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Posts Tagged Steve Martin

Archive

February 25, 2022 by Simon Sweetman

Movies of My Life # 26: Planes, Trains & Automobiles

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 […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 1980s, 1987, Blog, Comedy, Del Griffith, Film, John Candy, Movie, Movies of My Life, Movies of My Life # 26, Movies of My Life # 26: Planes, Neal Page, Planes Trains & Automobiles, Steve Martin, Trains & Automobiles ·

Archive

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 […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged "Weird Al" Yankovic, Alf, Blog, Classie Freddie Blassie, Dame Edna Everidge, Elliott Goblet, https://linktr.ee/Simonsweetman, Novelty, Novelty Songs, Randy Newman, Steve Martin, Taking Novelty Songs Seriously, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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 […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Another Couple of Balls and An Extra Set of Fingers, Del Griffith, Film, John Candy, John Hughes, Movie, Neal Page, Planes Trains And Automobiles, Poem, Poem: Another Couple of Balls and An Extra Set of Fingers, Steve Martin ·

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 […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Bill Cosby, Bob Newhart, Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, Comedian, Comedians, Comedy, Comedy on Vinyl, Comedy on Vinyl: Stand-Up Comedy LPs, Jim Gaffigan, Live, LP, Peter Sellers, Record, Richard Pryor, Sarah Silverman, Stand Up, Stand-up Comedy, Stand-Up Comedy LPs, Steve Martin, Vinyl, Woody Allen ·

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 […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, Alison Krauss, Americana, Bonnie Raitt, Dixie Chicks, Edie Brickell, Lorne Michaels, Love Has Come For You, Patty Griffin, Paul Simon, Rickie Lee Jones, Shooting Rubberbands at The Moon, SNL, So Familiar, Steve Martin, Steve Martin & Edie Brickell ·

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 […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Amy Schumer, Ben Stiller, Book, Book Review, Chris Rock, Comedy, Comedy Nerd, Freaks and Geeks, Garry Shandling, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carey, Judd Apatow, Lena Dunham, Louis CK, Movies, Stand Up, Stand-up Comedy, Steve Martin, This is 40 ·

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 […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Abby Elliott, Adam Sandler, Amy Poehler, Bill Murray, Billy Crystal, Bobby Moynihan, Cheri Oteri, Chevy Chase, Chris Farley, Christopher Guest, Comedy, Dan Aykroyd, Dana Carvey, David Spade, Eddie Murphy, Facebook, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin, Jenny Slate, Jimmy Fallon, John Belushi, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kristin Wiig., Live, Lorne Michaels, Martin Short, Maya Rudolph, Mike Myers, Phantom Billstickers, Phil Hartman, Satire, Saturday Night, Saturday Night Live, SNL, Steve Martin, Television, Tina Fey, TV, TV Shows That Meant The World To Me, TV Shows That Meant The World To Me # 6, TV Shows That Meant The World To Me: # 6 - Saturday Night Live, Will Ferrell ·

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 […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1978, A Wild And Crazy Guy, Blog On The Tracks, Born Standing Up, Comedy, Comedy on Vinyl, Live, Live Comedy, Live Record, LP, Record, SNL, Stand Up, Stand-up Comedy, Steve Martin, The Vinyl Countdown # 939, Vinyl ·

Archive

March 28, 2013 by Simon Sweetman

Steve Martin: The Television Stuff

Steve Martin The Television Stuff Shout! Factory This three-disc set is a reminder of Steve Martin’s “wild and crazy guy” persona, the seeds of The Jerk, the memory of him as a rock’n’roll star within comedy, the first hints of his more than decent abilities on the banjo, the early peak, and a portrait of […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Comedy, DVD Review, SNL, Steve Martin, The Television Stuff ·

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