My Journey to Becoming a Humble Comedy Legend: A Memoir

Juan Caban: Great book

United States on Oct 13, 2023

TillyTwo: Martin Short is an interesting comedian and this book explains why. I especially liked the way he told you who he was gossiping about!

United States on Sep 20, 2023

KIRBY RASCH: I came to this book as a built-in fan already of Martin Short's work, especially of his character Jiminy Glick. This bad review of the book is in no way a reflection on Short's amazing characters. What was wrong with it? Well, in interviews on TV Martin teases a lot about his greatness, which makes everyone laugh including me. But I found that in this book he really does come off a bit of an elitist, with constant name-dropping of famous people he knows, who attend his parties, and who he goes off yachting with. I found myself skipping over pages whenever that happened, and it happened a lot. His homage to his deceased wife was beautiful. But even in his description of the service for the scattering of her ashes held in his vacation home in Canada he needed to give a name check to all the A-list people who attended this. Why? This theme of elitism even runs through his memories of childhood, where he made sure we knew that he grew up in a household where money was never an issue. I'm not against celebrities making money. But in other comedian books, such as in David Spade's and Norm McDonald's, the focus is on humor, and occasional insights into who they are. Yes, even in...

United States on Sep 18, 2023

A Canadian Consumer: This book isn't rated as a product. It is the life of Martin Short as told by him and if you're a fan... you'll really love delving into his life. His comedic genius is second to none except to maybe...Steve Martin , but that's about it! Well written and I'm so glad I had my daughter buy it for me for Christmas. Like Steve Martin said about the book... "I read it from the back to the front and was surprised at the shocking beginning!"

Enjoy!!
A Canadian Consumer

Canada on Jan 07, 2023

Doogernorth: Began a career in comedy at an historical time when it was exploding and new talent came from everywhere. Like the late 1960's in pop music. Interesting, modest and fun.

Canada on Apr 21, 2022

Laura G: I've enjoyed Martin Short's comedy dating back to SCTV and this book does not disappoint. He talks about his life growing up with his family, personal relationships and behind-the -scenes occurrences on SNL, his marriage and more. There are some very poignant stories about the losses he's experienced, which provide depth behind his humour. Overall, this book is a great read and I now more fully appreciate watching his sketches and interviews on YouTube.

Canada on May 16, 2021

Ken Kardash: This is a review of the audiobook edition.

I bought this book because I was curious to learn more about a fellow Canadian who made it big in American show business, particularly because of his reputation for irrepressible cheerfulness. It seems to be an unusual trait among comedians in their private lives, and apparently is one of the reasons he is popular within the performing community. By the time I finished this book, this favourable impression had been tarnished.

As he will remind you throughout this autobiography, the author is a good friend of Steve Martin. Perhaps this is why he decided to follow in his footsteps in writing a memoir. Unfortunately, as with his career, his efforts come up short (sorry, couldn’t resist) compared to his friend. Steve Martin may be stealthily ironic in his endorsement comment that he read the book backwards. The final chapter was one of the few times I felt the author was sincerely connecting with his readers!

It’s true that Martin Short is a talented performer. When he appears in voice as one of his many characters, one of the advantages of the audiobook version, I often laughed out loud. It is also true that he...

United States on Dec 24, 2015

ANNE MARIE MASSE: This is such a wonderful book. Not only does Martin Short tell us his life story from a professional point of view, but he gives us a peek into his family life. There is a lot of love in this book - his love for his late wife Nancy is obvious (get ready to shed some tears). Lots of funny stories and a few vignettes told by some of his famous incarnations such as Ed Grimley and Jiminy Glick. As the title suggests it is told very humbly, like a guy who still thinks 'How this all this happen to little old me ?' I was sorry to finish the last page. I have always enjoyed his performances, but now I admire the person that he is.

Canada on Jul 12, 2015

Kindle Customer: Martin Short's memoir is a very likable and touching account of his life thus far. From his humble, somewhat tragic (due to the loss of two immediate family members) beginnings in a suburban Canadian home, where he put on shows in his bedroom, to his growth as a comic and actor in first Toronto, then the U.S., this is a gentle, funny and philosophical read. His remarkable marriage to his wife Nancy is always described as a joyful, playful and stimulating union, and her comparatively early death in 2010 brings a sorrowful, but hopeful, end to the story. One particularly enjoyable and revealing episode describes how, when they had a disagreement, Nancy would summon the mentally challenged Ed Grimley to solve the argument, and he somehow would have the exact right thing to say to clear things up.

Martin Short, as one would expect, knows everyone, and is quite close to many of the bigger names in show business (Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, Steve Martin and his wife Ann, to name a few, and of course the Second City Toronto crew of Gilda Radner, John Candy, Andrea Martin, et al), so we read about some riotous times involving them. (He actually dated...

United States on Jun 16, 2015

Linda Pfeiffer: Although Martin Short lets us in on his rise to comic legend, the book is more a love letter to his wife of over 30 years. I must say, I would love to be a friend of Marty Short. He has a lot of dear friends and you know them all. He has also kept his best friends for decades. But most of all I loved his loyalty to all things Canadian. He loves his country of birth as much as his late wife and close friends and that is very endearing. They may have taken Martin Short out of Canada, but they didn't take Canada out of Marty Short. We love you back.

Canada on Feb 14, 2015