“Short’s endearing memoir is, of course, funny, but it’s also a rare thing: the tale of a genuine human being who’s thrived on planet Hollywood.” — Washington Post
In this engagingly witty, wise, and heartfelt memoir, Martin Short tells the tale of how a showbiz-obsessed kid from Canada transformed himself into one of Hollywood's favorite funnymen, known to his famous peers as the ""comedian's comedian.""
Short takes the reader on a rich, hilarious, and occasionally heartbreaking ride through his life and times, from his early years in Toronto as a member of the fabled improvisational troupe Second City to the all-American comic big time of Saturday Night Live, and from memorable roles in such movies as ¡Three Amigos! and Father of the Bride to Broadway stardom in Fame Becomes Me and the Tony-winning Little Me.
He reveals how he created his most indelible comedic characters, among them the manic man-child Ed Grimley, the slimy corporate lawyer Nathan Thurm, and the bizarrely insensitive interviewer Jiminy Glick. Throughout, Short freely shares the spotlight with friends, colleagues, and collaborators, among them Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Gilda Radner, Mel Brooks, Nora Ephron, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Paul Shaffer, and David Letterman.
But there is another side to Short's life that he has long kept private. He lost his eldest brother and both parents by the time he turned twenty, and, more recently, he lost his wife of thirty years to cancer. In I Must Say, Short talks for the first time about the pain that these losses inflicted and the upbeat life philosophy that has kept him resilient and carried him through.
In the grand tradition of comedy legends, Martin Short offers a show-business memoir densely populated with boldface names and rife with retellable tales: a hugely entertaining yet surprisingly moving self-portrait that will keep you laughing—and crying—from the first page to the last.
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“This is a winner, a case where theaudiobook is far superior to the written version. No one but Martin Shorthimself could tell his story in such a funny and poignant way…Short iseverybody’s best friend, a creative artist who has now added another notch tohis belt—audiobooks. He tells the story of his life, frequently allowing hischaracters, such as Ed Grimly and Jiminy Glick, to take over…This is one not tomiss. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile
“I read it back to front and was surprised by its shocking beginning.”
— Steve Martin“As long as I’ve known him I’ve tried to figure out what makes Marty tick. Now I have to read this book to find out? What a rotten Canadian trick!”
— Tom Hanks“Martin Short is a comedy superhero and this book is a peek inside his Fortress of Solitude.”
— Amy Poehler“What a wonderful book! If only it was about someone else.”
— Larry David“This book, like Marty’s life, is a nutty-mahvelous affair.”
— Paul Shaffer“A self-deprecating book filled with funny anecdotes about his family and famous friends…Short is by turns philosophical and endearingly goofy.”
— USA Today“Short’s memoir is filled with all sorts of lovely anecdotes about…eccentric and endlessly interesting people.”
— New York magazine“An engaging, often quite funny, story of a man’s life, with all of its highs and lows.”
— Booklist“A true vaudevillian, Short is always on as he delivers funny anecdotes from a diffuse and storied career.”
— Kirkus ReviewsBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Martin Short is an award-winning Canadian-born actor and comic, adored for his work on SCTV and Saturday Night Live, as well as such great comic movies as ¡Three Amigos! and Father of the Bride, not to mention dozens of memorable talk show, prime-time, and theatrical appearances, from Damages to his one-man Broadway hit Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. He lives in Pacific Palisades, California.