I Must Say: My Life As A Humble Comedy Legend

Martin Short is a household name for his comedic talents, his impressions and his down-to-earth Canadian charm which viewers regularly witnessed during his time on SNL, SCTV, movies and TV. In this memoir, he shares his humble beginnings in Hamilton, Ontario (we share a hometown!), his rise to fame, his misadventures, hardships, famous friends and a devastating loss that brought me to tears. This book has both humour and heart and I simply loved it. 

Martin Short and I go way back - in the 'he's never met me, but I love his humour and I totally think we'd get along' kind of way. As a teen, I fondly remember watching him on many a Saturday night. When our families would get together, my cousin David and I would stay up late to watch Martin do impersonations on Saturday Night Live - our favourites being the awkward but lovable Ed Grimley and the obnoxious yet humourous Jiminy Glick. 

Short narrates the book himself and I strongly recommend listening to the audiobook. Hearing him do his impressions of famous people, his signature characters and sharing some touching moments with his listeners made this an outstanding memoir. His tone is casual as he talks about his career, the people he's met along the way, his friendships and his devotion to his family. There is name dropping of his famous friends, but it's done in humble Canadian kind of way. And honestly, if I'd become friends with the likes of John Candy, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Tom Hanks, Steve Martin and fellow Lake Rosseau cottagers, Goldie Hawn & Kurt Russell (just to name just a few), I'd be mentioning them too.

Martin Short is a talented performer and a good 'ol Canadian lad. This memoir is insightful, funny and poignant and greatly exceeded my expectations. His spot-on impressions, memorable characters and his connections to Hollywood's rich and famous shine through in this memoir, but it is his humility and devotion to his wife Nancy and their children that truly make him a star. In the words of Ed Grimley "I must say, this memoir makes my heart beat like a distant little jungle drum". You've simply got to listen to this memoir.

My Rating: 5 stars

Author: Martin Short

Genre: Memoir, Canadian

Type and Source: eAudiobook from public library

Publisher: HarperAudio

First Published: January 1, 2014

Opening Lines: It's May 1977, and I am having an argument 

with the woman who will become my wife.

Book Description from GoodReads: 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.