Thursday, March 20, 2008

My Dinner With Steve Martin


So I started the My Dinner With BLANK Meme several weeks ago and I tagged some people and they've tagged some people and they told two friends and they told two friends and those friends told others and those others and so on and so forth and where am I? And I'm pleased to say that it's still going strong. I plan an update including everyone tagged very soon. Anyway, Bob Turnbull at Eternal Sunshine Of the Logical Mind said that I should have done one myself and so I did, but it was kind of a copout really. I mean who doesn't dream of feeding Michael Bay shitty roast while his nuts are hooked up to a battery to make sure he doesn't pass out from losing so much blood because he's been beat up by some methed-up thugs and some very horny pitbulls trained by Michael Vick. So I've been doing some thinking about who I would want to REALLY invite and it's hard to choose, but timeliness is a factor and right now I think I would be most interested in having dinner with Steve Martin.

I've been a long time fan of Steve because his career has really fascinated me. Not just his film career, but his writing and stand-up as well. I just recently completed his auto-biography Born Standing-Up and I was reminded again what an incredible talent he is.

I would obviously not invite myself to his house since I have sent the invitation so it would be here in Kansas City. A direct Midwest flight from LAX to MCI would have him nice and relaxed and ready to eat and answer some questions. I would choose Arthur Bryant's Barbecue restaurant for dinner. It's extremely casual and the atmosphere is a conversation piece in and of itself. The main location is located across the street from where the old Kansas City Monarchs baseball stadium once stood. Giant bottles of the world famous sauce sit in the front windows with tin foil used as caps - I'm guessing the natural sunlight helps settle the sauce or something like that. I never really eat steak in Kansas City, but I do enjoy my barbecue and if you want to experience Kansas City and it's "cuisine", than this is the place. When and if Presidents come through, this is where they go. I'm guessing that Steve would be wearing a casual shirt with a dress coat over and a pair of slacks with wacky dress socks. He won't feel overdressed because Bryant's welcomes anyone and everyone. He'll just have to use more napkins to make sure he doesn't drop any of the sauce on his clothes - I have watched that stuff take the copper off a penny.

Next would be my questions.

1. What makes you laugh?

2. It feels as if your character Harris Telemacher in L.A. Story is literally a clash of your past and future in one character. At one point Harris' producer asks him to be "more wacky and less egg-head" because his comedy is a tad too high-brow for his audience. Is this a reflection of where you wanted to take your career? More high-brow versus wacky?

3. Which is the real Steve Martin: the one who wrote and starred in The Pink Panther or the one who wrote and starred in Roxanne?

4. You began your career at Disneyland but I want you to be objective in your answer: Disneyland or Disney World?

5. It is said that you have one of the finest modern-art collections in the country. What is your favorite piece and why?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Steve Martin has made dozens and dozens of bad films and a handful of great ones - and yet, I really like the guy.

I imagine him to be a wonderful person in "real life."

There's no question he has loads of talent - as actor, comedian, playwright, author and art collector.

Anonymous said...

My top Steve Martin movies:

The Jerk
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
Roxanne
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Parenthood
L.A. Story
Grand Canyon

PIPER said...

Anon - I mean brian -

I think you're right about him being a good person in real life.

And it's a great list.

I would add Spanish Prisoner to that.

Bob Turnbull said...

I used to love Martin's appearances on Carson's Tonight Show. They were bordering on experimental, had moments of brillance and always cracked Johnny up.

Always thought I would like the guy in real life as well.

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