![Two men sitting](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/95cfe0b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/6208x8280+0+0/resize/2000x2668!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F97%2F8a%2F1ecd08b348d09a5add759ada7e4e%2Fsteve-martin-and-martin-short-mark-seliger.jpg)
Martin Short is relaxing in an Adirondack chair at his summer cottage in Rosseau, Ontario, a couple hours north of his Canadian birthplace and three time zones ahead of his longtime friend and âOnly Murders in the Buildingâ co-star, Steve Martin, whoâs joining us from his Santa Barbara home.
As for Martin ... well, he isnât so relaxed.
âI hear chewing!â he says, turning his attention away from the screen to find his familyâs 12-week-old puppy, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever named Sonny. Itâs not the first time Martin will pop up from his chair in this hour to see what Sonny is doing, nor will it be the last.
âClearly, heâs been put in charge for the first time ever,â Short says during one of Martinâs fretful checks on Sonnyâs whereabouts. Weâre puzzled, though. Martin is in a small, spotless room sporting a treadmill and gym equipment â âHave you ever thought of using that?â Short asks him at the outset â and his worry over the puppy doing what puppies sometimes do seems a bit inflated.
âWhat is going on here? Your whole house is made out of cement! What does it matter if he pees?â Short asks.
Speaking with Martin and Short, who met 36 years ago on the set of âThree Amigosâ and have remained close, goes exactly how youâd imagine. Itâs delightful. Their comic antennae are sharply attuned to the small gaps in the conversation that provide an opportunity to poke fun at the otherâs foibles. Part of this is performance. But itâs also clear that they take great pleasure in landing a perfectly timed putdown that might generate a smile of appreciation or, who knows, maybe a laugh. Itâs not one-upmanship exactly. More a playful game of tag.
For instance, weâre talking about the duoâs recent three-night run at the Hollywood Bowl. I ask if the success of âOnly Murders in the Buildingâ â the most-watched comedy in the history of Hulu and a 17-time Emmy nominee, including lead nods for its two stars â has brought a new audience to their stage show. Their co-star and fellow executive producer, Selena Gomez, has marveled that more older people now know her. Was the reverse true?
âI think that more young people know who we are, but that doesnât make them fans,â Martin, 76, says. âIt just makes them aware of us.â
âWhat if they like my character work in the show?â Short, 72, asks, setting up his partner. Martin pauses for timing. âYeeaaah.â Pause. âTheyâre still not fans. Theyâre more like, âUh-huh. Have you seen his character work? Uh-huh.â
âAnd Martyâs performance,â Martin continues, âgenerally they donât boo at the Hollywood Bowl because itâs a fun night and itâs outdoors.â
âI heard triumph,â Short counters. Martin leaves again to go check on the dog. I tell Short that from where I was sitting at the Bowl, there was nothing but love.
âThatâs because people text their boos now,â Martin says, returning to his seat. Short had been noting how gratifying it felt when the Bowl audience roared its approval when an image from âOnly Murders in the Buildingâ showed up during a preshow montage of their comic careers.
âYou know what really helped us understand our [stage] show better is when we treated the theater like it was a wedding,â Martin says. âAnd Martyâs people would sit on one side and my people would sit on the other side. And Martyâs side had always just a little bit of empty seats. Letâs put it that way.â
Sure, Steve. But their balance on âMurdersâ is perfect with Martin and Short playing lonely showbiz castaways finding a renewed lease on life when they meet Gomezâs mysterious Mabel after a resident in their Upper West Side apartment building turns up dead. The trio donât know each other at the outset, but a shared love for true-crime podcasts prompts them to join forces, investigate the murder and share their findings on their own true-crime audio show.
![Two men and a younger woman peek out from a doorway in "Only Murders in the Building."](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0f240e4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8640x5760+0+0/resize/2000x1333!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F9c%2Ff4%2Fb604c87c475a900ff639a32f8cfe%2Fomitb-203-cb-00868rt.jpg)
The seriesâ second season, currently airing, finds them digging into another murder. Presumably, the third season will produce another case.
Itâs a big building with a lot of residents. âMurdersâ could go on indefinitely.
âI donât think we can knock off more than 10 and still be considered legitimate,â Martin says, smiling.
If they run out of ideas, they could always take the show on the road. What would âOnly Murders in the Buildingâ look like in Los Angeles?
âSomehow I just donât picture underground parking like at a Wilshire condo,â Martin says. âThe big difference is these buildings are old. Theyâre built in the pre-â30s.â He considers the L.A. landscape. âThereâs this fabulous old building â a couple of them, I lived in one of them â called La Fontaine at Crescent Heights and Fountain. And it looks like itâs from France in the 19th century. There you could do something.â
Maybe weâre forgetting âMelrose Place,â the Fox prime-time soap opera from the â90s. There must have been a murder or two there.
âOh, absolutely,â Short says with authority. âItâs kind of old news.â
âAnd also you have murdered on âMelrose Place,â as I recall,â Martin offers.
A little-known guest spot that Short did?
âIt wasnât a nomination,â Short says without missing a beat. âBut it should have been.â
âHe kept saying, âWhat if it was âOnly Murders on Melrose Placeâ? What if? What if?ââ Martin says. âI couldnât figure out why you kept saying that.â Short laughs in appreciation. âWell, now you know.â
![A man exits a courthouse to find a mob of reporters in a scene from "Only Murders in the Building."](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b9c336a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8640x5760+0+0/resize/2000x1333!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd4%2F0b%2F73805a5948b3af688137a316b64e%2Fomitb-201-cb-00534rt.jpg)
Gomez has praised her co-starsâ willingness to listen and offer advice when asked. What was the best piece of advice they received when they were her age?
Answers Short: âBernie Brillstein was my manager for years and he would say, âItâs only show business, kid. Donât take it serious.ââ
âIf someone told me that, Iâd say, âYouâre crazy,ââ Martin counters. âI take it seriously.â
âWell, that is why Steve is worth a trillion dollars and I am hanging on by a thread,â Short says.
âYeah, there at your cottage at Rosseau,â Martin answers affectionately. He goes on to remember early helpers who showed him magic tricks when he was working at Merlinâs Magic Shop in Disneyland and another mentor who taught him how to tuck in his shirt like a show business professional â reach through the fly of your trousers and pull the shirt down from the inside â during his performing days at Knottâs Berry Farmâs Bird Cage Theatre.
âSo let me understand this,â Short says, trying to process Martinâs anecdote. âIf you had never met him, youâd have never figured that out?â
âItâs not a common model,â Martin answers. âHe actually showed me how to do it with his own hand.â
Short bursts out laughing. Sonny the puppy takes notice and bounds back into the picture.
âNow Steve, would you say on a scale of one to 10, 10 being the highest, where do you put your love and affection for Sonny?â Short asks. Martin doesnât hesitate. âFour.â Short canât believe the low rating.
âWell, heâs only 12 weeks old,â Martin says, not defensive in the slightest.
âThatâs like saying, âDo you love a baby?ââ Short adopts a growl. ââItâs just a baby.â But I like your honesty.â
âI like the dog,â Martin says. âBut we did not need the dog. And the dog, by the way, turned out to be the best dog. Heâs a fantastic dog.â
âI mean, after a couple of weeks, they could have said, âWe donât need Old Yeller,ââ Short says, making Martin dissolve into laughter.
Martin and Short make plans to talk soon about upcoming dates at Wolf Trap in Virginia. We say our goodbyes. Martin (and Sonny) leave. Short, unbidden, begins singing showtunes. I donât want to end the call. Who would?
âWell you know,â he says, adopting an exaggerated theatrical voice, âI love to vocalize in the dark. Thatâs what I do.â
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