Happy New Year to everybody, all our listener from us here at Smart List. Happy New Year, everybody, and smart listeners, our podcast on how would you describe? I would describe it as a lot of talking and then we're out, but we also have a guest. Oh, that's right. We each bring on a guest that the other two don't know about as a surprise. Yeah, that's right.

Oh, gosh. I'm so happy you explain it up, baby, because that would have been like 40 minutes. Anyway, it's marvelous. And you're about to listen to it. So strap on, strap in charge. Smart as. Which is now going on? Oh, that's what I do, is I put some almonds in my in my in my smoothie, you know, a little texture. Hey, well, well, well, well.

Hey, guys, guys, I've been thinking on a good new opening for the show, and it goes like, hey, I'm Will and I'm Jason and I'm Sean.

And you're listening to Smart Less smart, less do we say smart list together the same piloting a one, two, three.

Smart you got to do and you're listening to. Oh, I'm well, I'm Jason and I'm Sean. And you're listening to smart lists.

Smart lists. Oh that wasn't together. Why wouldn't you guys.

I pulled a hamstring and no. An old person thing last night. I have, I grind my teeth at night.

So does my eight year old. You want to borrow her mouth guard I, I have a mouth guard.

I have. That's what I was going with that you don't need to say. That was such a surprise. We're not shocked.

OK, ok, good. So I was a senior moment that I had where last night I'm just falling asleep like oh damn. I forgot to put my mouth guard in and I'm looking all over for it and the dark and I'm looking in the, in my bedroom and looking in the bathroom. I go downstairs. I didn't want to wake up the new puppy that we have because he's just on a schedule. So I'm like, oh, screw it.

And I go to bed. I wake up in the morning as in my mouth all the time.

Do you have do you have you have a number jaw. Some people have a no no. I had some, I had pain, massive pain in my left job. All it my head.

You do seem to have a lot of like sleep blackout type stuff for like you're surprised and stuff happens. You find yourself in the emergency room like stuff's going on. Scottie doesn't wake up. You've got major injuries. What is happening over there? I guess the question is, do you need to move next door to Cedars?

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Great sign. It's not a great sign, guys. We have a heck of a guest today. We'll see. This person, of course, is Canadian. Oh, God. By Burnett.

They are they are the pride of McMaster University, one of your favorite universities, Jason and Sean. This is where they teach you how to flip burgers. Well, they they prepare you for life. This person is obviously well prepared for life. They took all the knowledge from McMaster University and launched into the rest of their life completely prepared. Without further ado, I'd like to welcome our surprise guest, someone you know and love. And I hope we will know and love even more.

Guys, it's Martin. Sure.

Oh, my. Oh, God. Or at least he looks a lot like him. Yeah, no, it's me.

And it sounds like it's me. Oh, Martin.

Marty. Sure. Jason, very happy to have you, sir.

Oh, so thrilled to be. Oh, nice of you to do this, Martin.

Oh my gosh. Where do you put the accent on the name Ma.

Ah, the Tin Tin Martin.

Martin, do you know that I actually truthfully, without any irony or attempted humor for many years, would say, I've got to download that.

Yeah. And realize that. And if someone said why download and I'd say, why download. I mean, you know, anyway, this can be trip.

Hey, I'm thinking of a name for you guys. Let's hear it. The McGuire sisters.

Just think about I'm so excited you said yes to Will to do this.

First of all, I love Will. And can I tell you, Mr. Bateman, that I am so obsessed with your series. I'm blanking on the name.

I want to say inbred. I want to say I don't want to say inbred, but it's not. But you know, the one I mean, I'm telling you honestly, let me get that out of the way.

It's just spectacular.

Sean's career speaks very little to me and will, I think, is working at Endeavour now. But Ozark is an absolute triumph.

So congratulations. You're very, very nice. Thank you. You're welcome. Marty Short, the pride of Canada. Oh, I think. I guess, yeah. Fighting out of Hamilton, Ontario. One of the great things this has been covered a million times. But I have to I would be delinquent if I didn't bring it up. And I've heard you talk about it before this this production of Godspell, which is like you're really your first professional acting gig.

Is that right or is that right? Yes, I was I was still at university. I was going to be a doctor for two years. I was in premed. And then I realized I didn't care about science. I just was a fan of whatever it was on medical center at the time.

So I then switched I switched to social work and but didn't really I just wanted to not have to work so hard. And then in the last semester of my fourth year, they were auditioning to show Godspell and Eugene Levy said you should audition. And I did. And I got it, but you auditioned for it, you were from Hamilton, and for people who don't know, you were from Hamilton. The show was in Toronto. That's a 45 minute drive.

That's a big move to go from McMaster to all of a sudden auditioning for a real production in Toronto with a cast. These guys probably don't know who was in the cast.

Well, there was kind of amazing. It was kind of like American Idol because everyone wanted this show and they and Steven Schwartz, who at that time was twenty five, you would later write Pippin and Wicked, etc. and he now had this off Broadway hit and they want to do in Toronto. So he came up with a with the author of the book and the additions like a thousand people. And I went in and I got a callback and then at the callback it was really like in the Masonic Temple, Toronto, people were filling the rafters, supporting their friends.

And I guess about 40 people were called back in through the day. They just kept narrowing it down. And I thought was many times. So don't tell again. Gilda Radner got up. No one knew who she was. And she was wearing bib overalls, hair and pigtails. And she thing that Betty Dah Diddy. And I thought, oh, that poor thing.

It's like from a home or something. They bust in and and and and short stood up and said, you've got it. And it was like, oh, I may have I may have planned incorrectly because I was singing My Funny Valentine. So, you know, I now had to rethink my choices. So anyway, they kept narrowing it down and narrowed down. Then they narrowed down to Gilda and Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin and Jesus Victor Garber with Jesus literally.

And Paul Schaffer was my musical director because he came and played for his girlfriend. And Stephen Schwartz hated the guy who is playing for people. So we went up to you and said, if I can fire that guy over there and you replace him, will you be musical director? It was all like very out of Judy and Mickey, you know, put on a show.

And that's where the hook was set. And you stayed in show business ever since. Your career is so impressively long. I think longevity is truly kind of the gold medal in this in this business.

And you you have a big fat well, thank God, because if it was based on success, I'd be finished.

Yeah. So wait, but Marty, you know, it's so crazy is everybody I grew up. You are one of my as you know, and you make me say it to you every time I see you.

One of my biggest inspirations growing up.

And, you know, in my mind, you are on SNL for 15 years, but I don't think a lot of people realize you only had one season, one season, but you stood out so incredibly as one of the staples of that show in the history of the show. Why do you think that is?

Well, I think, you know, Billy Crystal and Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer and I all had a one year contract because what had happened is it was now this was the tenth season, eighty four, eighty five. And the year before Eddie Murphy had left halfway through. And now it was just up to Joe Episcopo. So for some reason they were concerned about the future of the show. And then Joe left.

And that's why he got in such good shape because he was worried about all the heavy lifting. Well, that's like that's like Mozart. That's brilliant. But anyway.

So then so Dick Ebersol wasn't Lauran then? Dick Ebersol was panicked that the show would be canceled. So he gave the four of us a one year contract. And I think the reason we did so much is that we treated it like doing a special every Saturday as opposed to just being a cast member. I wish I'd I've said no, I'll stay as long as you want. And then I would have not panic when I had nothing on Tuesday night.

And why would you have wanted to keep going and going and going on that show and know was it your whose whose choices? What was your choice? Well, again, I think it's all it's I think it was my choice. And and Lorne came back the next year and he's asked if I would do it. But I just I had done a TV for three years. I had a new little baby. And I was just like I was just burned out.

And also, I put so much pressure on myself every week because you can have a great Saturday night show, feel like a star, feel brilliant. And then by Tuesday afternoon, because I was right on the show, if you didn't have an idea, you felt like the biggest failure. So it was like final exams every week. But I think if I'd known I was going to hang around there a long time, I would have relaxed and not been so tense.

Did you and Lorne know each other from Toronto? Did you had you guys known each other before, like before you came on SNL?

Lorne came and saw Godspell in seventy three, but I knew Lorne through Gilda. Right. Sort of the double back. This is interesting. So so you do one year on SNL, Lorne says, do you want to come back. You say no, you've got a young baby. What's, what's that moment like? Because you know what you could do? You know what SNL is. You could go in there week after week and continue to create characters and continue to write and whatever.

Maybe for four or five, six years more if you wanted to, and yet you decide, no, I'm going to go do something else, that's kind of a bold move. I don't know.

I think I think, again, you three years and then that four years. And but I remember going to Lauren's apartment in New York, it's a May of nineteen eighty five. I was like rain man thing with dates and I just don't let him. And I went to Lauren's apartment to discuss this western three amigos and but he kept saying, should he go back? And what if I went back with them and I said, well how how could I do a movie and do something live?

You said it's called scheduling.

Right? Right.

And Marty, you you know, when we I went to your cabin and Muskoka Muskoka Lakes, and it's so beautiful and pleasant up there and we had such a great time. And you're one of the most joyous, kind, pleasant people I've ever known and hung out with friends with.

And you've shared with me this one kind of way you view life and the way you take time for your friends, you take time for your job, you take time for your family, you take.

And there's this one thing you know I'm talking about.

You mean the nine categories? Maybe that's what it is. And can you tell what that is? Oh, well, this is what I was like about twenty eight. It was the first time I started working when I was twenty two and I just worked all the time. And now for the first time I hit this patch where I remember I kept going down in Toronto every time I went down to get the subway, the subway was leaving. It didn't matter if I ran toward the subway or walk slowly toward.

It was always leaving. And I thought, I guess when the subways arriving, that's when I will get another job. But there's a good chance I'll never work again now. So this has lasted for about two months. But it was the first time I'd gone through this. And then afterwards and by the end of that year, I realized I'd made more money and had lots of jobs. And I thought, gee, I wish I could have those two months back.

I'm not going to let that happen again. So that I thought, wait a second, what if your career was just one of nine courses you took? And so that means if you're not working, if you get an F in your career, you can still get a good GPA by doing well in the other categories, like subjects of the categories where one was self, you know, what your weight are you working out? Are you in good health too?

Is your wife, girlfriend and kids? And if you have a wife and a girlfriend, great. You got an eight and then three. Was your original family siblings. Four was your friends, five was finances, six was creativity and then discipline and seven. And then the last one is lifestyle. Like, Are you having any fun?

How did you think of that? You read that. I mean, you just thought of it yourself.

No, I just I just it just came upon me one day and then I would actually do it in Nice and I would actually do it like a report card. Like I give myself Christmas grades and finals. Yeah.

Or you would go you would go back and look through that. That's interesting. Yeah. Well, I would just I would think that OK, so this is now horrible. OK, I got to say that's that's a deal. How can I get an. Oh it can be a better friend.

OK, I can pull that up to a name but wouldn't, wouldn't, wouldn't not pulling a good grade and finances pull everything down and potentially out onto the street.

Oh he never pays for dinner. That's how he gets in. Oh yeah. Yeah. No, no.

You can be very rich in your career. Be in the dumper.

Look at, look at junk shot is spiritually broken. For sure. For sure.

Can I, can I close the loop on the report card thing with a semi serious question here. Where what is your highest grade and your lowest grade right now in your in your nine channels?

I also colored code my weight. Got it. Based on the John Ashcroft alert system.

So like the the lowest you'd ever be is in your Green Zone, and then the next is your blue zone. And that's kind of like where you want to be. Uh huh. And then then there's the yellow zone. Then there's the orange zone and then there's the red zone. I'm in big purple.

So for that, which is beyond red, that's so I would say that I would have to therefore give category one. But my health is great. I'm swimming every day. But it's it's it's not beautiful naked. So I would give myself a B minus there purely on just I'm seven pounds overweight of seven. So.

So when you take a nude selfie you're not, which I will send you.

So of course that's what we need to promote the podcast.

You brought it up. All right. So, so, so health. So health is a B so would that be your highest grade?

No, I think I think I've never been hotter a showbiz. Well, I would say, well, lifestyle is always funny. I have a good life, you know what I mean? I, I get out creativity. That's a d a discipline is just what's lower than an F, but I definitely I'm a good friend. I've got lots of money. So if you have lots of money. Sure.

Like you've got Bozak money and then the friends are just they take care of themselves with that, right. Yeah. The discipline you strike me as a very disciplined person. You're saying you're not. I am.

I am. I'm just trying to be self-effacing. Yeah. There's everyone saying I'm so great. I feel the fool.

I don't know that that comes through. Talk as much as a visual aid. If it was shot, if you could see him right now.

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So in anticipation of Marty being here today, I went and did the thing that I like to do about once every six months, which is watch this Stapleford Wash.

Now watch. Watch a scene from Clifford oh oh with with Charles Grodin and and Marty, you play a boy of 12, is that right. And it's very, very important that he was prepubescent. Right. Sorry. He's 10. He's obsessed with dinosaurs. Yes.

And there's a scene at Mitch Hurwitz and I have watched I'm going to say a thousand times. I'm just going to take the I'm going to take the end, run it, because there's a scene where Groden says to you.

I'm going to tell you something. Don't touch the keepsake. Don't touch the dinosaur. And you keep subtlely reaching your hand for the dinosaur. Leave it alone and he takes it away and he puts it in his pocket because you won't stop touching it.

He says, I'm going to go and I'm going to tell her this and that. Look at me. Look at me.

Like a boy starts to contort his face to look at him, because look at this. Look, he says, look, look at me like a human boy. When he gets there, he first says, boy, but he says, and then you can draw your face.

He goes, Look at me like a human boy. Look where he tries.

It's a 10 year old trying to figure out whether it's one of my favorite moments I've ever, I think. Thank you, William. Oh, God. It's like that's my that's my moment that I wish that I could have. And I think if I had a piece of talent, I'd do that.

Marty, tell us what Steve Martin, when he introduces the movie Clifford to the audience. Oh, yes.

He says he says Marty is in a film. I'm telling you a story. He says, what's your most embarrassing thing? I said, Well, in 1990, I made a film called Clifford and you'll get this from the audience. And he said, See, the people that applauded, remember that movie and the people that didn't applaud also remember.

But I'll bet you'll say, because I was also one of the luckiest guys in the world to work with Charles Grodin. I'll bet you'll say the greatest thing about that movie was working with with with Chuck Grodin.

He was so fantastic and so funny. And I love that guy. Oh, my God. I adored him. He was fabulous. He was so funny and smart and hip and all the stories he retired. I don't know. I don't know.

He still the stuff he was spending a lot of time championing people who are incarcerated without cause or it does benefits for that.

Yeah, yeah. He's really, really passionate about that and is comfortable living, you know, gorgeous mansion in Connecticut. He's he's he's done it.

You know, it reminds me it's funny you say about Steve that I remember being at dinner one time with you guys and Steve told a funny story and people laugh and he goes, I tell you, man, if you don't get an agent after that story, I don't know what like you're the only person I know who can who consistently, you know, make fun of him.

And he loves it more than anything. God, he loves.

He does. He has never at any time, you know, because we'll do interviews together, because we used to do live shows and we would jump up and they'd always say, do you guys insult each other? Do you ever go too far? And we realize both that we've never, ever, ever gone too far and never had a fight. I don't think that I know. And I think it's that he believes that it would be impossible for me to ever say anything that truly was meant to hurt him.

It's just not in his computer. That's sweet.

He just doesn't think that you have that mean bone in your body, is that right? So anything that's kind of on the line, he just gives you the benefit of the doubt.

Absolutely. Although Dave Foley from Kids in the Hall once said to me about Jimi, like you said, you have finally created a character who's as mean as you really are in life.

Speaking of that, you know, that is one of the most iconic characters of all time.

I mean, it is and is one of the most incredible it's endlessly funny.

Well, Ed Grimley is pretty high up there and at Kreml.

Yeah, they're all about Jack Jack from Arrested Development. Marty, who is the best Jiminy Glick interview and who is the worst?

Well, I can't say who the worst was. That would be mean, but the best I don't know. They were all I don't think of anyone, as I remember with Jon Lovitz, I fell asleep in the middle of my interview in the middle of asking a question.

I asked him a question. He as he was answering, I fell asleep, fell out of the chair onto the ground. And then I remember saying to Steven Spielberg, what are you going to do?

The big one, the one that connects the people? And but I had told Steven he's an old friend of mine. I said I said at one point, I'm going to the one before we start. I said, I'm going to ask you a question to define your kind of filmmaking. You said, wow, that's I said, no, no, it will be all fine. And so he he looked off. And as I'm asking the question, I mean, I ask him, what about his career and filmmaking?

And he starts going on about it.

And as he's looking off, I slid out of the chair and the camera followed me over to the craft service table and I got a million gummi bears and four doughnuts and then crawled back and the camera's just on me. And then I sit in the chair and he's saying, you know, I think Felliniesque isn't that wonderful now.

But my favorite line, I must admit, was to Mel Brooks when I said, what's your big beef with a Nazi? So we always said it like, was he anti-Semitic?

You didn't quite know. It wasn't, of course.

So you mentioned before that you talked to Lauren about Three Amigos. Yes. A film that you did end up making. Of course. Yes. And you wrote as well. Is that true?

No, no, no, no. It was written by Steve Martin, Lauren and Randy Newman. And is that the first time you met Steve on that movie?

Uh huh. Wait a minute. Lorne Michaels and Randy Newman were two of the three writers. Yes. Has either one of them ever written anything before or since?

Lauren sort of. Lauren sort of as a writer, he wrote for laughing, you know, the Phyllis Diller sitcom. He wrote really? Or he wrote a lot of lot of things. Paul Simon special and Randy Newman and Randy.

Well, you know, it was a musical. So Randy but Randy came up with funny things. I think the singing Bush was his idea. You know, they would get together, the three of them, and, you know, meet for lunch and then drink some wine and write, would you?

So that was the first time you met Steve? Was that like kind of love at first sight for you guys? Well, I didn't know.

I went to his after my dinner with Lorne in May of eighty five. Eighty five I went to then I'm back in L.A. and I went to Steve's house to pick up a script for Three Amigos and I'd never met him. I was excited to meet, you know, obviously. And I went into his house and it was his old house in Denver Drive. And there was just everywhere you look, there was a car.

So there was a, you know, a hopper. And I said to him, how did you get this rich? Because I've seen your work.

And he really laughed. And then he said, can you give the script to Martin Short?

And from that moment on, it was a love affair.

Yes, that's great.

Can I go deep on the rain man thing? Is there something there like is does it extend beyond date recall?

I do do remember lines really well and lines are pretty good, but really about dates.

And I remember I don't have it, you know, like Marilu Henner has that that's called H. Sam, OK. In fact I know I don't because one time I was saying to someone, you know, I have that kind of H.

Sam, you know, like Mary Lou, you know, what's her name. So I knew that it wasn't. But but I did.

Mary Mary Lou, Marilu Henner, who's one of the great women of all time, once she had a radio show and she we were talking and she said, do you remember I was doing this show? The associates got quick because it was doing taxi and it was Jim Brooks, his show. So that's when I first met her. But the end of that year, we went to the Golden Globes and she said, Do you remember who was at our table?

Because she said she can remember which the dress she wore and what she ate. Wow. And I said, well, I remember it was my wife, Nancy. She said, Yeah. And you were with John Travolta. She said, Yeah. And who else was at the table? I said, I can't meet with Steven Spielberg. I never met him. For some reason I couldn't remember Steve. So she literally remembers every detail and emotion of her life.

That's a real age.

Sam, did you remember dates, too, in that way that she remembers everything I can remember, like I would say to my wife, what do you think? We first went to Rome, she'd say, I don't know.

Eighty eight. Ninety one. I could tell you the month in the year. So I can do that.

Do you know why that is? Is it is it is it based on growing up in a place that that has seasons? Because like out here in L.A. at like every month is April? You know what I actually think?

I think it part of it is I equate it to what I was doing and what I was working because I was never like in a long run anything. I think I just can that helps anyway. And I think seasons do help.

And do you like that not having a steady a steady job that that that thing that is in this business, like if you have a really good year, you get effectively fired six times, you know, multiple jobs. Do you like that about this about this business or are you somebody that prefers stability and routine and predictability? What Jason's saying is that what you like about your career not having work?

I believe I'm analyzing myself, actually.

Well, I don't know. It's it's it's I guess there's pluses and negatives. You're not stuck in anything, but at times you feel like, you know, I don't know. It's always been. Yeah, it was amazing to me in my career. I never I really never had a lot of successful things. They became successful, you know, either through DVD or. Or replay of it, but at the time, you know, I made a film interspace that with Spielberg we thought it was going to be the greatest hit in the world and no one saw it.

But now people will go up and say, oh, and they're stunned to think that that didn't open at the time. So, you know, you have everyone has those all over the place.

But were you always confident that there would be a space for you, that there would be there would be a lane somewhere in the business that you could occupy?

Whether I did kind of not think, oh, I guess you're no good. I did have that weird confidence. I think I was the youngest of five kids and everyone loved each other. And everyone picked me up and carried me and I was the cutest. And I think that carried me throughout my life.

But it also kind of what we talked about before, which I really admire and try to do as well as much as I can.

Is that idea that you like having the nine categories, but also you put you don't tether your happiness as a person to what you're necessarily doing work wise. You have such a full life.

And I mean, that's in all earnestness. Like you you take three months off, you go up to Muskoka, you spend time with family, you that is that's kind of your measure of success. I'm gathering.

I think so, yeah. That's part of the nine categories, you know. But you can't just put your you can't put your your only marks in categories here. But I think that yeah. I always remember reading about John Paul Getty. The third was kidnapped at 19 and as they cut his ear off and send it to his grandfather and he said, I'm not paying, that's not a successful life. For either one, for either one, for the Benko kid or the main granpa, one of the things that that's always been so inspiring to me about you is the confidence thing.

And I talk to you about that a lot.

But it's like, you know, I think everybody aspires and everybody who runs around this business so insecure, oh, my God, where's my next job?

How am I coming off? What people like me, all those things. But you don't seem to have any of those things.

And why is that like you are your confidence just carries you through. You don't care about the usual things that other people in this business care about.

Well, thanks, Sean. I think that, you know, it's OK.

Don't talk to me. Sorry. So he has another question for you. But it's not that, you know.

Is that the doorbell at your castle? That is that's my that's my clock.

Ringing chime I forgot I used to do Katharine Hepburn. You know, I did a movie the week with her. You did? I did. Yeah. It was a I think in like the early 90s on CBS, one of her last jobs, I played her driver. It was like a Driving Miss Daisy type of type of thing. It was it was awesome. Anyway, I wow. Not my interview. Why are you crying.

So going to be. Yeah. You got kind of I call it a bad acting choke on your throat I call it.

We were talking about comedies. I don't know I think. Well wait a second shot. Wouldn't you say yourself Sean. Yeah. Do you ever go and say I guess I don't have any talent and I am not worthy? I don't think you do.

And if you don't, why. No, I. Yeah, I don't know.

Yeah, no, I think I have something to offer, but it's just the way that you don't hold on to things. I think you don't hold on to things. You don't hold on. You don't have grudges. It seems like it seems like you can just move on from failure after failure.

No, it seems like it seems like you can just move on from things that work in things that don't work.

I wonder why that is. I, I mean, that sincerely is that is that DNA or is that the way you're raised or is what do you think that is?

Because I don't know this all sound very L.A. But what's your sign, Herries. Yeah, I'm going to take that to my wife.

Well, let me ask this then. Conversely, what is the thing or things that make you uneasy or insecure or unsure?

Well, I don't think there's many things that make me feel those things. I mean, I would be unhappy if there's family issues and people are, you know, not well or or friends or sad. You know, that makes me sad. But I don't really think at this stage of my life that I that I feel insecure about many things because as you get older, you know, I'm seventy now. You don't sit back and go, oh, my God, they better like me.

You have the body of a sixty eight year old, though. Thank you so much.

You know what you know, you never hear any time that your name comes up. I've never heard anybody say, boy, that guy's a jerk. Yeah, not once. And that's a testament to and that's probably part of it. I mean, is that yeah.

You're you have a well I haven't heard I've never heard that the two of you were jerks.

Well, that's wrong. I don't know how I got it. I won't say I get it. I get it.

Oh, by the way, what are the funniest thing that still makes me laugh? No. When we did Arrested Development, yeah. We did a lot of improvise. And what I loved about doing that show reminded me of doing a TV because that's what we used to do. We do a take and we go to the monitor, look at it, then we come back, you know, and change things. Mitchell was kept adding things, but we had this big, strong guy with to carry me around because I didn't have the use of my legs.

I was playing this character and we kept adding things. And at one point we were to break and I saw and he was crying because we'd worn him out. I mean, muscles like this, but they were burned out because we had added so much. You remember this, too. And then I remember another time where we would just play around with tapes and a one time Jason's telling the story and I'm his uncle and I just collapsed right into your crotch just and you just kept talking, but like a slow tree falling over because you have no no use of your of your core muscles or your legs at all.

So if you're not perfectly centered over your over your hips, you're just slowly fall over. And my lap is in your way.

Yeah.

You just kept talking like Jason doesn't flinch. If somebody goes to his crotch, he will not flinch. That is that is a dead area for me too I. I wasn't aware you were down there, were you were you did you know anything about the show when Mitch asked you to do it now, when you watched it?

No, but word got back from those who had that. It was lots of fun. And why did you say yes? Did you know did you know Mitch? No, I didn't know Mitch. And I had watched the rest about it. It was a massive fan.

Oh, man.

I was that for us was such a when we heard that you were coming to do the show that was like such a pinch me moment. I was a mess.

Yeah, I remember. I remember shooting at the beach. I duct taped to a horse and vomiting. And then I see this woman waving around, muddy, muddy.

And it was like, oh, you think I'm going to say no to that show? Oh, no. I love that show. I watch I watch it right from the beginning. It's not true. I was a huge fan of Russell. Develop this hilarious. Smart List is sponsored by Better Help Online Counseling. The holidays are tricky.

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There's no shame in asking for help. Marty, can I ask you the question that gets asked me? I'm sure you've been asked a million times. It's kind of one of those annoying questions.

What is it about Canada that produces so many funny people? That's true, though.

What is it like for people who aren't from there, which is the world? What is it about? Have you been asked that a thousand times in your life?

A million times. And I used to think it was a really silly question because, you know, the arts have no border. But then as people just kept coming and kept, you know, and then there was Mike Myers and then it was Phil Hartman. There's you and there's Seth Rogen and it's and Jim Carrey continues. Jim Carrey. Yes. And I'm not even talking about Catherine and Andrew and all these geniuses. I think there is something about what Lorne Michaels theory is, that especially with characters, that they that we had more patience for odd behavior.

But I don't really know why. I know that when in nineteen seventy two, when I started off now I'm in Godspell, there was a scene in Toronto of talented people like you couldn't believe it was John Kennedy, there was Danny Akroyd, there's Gilda Eugene and all these people and you go, but I remember I used to go with Gilden. I remember the first person in our group that went down to New York to get a job was Paul Shaffer.

He was working in the magic show, Doug Henning's show. And Stephen Schwartz had written the music and he had done Godspell. So he hired Paul to be an instant hit show. And I remember in Gildas kitchen phoning Paul, the two of us are like this. And Gilda said, Paul, what are New York actors like? And Paul said, Well, maybe they're my friends. I think you guys are just as talented. And we got off the phone saying, house, we want a friend, because as Canadians, we just didn't really it seemed like you were Neptun.

It didn't seem realistic that you could ever go to New York, live on Hollywood and work.

So is any of that true?

Not so. In fact, you know, I have the wrong guy. I put the wrong lenses in. I'm reading it.

And I just want to ask one question before we wrap up John Candy.

Yeah, obviously, you guys did TV together. What was your relationship like with John Kennedy? What was he like? Was he just the greatest guy with the most naturally funny?

I was very close friend of mine. We you know, we did Second City stage. Yeah. And we did. But and as John was exactly what you would hope he was, he was generous and funny and that was actually his laugh.

And he was the sweetest, kindest, most generous. I remember one night we were all, you know, we were all on stage. We're all making the same money and I'm driving home. And I said, Nancy, John always picks up the tab, and yet he makes the same money I do. And it just it was no, I'm Pat. He was it was there was like kind of Ralph Crampton great grand quality to him. He was he was a masterful person.

I just I you know, there's like was that TV game show. You guys just it was like the stupidest people, halfwits, halfwits.

So Eugene Levy is the host. And then you got John Kennedy and Andrea and Joe Flaherty and Marty. They're all the dumbest people out there are the contestants. John Kenny's the first one. They say I forget the guy's name like, hey, Gary, what do you do? Well, I got a job. And like every answer the. Do you have a family? I do.

Well, was that a huge inspiration for you? That show as a kid loved CTV, of course.

And as a Canadian. Really identified, and we're so proud that there was something Canadian that all these guys, most of them were actually Canadian except for maybe. Well, Andrea was born in Portland, Maine, right? And Joe Flaherty is from Pittsburgh. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, yeah. So I but these guys like of course. So for us, like for me as a as a young guy watching these guys, it's so funny.

And so and and they're kind of what you were saying, like you guys are doing it here. This is incredible. Like this is it's it's, it's funny, you know, funnier than anything else, and it's ours. I took, you know, like a lot of Canadians, I was so proud of it and really aspired to to do something like that, although I was too dumb to get into sketch comedy. So he asked me once, like, why don't you ever get in a sketch?

I was like, oh, no, too late. I thought of that as an option. What about standup, Marty?

Did you ever do any of that?

I didn't. I did it once. I did it once. After I left Second City stage, I thought, I'm going to do I know what I'll do this weekend. I'll write a standup act. And I had a friend, Carol Polke, and she was in a punk rock group called Rough Trade. And I said she said, we'll open for us. We're playing at the Edgerton's nightclub. And I got up and the whole crowd was just, you know, tat's Harbinson two people dressed as my deceased parents in the front row.

They were intimidating. It's what I'm saying. And I really bombed and a guy threw a beer on my face. And then I left the stage and I think I said, hey, I'm not an idiot. This is a light beer. Try that.

And I had no material. I had no material. I didn't want people to laugh as much as, you know, randomly turn to each other and go, exactly. You know, I want to do a reference to Camu, and this is a punk rock group audience. And so anyway, I remember going backstage afterwards and Carol came in dressing, crying. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Tomorrow night it will be so different. And I said, yes, because I'll be home watching Mike Connors on Manics.

I will not be here. That was the only time I ever did standup. Oh, wow. And then, as you know, as I do shows now, I ended up my own show. You kind of do a form of monologue, but no, I never clubs. Marty, what what is it?

What is the rest of the day for you? What what type are you are you are you a homebody? Do you like do you like to just take it into maybe a five o'clock dinner and an eight o'clock sleep?

I will tell you exactly what I'm going to do at four o'clock. I'm having a very hip masks on social walk with Mr. Christopher Guest.

Oh, such a big fan. I am the greatest genius of them all. I love his wife too. Jamie Lee. Yeah. He once said to me, I was making a film Captain Ron, and you said, Oh, what's this film about?

I said, Well, I play a man with two children who inherits a boat. You said, I didn't say spoil it for me.

Marty, thank you so much for coming on the show. We really appreciate it.

We love you even more than we already did. Am I right? 100 percent.

I love Martin Short. I love you three. Thank you so much. My honor and pleasure to be on your show. The Maguires sister.

Let's try to clear it. Why not? We should. Martin Short, love you. Thank you very, very, very much. I love you, Marty. Thanks, Marty. Thank you, Sean.

Have a good walk by William. Bye bye. Bye bye. Well, great guest, fantastic guest. Well, I don't know how you do it. It was great to have Marty, wasn't it? Yeah, he's literally the funniest person I've ever known. I agree. I agree. And he was one of those guys, like I said, that, you know, I just thought as a young Canadian and I'm still a young Canadian, I thought, wow, this guy I mean, you know, he's from where I'm from.

And, you know, he was just but also maybe the funniest person I've ever known.

Yeah. Him and Steve Martin were my two big, huge inspiration. So he was an early inspiration for you. Yeah. Oh, for sure. 100. Yeah. Yeah.

CTV then then why didn't you go in a sketch comedy. Honestly, I was too dumb. Now come on. I never considered it. I never thought about.

I've said that my sort of rote answer is when I was young I wanted to be taken seriously. So I thought I'd be I always goofed around and I thought I was relatively funny, but I didn't think that it was something that I could do do. And I've had moments of like, oh, God damn it, I wish I had gotten in the sketch. I wish I'd gone to Second City or tried to do that route.

And so you were thinking early on that you were going to go the route of a dramatic actor and the comedy was just sort of in for your personal life?

Yeah, same. Absolutely. That was it. Same here it was.

I started getting kicked out of schools that I realized that. Oh, my, my, my, my mouth is maybe I should put it to better use.

What do I remember somebody saying to me once when I was a teenager, they said I was such a smart ass and I had such a wise mouth and they said, You remind me of that kid on. It's your move. Come on.

I know if I've ever told you that. True. Yeah, I never told you that over all these years.

Yeah, well, my friend Meg Palmer in Toronto years ago said to me, you remind me of that kid on It's Your Move, which was Jason's show, that it was a spinoff, in effect of silver spoons.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You remember that Sean and Jason was on silver spoons. He was so good, basically, that they they gave him his own show. And the show lasted one season.

Almost one season. Yeah. No, I think the ratings were OK. But the at that at that point that they had this thing called research, NBC research was parents were writing letters to NBC complaining that their kids were doing some of the same scams and pranks that the writers were writing my character to do. So they asked them to kind of dial back on that. And it became sort of like this PR problem. And probably the ratings didn't make it undeniable either.

So they they just axed it.

Were you kind of like you were like a smartass, like latchkey kid?

You had a single mom, as I recall, I was like a wheeler dealer living in an apartment building and, you know, yeah. Stealing answers to tests and and keys to people's apartments and and all that stuff.

But imagine my delight when we first started working together, became friends, and I realized how close to that character you really are.

I don't like to do a lot of acting, so I just picked the characters that are just inside my borders, which is why and you shouldn't say that because you have done a lot of money laundering and you're like I obsessed.

I obsessed over you, Jason, on the Hogan family, like never, ever missed an episode of like, this guy is the greatest. Funniest. Oh, my God. And, you know, that was one of the shows why I was like, I want to do that just because of that show.

Are you serious? You never told me that. Yeah, I'm telling you now.

And that's how I felt. When I first watch Will and Grace, I thought, man, I'm going to quit showbiz because fuck this, you know what I mean?

Look, we can have that bullshit. That is bullshit right there, guys on TV.

But if we if the I don't think the three of our careers could could could equal Martin shorts and the amount of work and characters and admiration and relevance he has and laughs and laughs like the actual tonnage of laughs that he's created are almost insurmountable.

Oh well that was fun.

Yeah. He's the best. That is you learn some stuff about Marty today. I didn't know the medical school thing.

I did not know that. Yeah, I did not know that either. I did know what an incredibly kind, decent, patient, engaging guy he is. I you know, I didn't know he was seventy. I mean, you can't tell from look, I mean, lying around like he's thirty. He looks great. He looks great.

He's he's working his tail off. I mean, that's where I'd like to be in twenty years.

And he didn't go to he went to medical school briefly, but he's still an amateur proctologist. So that's. Do you have his number.

You okay. Great. Well I guess I'll see you guys next time. Right. This is the part. Let me just look at my script. Oh, this is where I go.

Bye bye. Ding dong smart. Smart bombs.