Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.
Today we celebrate our greatest living comedian: Steve Martin! Our B-Sides include The Man with Two Brains, The Lonely Guy, The Spanish Prisoner, and Novocaine.
Our guest is our dear friend Eric D. Snider, avowed Steve Martin fan and all-around smart-and-funny-and-good person who used to be a great film critic.
We celebrate Martin’s early career – his stand-up success, his Saturday Night Live appearances, his myriad interests (he’s written great books, made great music!) – and the early comedies that made him a movie star.
We discuss Martin’s willingness to play the straight man and let other comedians flourish (Charles Grodin in The Lonely Guy a prime example), his slow evolution into a dramatic actor (the supremely strange A Simple Twist of Fate is mentioned), and his incredible variance in quality of movies throughout his legendary career.
Listen below and subscribe here. Be sure to give us a follow on Bluesky at @tfsbside.bsky.social. Enjoy!