It was so funny reading Martin Short's book, because his life mirrors what I thought my life was going to be.. joining second City in Toronto, back in the early 80's... I really thought that was where my life was gonna go, and, at one point, there was an opportunity for me to go to Toronto to do some modelling, but I was only 16, and my Dad wouldn't let me go, for my own safety... and I had Big Plans to join Second City... was a different time, a differnt era. But I loooved SCTV, was the funniest thing on TV - that and Fernwood Tonight, with Martin Mull - remember that? Was hi-larious! My Dad and I would watch it, together, and laugh and laugh... anyhoo, I ended up going to Grade 13, in Ontario, and then on to Queen's University, because I also really wanted to be a teacher... and I guess I never really thought of being able to have a career in comedy, was something for fun - I don't think I connected it with making money, earning a living, at the time. So I particularly loved all of Marty's stories about how he rose up through the ranks, as it were, and all of his stories of how he got there, and what he had overcome, already, at the very tender age of 22.
All in all, Martin Short's new book, I Must Say, is a 'must read' - it's soo beautiful, so funny - and wee bits, scattered throughout, from his favorite characters - my own personal favourites are Jiminy Glick - hill-arious - omg, so funny - I love when Jiminy Glick forces himself of a guest he finds appealing - oh, God, that's so funny, and I loove when he sneaks a donut during an interview... oh, man, that's laugh out loud funny.... so I put a little link at the bottom, in case you haven't seen Jiminy Glick, then you're in for a brand new-to-you treat, and if you want to relive some fabulous old memories, I've put in SCTV links, too... that's some seriously funny stuff. and I loved the 'Half-Wits' and the Men's Synchronized Swimming - omg, hilarious. Loved how Marty describes how they did his teeth and his hair for that character - so funny!
Marty Short waits 'til the very end of the book to talk about his beloved wife, Nancy, and it is so beautifully told... will make your heart melt.. which reminds me of one of Marty's lines, 'from the bottom of where my heart should be' - omg, how funny is that?? hahaha! Hilarious. And the lessons he's learned over the course of his life - loved the Nine Categories - how Martin Short looks at his life... I laughed so hard in Category 2: Immediate Family - the questions are so crazy-funny, you'll laugh at that, too - and there's a bit at the end that I don't want to forget, because it's so beautiful, I want to be sure to be able to access it, if I ever need to use it - it's a poem/eulogy that Marty read after his beloved wife Nancy passed on (or passed through), page 316, from Martin Short's I Must Say:
Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Everything remains as it was.
The old life that we lived so fondly together is
untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no sorrow in your tone. Laugh as we always
laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Henry Scott Holland, 1910.
How forward-thinking was that, in 1910? Brilliant, and so very, very kind.
All that being said, this is not a sad book, this is a very lovely, very funny, beautiful book about Martin Short's amazing life, thus far, and you will love all the stories, start to finish. For me, it was so much fun reading about all my favorite people, from when I was growing up - Steve Martin, all the cast from SCTV - these are names and people I feel like are old friends, so was so much fun to read about them, and find out what lovely and funny people they all are - I knew it! I just had a feeling... lol!
This is a lovely book for a holiday gift, if you're looking for something wonderful to give to someone you love : ) Big Hugs, Your Pal in Reading, Ailsa : ) xox
