Comedy is Not Pretty. And Steve Martin is Not Funny. Anymore.
Well, excuuuse this post, courtesy of Alan Vanneman.
One-time funnyman and current West Coast answer to East Coast non-funnyman Woody Allen Steve Martin appeared at NYC's 92nd Street Y to talk about art with New York Times mag scribe Deborah Solomon. They bored the audience so much that the venue offered a refund. From Vanneman's writeup:
"We acknowledge that last night's event with Steve Martin did not meet the standard of excellence that you have come to expect from 92nd St. Y. We planned for a more comprehensive discussion and we, too, were disappointed with the evening. We will be mailing you a $50 certificate for each ticket you purchased to last night's event. The gift certificate can be used toward future 92Y events, pending availability."
The entertainment value of the Times piece is helped along not a little by bitchy, whiny quotes from both Debbie and Steve.
"Frankly, you would think that an audience in New York, at the 92nd Street Y, would be interested in hearing about art and artists," "Ms. Solomon" opined. "I had no idea that the Y programmers wanted me to talk to Steve instead on what it's like to host the Oscars or appear in 'It's Complicated' with Alec Baldwin [a film in which an unwilling Steve gets an unwelcome closeup of Alec's big, fat, naked ass]. I think the Y, which is supposedly a champion of the arts, has behaved very crassly and is reinforcing the most philistine aspects of a culture that values celebrity and award shows over art."
For his part, Steve found the Y's action "discourteous" believing that the Y owed him a "consultation" before deciding that an evening of Steve on art wasn't worth fifty bucks. To let the hotshots at the Y know he was still the Man, Stevo closed with a zinger: "As for the Y's standard of excellence, it can't be that high because this is the second time I've appeared there."
