I Must Say: My Life As a Humble Comedy Legend - Hardcover

Short, Martin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062309528 ISBN 13: 9780062309525

Publisher: Harper, 2014

Synopsis

In this engagingly witty, wise, and heartfelt memoir, Martin Short tells the tale of how a showbiz-obsessed kid from Canada transformed himself into one of Hollywood’s favorite funnymen, known to his famous peers as the “comedian’s comedian.”

Martin Short takes you on a rich, hilarious, and occasionally heartbreaking ride through his life and times, from his early years in Toronto as a member of the fabled improvisational troupe Second City to the all-American comic big time of Saturday Night Live and memorable roles in movies such as ¡Three Amigos! and Father of the Bride. He reveals how he created his most indelible comedic characters, among them the manic man-child Ed Grimley, the slimy corporate lawyer Nathan Thurm, and the bizarrely insensitive interviewer Jiminy Glick. Throughout, Short freely shares the spotlight with friends, colleagues, and collaborators, including Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Gilda Radner, Mel Brooks, Nora Ephron, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Paul Shaffer, and David Letterman.

But there is another side to Short’s life that he has long kept private. He lost his eldest brother and both of his parents by the time he turned twenty, and, more recently, he lost his wife of thirty years to cancer. In I Must Say, Short talks for the first time about the pain that these losses inflicted and the upbeat life philosophy that has kept him resilient and carried him through. In the grand tradition of comedy legends, Martin Short offers a show business memoir densely populated with boldface names and rife with retellable tales: a hugely entertaining yet surprisingly moving self-portrait that will keep you laughing—and crying—from the first page to the last.

About this title

About the Author:

Martin Short is an Emmy- and Tony Award-winning Canadian-born actor and comic, adored for his work on SCTV and Saturday Night Live, as well as in such acclaimed movies as ¡Three Amigos!, Father of the Bride, and Inherent Vice, not to mention dozens of memorable talk-show, prime-time, and theatrical appearances, from TV's Damages to his one-man Broadway hit Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. He lives in Pacifc Palisades, California.

Review:

“This book is a wonderful combination of the very funny and the very poignant.” (Matt Lauer)

“Very entertaining, lovely new memoir. I read it and wished I had read it again. It is nothing but delightful.” (David Letterman)

“I read it back to front and was surprised by its shocking beginning.” (Steve Martin)

“I love this book...If you love comedy, you have to read this book. I don’t want it to end...every chapter is so fun and interesting and great.” (Jimmy Fallon)

“Martin Short is a comedy superhero and this book is a peek inside his Fortress of Solitude.” (Amy Poehler)

“As long as I’ve known him I’ve tried to figure out what makes Marty tick. Now I have to read this book to find out? What a rotten Canadian trick!” (Tom Hanks)

“What a wonderful book! If only it was about someone else.” (Larry David)

“This book, like Marty’s life, is a nutty-mahvelous affair.” (Paul Shaffer)

“A true vaudevillian, Short is always on as he delivers funny anecdotes from a diffuse and storied career.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Short’s memoir is filled with all sorts of lovely anecdotes about...eccentric and endlessly interesting people.” (New York Magazine)

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0062309528
• ISBN 13: 9780062309525
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336