Ramblin Man: Why Steve Martin's Stand-Up Period Was Ground Breaking

            The act of stand-up comedy is quite bizarre. Think about it. A person trying to be funny stands in front of a crowd and talks for an hour or so without any back and forth dialogue from the audience besides laughs or dead silence. The entire time this person is trying to appease a sea of people hidden in darkness while he or she tells jokes with a blinding stage light creating a seemingly impenetrable wall between the comedian and the audience. It’s a raw art form. Some comedians have taken a more traditional route with no special stage set ups or other materials to accompany them. Some crutch their act on the naked joke to get a laugh. Jerry Seinfeld, Joan Rivers, and Don Rickles come to mind as masters of this style. The other end of the comedy-performance spectrum includes performers who use music, elaborate set-design, and video during their shows. In a modern context, Bo Burnham is a great example with his marrying of music, spoken word, and traditional stand-up, but who influenced this millennial comedian? In a letter written to fans in 2010, Burnham mentioned Steve Martin as one of his major influences. Martin (i.e. the Ramblin Guy) known for films such as The Jerk and Cheaper By The Dozen had a successful stand-up career filled with goofy antics. With his wacky nature, Martin’s short career in the late 1970’s redefined what a comedian could be and inspired contemporary performers.

            After recently finishing Steve Martin’s autobiography, Born Standing Up, I immediately searched for one of his performances online. I found a 1979 show where he was at the peak of his career. What surprised me at first was how his performance is all over the place; however, his image was focused with a tailored white tuxedo. The suit seeming to act as a grounding mechanism for the future sporadic performance to come. He approached the stage in these clothes exhibiting a suave yet clueless nature like a baby trying to do taxes. He began by singing a song accompanied by banjo about the importance of being courteous while also being “pompous, obese, and eating cactus.” Only minutes later he jumped to making balloon animals that would curse when they would pop from his aggressive balloon handling. From there, during a bit with him discussing the importance of learning French, he suddenly danced around the stage exclaiming, “Oh no, I’ve got happy feet! Woahhhhhhh!” With all of these random bits being thrown in, I did not get it at all. In fact, I disliked it. The rapid transitions, slap-stick humor, and banjo playing confused me. I immediately turned off the video and decided to show a friend the performance later that day. After we watched the entire show, I realized that Martin’s comedy synthesizes different sources accumulating into this Frankenstein type of comedy. This gave his performances a unique quality, surprise.

            Steve Martin is not just a comedian; he is a performer who utilizes physical antics to generate laughs. The gags, dancing, banjo playing, and other oddities are channeling the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and others who used comedy and performance to create their own unique style. The stellar reaction from the audience he gets from even using his two microphones in the performance by spilling water on the ground then shocking himself repeatedly, only pretend, shows his dedication. The same goes when he scrapes the strings of his banjo on one of the microphones while giving a serious dialogue on the dangers of cat juggling in Mexico (looked it up, luckily not real) showing off his creative use of the simplest of performance tools. This ability to use the unexpected aids him when he decides to go for simply taking minutes out of the show to play an instrumental song on banjo. Whether this is to inject his love for the instrument or to make his audience feel as if they’re at a country jamboree is not the point. It continues to keep his audience on the edge, and that is what makes his comedy so special; the audience has no idea what he will do next. The flare, surprise, and chaos of his shows must have been memorable for anyone in attendance; it certainly was for me while sitting in my room at 2am laughing. 

Sources: http://thecomicscomic.com/2010/10/29/bo-burnham-lists-my-favorite-comedians-and-releases-a-confessional-video-art-is-dead/
1979 Performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRocmX0pF9U&t=1813s

Who’s your favorite comedian? Let me know in the comments.