Pushkin. Hey, this is Sam. I want to drop in midweek to share an original new audiobook produced by our colleagues at Pushkin Industries. It's entitled So Many Steve's Afternoons with Steve Martin. The book is an engrossing audio biography centered around a series of conversations recorded at Martin's home with his longtime friend and neighbor, New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik. In this preview You're about to hear, they discussed Steve's pivot from stand up comedy to acting in movies, his early films including Carl Reiner's The Jerk and John Hughes's Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and the franchises that later shaped his career from Father of the Bride to Cheaper by the Dozen. To hear the full audiobook, So Many Steve's Afternoons with Steve Martin, visit Pushkin dot Fm. That's Pushkin dot FM. We'll be back on Sunday with a new episode featuring Padma Lakshmi. Until then, I'm gonna turn it over to Adam Gottnik and Steve Martin. Enjoy.

Pushkin. Hey, this is Sam. I want to drop in midweek to share an original new audiobook produced by our colleagues at Pushkin Industries. It's entitled So Many Steve's Afternoons with Steve Martin. The book is an engrossing audio biography centered around a series of conversations recorded at Martin's home with his longtime friend and neighbor, New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik. In this preview You're about to hear, they discussed Steve's pivot from stand up comedy to acting in movies, his early films including Carl Reiner's The Jerk and John Hughes's Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and the franchises that later shaped his career from Father of the Bride to Cheaper by the Dozen. To hear the full audiobook, So Many Steve's Afternoons with Steve Martin, visit Pushkin dot Fm. That's Pushkin dot FM. We'll be back on Sunday with a new episode featuring Padma Lakshmi. Until then, I'm gonna turn it over to Adam Gottnik and Steve Martin. Enjoy.

By the way, it's a new law. Now I have to do this. I don't like to, but it is by law all comedians must make a financial disclosure.

By the way, it's a new law. Now I have to do this. I don't like to, but it is by law all comedians must make a financial disclosure.

This is a clip from Steve's second album, which was released in nineteen seventy eight and was called A Wild and Crazy Guy.

This is a clip from Steve's second album, which was released in nineteen seventy eight and was called A Wild and Crazy Guy.

Then I figured out a potential concert income.

Then I figured out a potential concert income.

If you fill a three thousand seat hal at three dollars per ticket, the grosses nine thousand dollars. If you fill a three thousand seat hall at seven to fifty per ticket, the gross is a twenty two five hundred dollars. And just for fun, I figure out if you fill a three thousand seat haul at eight hundred dollars, a ticket gross is two million, four hundred thousand dollars.

If you fill a three thousand seat hal at three dollars per ticket, the grosses nine thousand dollars. If you fill a three thousand seat hall at seven to fifty per ticket, the gross is a twenty two five hundred dollars. And just for fun, I figure out if you fill a three thousand seat haul at eight hundred dollars, a ticket gross is two million, four hundred thousand dollars.

And this is what I'm shooting for one show. Goodbye.

And this is what I'm shooting for one show. Goodbye.

What you've just heard suggests what was happening to Steve. He went from working in small clubs where he could achieve a happy fulfillment of his absurdist manifesto with its roots in Vittenstein's particularism, in Lewis Carroll's logic and all the rest, to becoming a kind of rock star of comedy in many ways, the first rock star of comedy that was a doubly uncomfortable position for him to find himself in, first, because that kind of fame is always alienating whomever it falls on, and because Steve's natural insularity and somewhat stifled emotions left him doubly alone at a time when his fame was peaking.

What you've just heard suggests what was happening to Steve. He went from working in small clubs where he could achieve a happy fulfillment of his absurdist manifesto with its roots in Vittenstein's particularism, in Lewis Carroll's logic and all the rest, to becoming a kind of rock star of comedy in many ways, the first rock star of comedy that was a doubly uncomfortable position for him to find himself in, first, because that kind of fame is always alienating whomever it falls on, and because Steve's natural insularity and somewhat stifled emotions left him doubly alone at a time when his fame was peaking.

The strangest thing for me was in my latter days of stand up, the least creative I have ever been.

The strangest thing for me was in my latter days of stand up, the least creative I have ever been.

At the same time you were playing stadium.

At the same time you were playing stadium.

Yeah, right, to come up with something new and try to work it in. There was no vehicle for it to get it in, to try it, to try a little thing. When you're in a club, you could try something, to move on and going and change with somebody. But there every word was amplified on a mic. It had to be solid, had to be heard, had to be delivered.

Yeah, right, to come up with something new and try to work it in. There was no vehicle for it to get it in, to try it, to try a little thing. When you're in a club, you could try something, to move on and going and change with somebody. But there every word was amplified on a mic. It had to be solid, had to be heard, had to be delivered.

You were really at the end. They're doing rock concerts.

You were really at the end. They're doing rock concerts.

Yeah, it was. Yeah. If I had understood that, I would have been better off, because I kept thinking, I'm doing a comedy show, you know, I want them to laugh, not cheer.

Yeah, it was. Yeah. If I had understood that, I would have been better off, because I kept thinking, I'm doing a comedy show, you know, I want them to laugh, not cheer.

Right.

Right.

I was just completely at a dead end.

I was just completely at a dead end.

Chapter three Movie Star. Steve's career as an actor in the movies took three very distinct and different paths. I guess I'd been aware of them over the years, but becoming closer to Steve in the course of these conversations gave me a different kind of insight into them. The first path involved the movies he made while he was still a working comedian, where he took that absurdist data persona, the one that had made him famous on stage, and he took it to the screen in The Jerk, his first film, It's All about the rise of a naive idiot to wealth and fame.

Chapter three Movie Star. Steve's career as an actor in the movies took three very distinct and different paths. I guess I'd been aware of them over the years, but becoming closer to Steve in the course of these conversations gave me a different kind of insight into them. The first path involved the movies he made while he was still a working comedian, where he took that absurdist data persona, the one that had made him famous on stage, and he took it to the screen in The Jerk, his first film, It's All about the rise of a naive idiot to wealth and fame.

The new phone Book there, the new phone Book here.

The new phone Book there, the new phone Book here.

I wish I could get that excited about.

I wish I could get that excited about.

Fucknaly, are you kidding? Billions of people look at this book every day. This is the kind of spontaneous publicity. Your name is print that makes people I'm in print.

Fucknaly, are you kidding? Billions of people look at this book every day. This is the kind of spontaneous publicity. Your name is print that makes people I'm in print.

That movie set the tone for wonderfully funny and I think original films like Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid and The Man with Two Brains. In the late eighties, Steve worked with one of the most successful directors of the entire late twentieth century, John Hughes. Their collaboration, the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles still Delight's families year in and out, and it stands as one of the few Thanksgiving movies. In the Cannon, Steve plays a wonderful grump trying to get home for the holiday. His unwanted companion in this adventure is played by the late and incomparable John Candy.

That movie set the tone for wonderfully funny and I think original films like Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid and The Man with Two Brains. In the late eighties, Steve worked with one of the most successful directors of the entire late twentieth century, John Hughes. Their collaboration, the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles still Delight's families year in and out, and it stands as one of the few Thanksgiving movies. In the Cannon, Steve plays a wonderful grump trying to get home for the holiday. His unwanted companion in this adventure is played by the late and incomparable John Candy.

You're not a very tolerant person. Held you like a mouthful of teeth.

You're not a very tolerant person. Held you like a mouthful of teeth.

But to me, this middle period of Steve's film career is best defined by his attempts to create personal comedies, and that effort produced what, to my mind were by far the two best films he ever made, Roxanne and La Story, both of them not coincidentally with scripts written by Steve You heard.

But to me, this middle period of Steve's film career is best defined by his attempts to create personal comedies, and that effort produced what, to my mind were by far the two best films he ever made, Roxanne and La Story, both of them not coincidentally with scripts written by Steve You heard.

Me, Big Nose, Flat Faced, Flat Nosed.

Me, Big Nose, Flat Faced, Flat Nosed.

Flat Hood, The Wacky Weekend Winner, and then, finally the third act or path of his movie career of some giant, obviously commercial and blockbuster films, The Father of the Bride series and then the Cheaper by the Dozen series.

Flat Hood, The Wacky Weekend Winner, and then, finally the third act or path of his movie career of some giant, obviously commercial and blockbuster films, The Father of the Bride series and then the Cheaper by the Dozen series.

Do You Night, mister Banks. Oh, you can call him George or Dad. George will be find.

Do You Night, mister Banks. Oh, you can call him George or Dad. George will be find.

I should add at once that I do not mean to condescend to those films. They gave my kids huge delight when they were younger, but they were clearly not the works of art that Roxanne and La Story aspired to be. And I've always been puzzled, intrigued by Steve's reluctance or inability to go forward in the movies in that very personal and poetic direction. It's one of the things I most want to talk to him about today.

I should add at once that I do not mean to condescend to those films. They gave my kids huge delight when they were younger, but they were clearly not the works of art that Roxanne and La Story aspired to be. And I've always been puzzled, intrigued by Steve's reluctance or inability to go forward in the movies in that very personal and poetic direction. It's one of the things I most want to talk to him about today.

Well, when I first started in movies, I had one vision, which was the jerk. Let your another bottle of yes, but no more nineteen sixty six. Let's blurge. Bring us some fresh wine.

Well, when I first started in movies, I had one vision, which was the jerk. Let your another bottle of yes, but no more nineteen sixty six. Let's blurge. Bring us some fresh wine.

The freshest you've got this year's no more.

The freshest you've got this year's no more.

Of this old stuff, We monsieur.

Of this old stuff, We monsieur.

He doesn't realize he's dealing with sophisticated people here. Its vision was laughs, jokes, and the subsequent movies were last jokes. That's what I wanted to laughs, joke. But it wasn't the vision of a movie. It's a vision of something else, of just putting comedy on screen. And I'm you know, I'm learning how to act. And I remember saying, you know, I think, oh, this is gonna be an easy transition. I've done a million things on stage, you know, I've done sketches, I've done Saturday Night Live, I've done this is going to be a natural. And then the first thing you're asked to do is sit down with a glass in your hand and put it on a table.

He doesn't realize he's dealing with sophisticated people here. Its vision was laughs, jokes, and the subsequent movies were last jokes. That's what I wanted to laughs, joke. But it wasn't the vision of a movie. It's a vision of something else, of just putting comedy on screen. And I'm you know, I'm learning how to act. And I remember saying, you know, I think, oh, this is gonna be an easy transition. I've done a million things on stage, you know, I've done sketches, I've done Saturday Night Live, I've done this is going to be a natural. And then the first thing you're asked to do is sit down with a glass in your hand and put it on a table.

That's the shot, Yeah.

That's the shot, Yeah.

I think, So do I sit first and then put the glass over it? Or do I put it down as I'm putting the day? And it really you realize, oh my god, this is this is more complex than I thought.

I think, So do I sit first and then put the glass over it? Or do I put it down as I'm putting the day? And it really you realize, oh my god, this is this is more complex than I thought.

And it doesn't have a lot to do with being a performer on stage.

And it doesn't have a lot to do with being a performer on stage.

Right, No, it's just something else. And there's all the mechanics, which I love, mechanics of not putting the glass down while someone else is talking because you hear a clunk on their line and then they have to loopid. But my goal make a lot of movies. And here's the reason. In order to get five good movies, you have to make forty because they're just unwieldy. You can't perfect. I couldn't perfect a movie from the get go. You can't say this is going to be wonderful. I thought every movie was going to be wonderful. Are you awake.

Right, No, it's just something else. And there's all the mechanics, which I love, mechanics of not putting the glass down while someone else is talking because you hear a clunk on their line and then they have to loopid. But my goal make a lot of movies. And here's the reason. In order to get five good movies, you have to make forty because they're just unwieldy. You can't perfect. I couldn't perfect a movie from the get go. You can't say this is going to be wonderful. I thought every movie was going to be wonderful. Are you awake.

Good?

Good?

It's something I want to say that's always been very difficult for me to say. I slid the sheet the sheet, I slid and on the slitted sheet I sit now.

It's something I want to say that's always been very difficult for me to say. I slid the sheet the sheet, I slid and on the slitted sheet I sit now.

Steve's first movie, The Jerk, was directed by Carl Reiner, an American comic master of a significantly older generation than Steve's. Carl Reiner had first become famous in the nineteen fifties the kind of all purpose straight man on the legendary Sid Caesar Your Show of Shows. He could be seen interrogating Sid's mad German professors. And then he became even more famous in the nineteen sixties as mel Brooks straight man on those beautiful, astounding two thousand year old Man records.

Steve's first movie, The Jerk, was directed by Carl Reiner, an American comic master of a significantly older generation than Steve's. Carl Reiner had first become famous in the nineteen fifties the kind of all purpose straight man on the legendary Sid Caesar Your Show of Shows. He could be seen interrogating Sid's mad German professors. And then he became even more famous in the nineteen sixties as mel Brooks straight man on those beautiful, astounding two thousand year old Man records.

In two thousand years the greatest thing mankind ever devised that I think, in my humble opinion, it's Sarahan rap.

In two thousand years the greatest thing mankind ever devised that I think, in my humble opinion, it's Sarahan rap.

You equate this with Man's discovery of space. That was good, That was good. But Carl Reiner was far more comic mench and master than just a straight man. He had everyone agreed an absolute knowledge of how to set off a comic riff. He was universally respected for his unique mix of comedy, savvy and personal generosity, all unwrapped in a deep well of show business knowledge.

You equate this with Man's discovery of space. That was good, That was good. But Carl Reiner was far more comic mench and master than just a straight man. He had everyone agreed an absolute knowledge of how to set off a comic riff. He was universally respected for his unique mix of comedy, savvy and personal generosity, all unwrapped in a deep well of show business knowledge.

Carl Reiner he told me this, he said, I think it's important to have refrigerator laughs. I said, what's a refrigerator laugh? He says, well, you see the movie and now you're home and you're getting something out of your refrigerator, and that's when.

Carl Reiner he told me this, he said, I think it's important to have refrigerator laughs. I said, what's a refrigerator laugh? He says, well, you see the movie and now you're home and you're getting something out of your refrigerator, and that's when.

You laugh at it when you remember it.

You laugh at it when you remember it.

That when you remember it. And I've always found that, you know, Mike told me once he said, I always think we should have one thing in our movies where we say can we do that?

That when you remember it. And I've always found that, you know, Mike told me once he said, I always think we should have one thing in our movies where we say can we do that?

Mike is Mike Nichols, the immensely accomplished director behind The Graduate and Carnal Knowledge and many other classics.

Mike is Mike Nichols, the immensely accomplished director behind The Graduate and Carnal Knowledge and many other classics.

I have found over time that those little moments when you're thinking should be this is not very clear, that those are the ones that people pick out and remember. Like in Rock Sanne, it wasn't scripted, but it was starting to be dusk, and I asked the director. I said, uh, I said, I have an idea. There was a newspaper wreck, and so I went over to it was just one shot. I went over to it, put the quarter in, pulled out the newspaper, started to walk away, read the headline, started screaming. Went back to the thing, put another quarter in, and threw the newspaper, getting closed it.

I have found over time that those little moments when you're thinking should be this is not very clear, that those are the ones that people pick out and remember. Like in Rock Sanne, it wasn't scripted, but it was starting to be dusk, and I asked the director. I said, uh, I said, I have an idea. There was a newspaper wreck, and so I went over to it was just one shot. I went over to it, put the quarter in, pulled out the newspaper, started to walk away, read the headline, started screaming. Went back to the thing, put another quarter in, and threw the newspaper, getting closed it.

And that was improvised.

And that was improvised.

On the it was improvised. Yeah, I didn't even tell him what I was gonna do.

On the it was improvised. Yeah, I didn't even tell him what I was gonna do.