Latest Steve Martin Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• I ignored my stand-up career for twenty-five years, but now, having finished this memoir, I view this time with surprising warmth. One can have, it turns out, an affection for the war years.

  Steve Martin

  War, Views, Years

  "Born Standing Up". Book by Steve Martin, www.npr.org. November 20, 2007.

• I was not self-destructive, though I almost destroyed myself. In the end, I turned away from stand-up with a tired swivel of my head...

  Steve Martin

  Tired, Self, Ends

  "Born Standing Up". Book by Steve Martin, www.npr.org. November 20, 2007.

• The course was more plodding than heroic: I did not strive valiantly against doubters but took incremental steps studded with a few intuitive leaps.

  Steve Martin

  Doubters, Steps, Heroic

  "Born Standing Up". Book by Steve Martin, www.npr.org. November 20, 2007.

• I took literally everything I knew how to do on stage with me, which was juggling, magic and banjo and my little comedy routines.

  Steve Martin

  Magic, Littles, Comedy

• I always felt the audience sorta tolerated the serious musical parts while I was doing my comedy.

  Steve Martin

  Musical, Serious, Comedy

• The thing about the banjo is when you first hear it, it strikes many people as what's that? There's something very compelling about it to certain people.

  Steve Martin

  People, Firsts, Banjos

  "Steve Martin: Comedian Takes Banjo Seriously". "All Things Considered" with Melissa Block, www.npr.org. February 4, 2009.

• I'm not Vegas. Places I play usually cost like $3 to get in, you know, and people are going: Gee, I've got $3, I think I'll throw it away.

  Steve Martin

  Thinking, Vegas, Play

• I really enjoy the social aspects of music as much as anything.

  Steve Martin

  Social, Aspect, Enjoy

  Source: www.theguardian.com

• To have someone play off and be with a band is more pleasurable.

  Steve Martin

  Play, Band

  Source: www.theguardian.com

• I don't think comic timing is the same as music timing, but I definitely find that I've learned from just writing in general that songs can be narrative without having a story.

  Steve Martin

  Song, Writing, Thinking

  Source: www.theguardian.com

• Comedy makes you humble. Because there are so many opportunities to miss, and strike out.

  Steve Martin

  Humble, Opportunity, Missing

  "Steve Martin Interview - The Pink Panther 2". Interview with Cole Haddon, www.mtv.com. February 4, 2009.

• Acting keeps me alert to people, and life. I don't know, there's something about going to work early in the morning, and having to stay alert and concentrated. Maybe that keeps your mind alive.

  Steve Martin

  Morning, People, Mind

  "The Steve Martin Pink Panther 2 Interview". Interview with Prairie Miller, newsblaze.com. January 31, 2009.

• Home to me is when someone comes up to me and says, "Can I get a selfie?" No. It's where your wife and your family are. It's the emotional place where you feel like you're not away from it.

  Steve Martin

  Home, Emotional, Wife

  "Steve Martin, Rihanna and Jim Parsons Talk HOME; Plus Our Thoughts on the First Footage From the New DreamWorks Animation Film". Interview with Christina Radish, collider.com. November 24, 2014.

• I think films are about having a good time, so I don't know that there's a message. The message of a film is always what a critic writes, and the fun of a film or the emotion of a film is what the audience feels.

  Steve Martin

  Fun, Writing, Thinking

  "Steve Martin, Rihanna and Jim Parsons Talk HOME; Plus Our Thoughts on the First Footage From the New DreamWorks Animation Film". Interview with Christina Radish, collider.com. November 24, 2014.

• So much emotion can be brought in an animated film that's very hard to get in a live-action film. I haven't quite put my finger on why, but it might be because the characters can make facial expression that, if you made them in a movie, they'd call them corny.

  Steve Martin

  Character, Expression, Might

  "Steve Martin, Rihanna and Jim Parsons Talk HOME; Plus Our Thoughts on the First Footage From the New DreamWorks Animation Film". Interview with Christina Radish, collider.com. November 24, 2014.

• I find animated movies very touching. They reach an audience that's hard to get with a live-action film.

  Steve Martin

  Touching, Action, Film

  "Steve Martin, Rihanna and Jim Parsons Talk HOME; Plus Our Thoughts on the First Footage From the New DreamWorks Animation Film". Interview with Christina Radish, collider.com. November 24, 2014.

• Writing is something I took up rather than anything I had an inclination toward. I like acting -delivering someone else's message - but writing is more of an accomplishment.

  Steve Martin

  Writing, Accomplishment, Acting

  "COVER STORY : A Side Order of Steve Martin : He's had his ups and downs with L.A., but they're back together in his new movie". Interview with Elaine Dutka, articles.latimes.com. February 3, 1991.

• I like what a third man brings. A kind of oblique vision, seeing something in the material that you didn't know was there. As a comedian, I'm always listening to the audience. And in movies, sometimes the only audience you have is the producer and the director. I like having someone else's opinion, especially if you're on the same wavelength.

  Steve Martin

  Men, Comedian, Listening

  "COVER STORY : A Side Order of Steve Martin : He's had his ups and downs with L.A., but they're back together in his new movie". Interview with Elaine Dutka, articles.latimes.com. February 3, 1991.

• At first I had no skills in writing comedy. I didn't know what a joke was, but, as someone once told me, your emotions follow your intent. If you create the intention of starting a comedy act, slowly your mind starts adjusting and you arrive at a new emotional state.

  Steve Martin

  Writing, Emotional, Skills

• Any type of humor can be transferred to the screen, as long as there's clarity. The audience wants to know just what they're supposed to be feeling, when they're supposed to laugh.

  Steve Martin

  Long, Laughing, Feelings

  "COVER STORY : A Side Order of Steve Martin : He's had his ups and downs with L.A., but they're back together in his new movie". Interview with Elaine Dutka, articles.latimes.com. February 3, 1991.

• When I first started doing my stand-up act, I played the banjo, did comedy, magic tricks, juggled, read poetry. I stuck it all in. I didn't know you were supposed to just stand up and tell jokes. Essentially, that's what my act became: those five elements - except I dropped the poetry.

  Steve Martin

  Magic, Elements, Firsts

• Your only guidepost is your own instinct and judicious editing. In my stand-up act I learned that in the first 10 minutes I could say anything and it would get a laugh. Then I'd better deliver. In the movie it's the same thing. You get a lot of laughs when people first sit down and then the story better kick in. Many years in front of an audience, I would hope, give me a sense of what works.

  Steve Martin

  Editing, Years, People

  "COVER STORY : A Side Order of Steve Martin : He's had his ups and downs with L.A., but they're back together in his new movie". Interview with Elaine Dutka, articles.latimes.com. February 3, 1991.

• I didn't come from a wealthy family. I had no money. Maybe it goes back to naivete which is your greatest asset when you're young. If I was starting in comedy today and if it didn't work the first time, I'd probably quit. But I kept at it, kept at it.

  Steve Martin

  Today, Firsts, Comedy

  "COVER STORY : A Side Order of Steve Martin : He's had his ups and downs with L.A., but they're back together in his new movie". Interview with Elaine Dutka, articles.latimes.com. February 3, 1991.

• A friend of mine once asked how to make it in show business and I said "Be so good that they can't ignore you." She thought I was being flip but it's true. The challenge is trying to live up to the opportunities given me.

  Steve Martin

  Opportunity, Challenges, Trying

  "COVER STORY : A Side Order of Steve Martin : He's had his ups and downs with L.A., but they're back together in his new movie". Interview with Elaine Dutka, articles.latimes.com. February 3, 1991.

• I never had a movie that I wanted to do turned down in my whole life. I always write the script first so it speaks for itself.

  Steve Martin

  Writing, Scripts, Firsts

  "COVER STORY : A Side Order of Steve Martin : He's had his ups and downs with L.A., but they're back together in his new movie". Interview with Elaine Dutka, articles.latimes.com. February 3, 1991.