Home / Quotes / Quote by Martin Short

Quote by Martin Short

“Comedy is a weird thing. You have to understand, it's the weirdest thing you can do. There's no consensus. It's not like... People say, "I saw Saving Private Ryan, and that scene on the beach is just so moving." I can't imagine anyone who would say "I don't find that moving!" But you can show, whether it's Laurel & Hardy or the Three Stooges or Jiminy Glick In Lalawood, some people are going to look at it and say "That's the funniest thing I've ever seen." Some people will say "I don't get it." Who's right, who's wrong?”

Quote by Martin Short

Author

Martin Short is a Canadian-American actor renowned for his exceptional performances in comedy films and television shows. Born on March 26, 1950, he has been active in the entertainment industry since the 1970s. Short is beloved for his unique sense of humor and acting skills, and has starred or appeared in key roles in many classic comedies. more

You May Also Like

“People have very specific opinions of comedy. Slapstick was an art form in the '20s and the lowest form of show business in the '50s. Who's right, who's wrong? Who's an idiot, who's not?”

People Art Opinion Comedy Idiot Lowest Show Business

Author:Martin Short

“The thing in comedy is that once you start worrying about something not succeeding, you're frozen. There's no verdict on anything. You can make ¡Three Amigos!, and some people will at the time say, "Oh, that's too silly." Then five years later, silly is hip. Now it's considered art. I never comment on anything I do, because if I say anything negative about X film, or X TV show, or X project, people who saw it and loved it go, "Well, am I an idiot?"”

People Art Film Worry Comedy Succeed Negative Silly Idiot Comment Say Anything

Author:Martin Short

“All the actor does is, he tries to get as many takes as he can out of the director that day. So he can walk away and say to himself, "Hey, it's in there. I'm not going to edit it. I'm not going to make those choices. If they want to blow it, it's fine. But I've done all I can." You're right. I'm always amazed when actors bash films as if those grips and that cinematographer didn't work hard enough.”

Trying Done Enough Film Choices Hard Work Blow Amazed Bash

Author:Martin Short

“Even as a teenager we got interested in the Beats, Dada, and Surrealism, and so on. What drew us to those was that their lives were their art. It wasn't something they did separately. Reading biographies of artists of that kind was what was fascinating to me, more than the stuff they made. We became convinced that life and art is really the same thing.”

Kind Art Artist Reading Art Is Teenager Surrealism

Author:Genesis P-Orridge

“I wanted at one point to act, which is a weird thing for men to want to do. It's a very vain profession.”

Men Profession Vain

Author:Shane Black

“It was like a frat house for film geeks, the Pad O' Guys. That's what being at UCLA afforded me. So when one of us had some success - in this case, my pal Fred Dekker - he would reach down the ladder and help me up a rung, give my work to his agent to pass around to see if anyone liked it.”

Giving Helping Film Guy House Help Me Geek

Author:Shane Black

“The other thing being at UCLA was just being in California and around the movie business. Which I honestly believe, and I've told this to screenwriters, you have to do. You have to be there in order to write or direct movies.”

Writing Believe Direct Honestly Movie Business

Author:Shane Black

“I had my group of friends, and they stayed my group of friends, they were good about that. We all started to succeed at the same time, so that sort of took the curse off it. I didn't have a bunch of people scowling at me and being potentially jealous. I just had good friends who I was able to help, and they helped me. Yet it eventually came to feel debilitating.”

People Helping Succeed Curse Jealous Good Friend Group Of Friends

Author:Shane Black

“It really started after The Long Kiss Goodnight sold for just a sinful amount of money. People were angry that I took the money. People offer you $4 million for a script - what are you going to say? "No, I'd rather sell it for $100,000"? But it engendered so much anger, I lost friends over it. And no one talked about the creative content of anything I did any more. They all just assumed I was this guy with a formula, a hack formula.”

People Long Guy Creative Kissing Over It Lost Friend

Author:Shane Black

“The spotlight was on me. I pretended it wasn't, but it was, and for every wrong reason. It was all about money, it was all about my supposed competition with Joe Eszterhas over who'd be the highest-paid screenwriter. I didn't care. I just wanted to write stories, try to become a better writer, improve my style, change genres, even try new things. I didn't like action so much any more.”

Writing Trying Reason Care Action Style Competition

Author:Shane Black