Martin Short Quotes

What's great about being a character actor is you know that you can survive forever. It's not about the gloss of your eyebrows.

All you're trying to do in an improvisation is get as much material as possible for the editing room.

Whether arrogantly or what, I view myself simply as an actor.

I've never done an improvised movie as a fictitious character. I think that's the challenge.

Being the youngest of five, you're adored, you're fueled with confidence.

People have very specific opinions of comedy. Slapstick was an art form in the '20s and the lowest form of show business in the '50s. Who's right, who's wrong? Who's an idiot, who's not?

Ill give you an idea of how Jewish Mel Brooks is: Thats a nose job.

One of my great influences was Don Knotts as Barney Fife.

I think I've been really lucky to keep my career so varied, and to be open. There's safety in repetition, but there's also a trap there.

I'm an actor who loves doing comedy.

A few years ago, I won a Tony for Little Me and I learned two important lessons from that experience. 1. Fair-weather friends are so much more interesting to be around and 2. It's amazing what this award fetches on E-Bay.

You try to figure out things to keep yourself interested. It's very easy to get lulled.

[Ed Grimley] lives in a retirement home in New Jersey. It's called the Retirement Home in New Jersey for Characters Who Were Interesting in the '80s for About an Hour. He's there with the Whiners, Gumby and Jon Lovitz's 'That's the ticket' guy.

The thing in comedy is that once you start worrying about something not succeeding, you're frozen. There's no verdict on anything. You can make ¡Three Amigos!, and some people will at the time say, "Oh, that's too silly." Then five years later, silly is hip. Now it's considered art. I never comment on anything I do, because if I say anything negative about X film, or X TV show, or X project, people who saw it and loved it go, "Well, am I an idiot?"

There was an era when people would turn on their radio and hear a radio drama. Now, you could be as scared by that as seeing it filmed. In those days, people used to sit by the fire and imagine what they were hearing. Everything is its own art form.

I still do live concerts all over the country - about four a month - with singing and characters and improv. It keeps me limber. I'll never lose that. And comedy is still the bread and butter.

I think I'm funny because my family, my siblings were funny.

All these things that enter your head are assignments. You write them up and then throw them out there and if someone wants to do it, your assignment is done.

All the actor does is, he tries to get as many takes as he can out of the director that day. So he can walk away and say to himself, "Hey, it's in there. I'm not going to edit it. I'm not going to make those choices. If they want to blow it, it's fine. But I've done all I can." You're right. I'm always amazed when actors bash films as if those grips and that cinematographer didn't work hard enough.

A musical is only as good as its director. The same can also be said for the CIA.

Comedy is a weird thing. You have to understand, it's the weirdest thing you can do. There's no consensus. It's not like... People say, "I saw Saving Private Ryan, and that scene on the beach is just so moving." I can't imagine anyone who would say "I don't find that moving!" But you can show, whether it's Laurel & Hardy or the Three Stooges or Jiminy Glick In Lalawood, some people are going to look at it and say "That's the funniest thing I've ever seen." Some people will say "I don't get it." Who's right, who's wrong?

When you start a new project and they say, "Your director is going to be Joe Blo," you're hoping that Joe Blo will be the next Martin Scorsese, but it doesn't always work out that way.

An actor can spew out thoughts, but they're not all gold.

I've done lots of improv things but not a whole movie.

The thing you can always rely on, your core person, comes from your family's attention and love.

Someone once asked me what was the weirdest question I was ever asked. And I was stymied.

People do think I'm Jewish. But we're Irish Catholic. My father had a brogue.

If you have wonderful moments, don't second-guess them, just enjoy them.

You go through publicists because it's easy for a publicist to say to another publicist, 'No'.

Sometimes people get passionate about the obscure jokes.

I'm totally aware of how lucky I am. I have health, family, children. I do work that gives me total joy and allows me to make a living, and maybe, if I'm lucky enough, I'll feel I've fulfilled a little bit of service to society because I brought other people some laughter.

No one is any one thing.

I have sometimes imagined my own death and brought myself to tears.

I hate to lull the audience into letting them think that something is something. It's always fun to defy expectations.

I think loss can fuel how you lead your whole life.

I've chosen to treat my life more like a party than something to stress about.

I pretend I'm one of the royal family when I'm in a hotel and that the hotel belongs to me - it is a palace.

When you have to worry about paying the rent, you're never bored. You're just happy to have that job. But once you don't have to worry and reach the point where it's no longer about the money, you're able to look at other opportunities outside of your comfort zone.

I have a kind of objective luxury about my career.