well in that category, he could still focus on being effective in other categories, making for a fulfilling life overall.

Martin Short is probably one of the most famous people in the world — and it becomes clear in the book that he is not just a relative of the rich and famous, but one of them. (He pokes fun at this a lot.) Nevertheless, he describes himself as still getting starstruck, despite his own fame. Stories of many encounters with celebrities — Frank Sinatra, Bette Davis, and Nicolas Cage — pop up throughout, usually accompanied (in the audiobook) by absolutely killer impersonations. (An interesting exception to this is Short’s story of Nic Cage, where he doesn’t go for any sort of impersonation. Perhaps he thought this was too easy.)

His very best impersonation of all, in my opinion, is Katharine Hepburn. I could listen to him do Hepburn for hours. He should release a version of his autobiography as read by her.

Listening to the book inspired my family to check out Only Murders in the Building. Short and Martin (so amazing that these two paired up given their names) are brilliant: so capable at conveying both humour and drama. We are looking forward to seeing the rest of it.

As for this excellent memoir: Highly recommend, I must say!