Posts Tagged Steve Martin
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September 24, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Taking Novelty Songs Seriously
Wikipedia tells me that a novelty song is “a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect”. I guess that’s pretty much what I would have said if someone asked me to define a novelty song – but let’s at least take Wiki’s word for it. A few years ago I bought a […]Archive
January 17, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: Another Couple of Balls and An Extra Set of Fingers
Neal Page is a high-strung marketing executive. Del Griffith is goodhearted but he’s annoying. He sells shower curtain rings. Neal and Del spend three days together trying to make it home to their families for thanksgiving – they live in the same city, but ahead of a chance encounter, a taxi cab muck-up and then […]Archive
November 27, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Comedy on Vinyl: Stand-Up Comedy LPs
There was a time when I would listen to Bill Cosby records. But as I told you all recently that time is most certainly over. I still retain some affection for the idea of a comedy record – and by that I mean an LP, a stand-up comedy show pressed to vinyl. There’s something wonderfully indulgent about […]Archive
April 27, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Steve Martin & Edie Brickell: So Familiar
Steve Martin & Edie Brickell So Familiar Rounder Here is the second collaborative album from Martin and Brickell, accurately named since the pair work so well together and here particularly it feels seamless – in fact Martin is essentially the sideman, could have gone unnamed; why then is it Steve Martin and Edie Brickell not […]Archive
July 17, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
Judd Apatow: Sick In The Head – Conversations about Life and Comedy
Sick in the Head: Conversations about Life and Comedy Judd Apatow Random House Seemingly out of nowhere Judd Apatow has become known as a saviour of comedy, as owner of a brand of sophomoric humour that’s also truly smart. Either that or he’s just the guy who makes movies half an hour too long. But […]Archive
April 1, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
TV Shows That Meant The World To Me: # 6 – Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live – or SNL – meant the world to me before I’d even seen it. It never screened on New Zealand TV when I was growing up, in fact it’s only been the last few years. And these are lean years in the history of the show. Though I still – and always […]Archive
February 28, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 939
Steve Martin, A Wild And Crazy Guy (1978) I was talking, recently, about comedy on vinyl – a strange thing, a curious idea in this day and age. But I still like the chance, now and then, to sit down with some old comedy gem and listen to it – on vinyl. Meaning I’m not […]Archive
March 28, 2013 by Simon Sweetman