October 24, 2005
"For God's sake, please don't name an award after me."
That's what Steve Martin, accepting the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, read from a slip of paper that he said contained his favorite quote from Mark Twain.
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5 comments:
Sounds to me like it's taken from the Terry Schiavo episode of South Park when Kenny's will says something like, "If, for whatever ever reason I'm in a persistent vegetative state, whatever you do, for the love of God don't show me like that on national television."
sippicancottage:
You use Mark Twain's words about jokes to make a point. But, your context is irrelevant.
Your remark about fart jokes is misleading, too. Steve never made a one-liner about a fart. The only time he ever talked about farting was in a very insightful commentary on how ridiculous it is for people to ask "Do you mind if I smoke?" He equates smoking to a very nasty habit, one which is outrageous to ask permission to do. In the process, he racks up all the lame excuses people make for why they continue to smoke.
Steve Martin's never strove to just "tell jokes." He is one-of-a-kind humorist, working in more than one genre. His success speaks for itself.
Steve Martin presented complete personae. And, if as you say Mark Twain hated people who told jokes, why lump Whoopi Goldberg in the group, if you say she doesn't tell jokes? By the way, her best work, many years back now, was in presenting complete personae of different ages and genders replete with various accents, limps, blonde hair and more. (I will also say, I haven't seen anything good from her in a looooong time now.)
If you don't like Steve Martin, fine...absurdist humor is not for everyone. But your commentary goes beyond that to reflect an assumption of knowing what a dead man might think of something he's never seen.
Lorne Michaels (another recipient of the award) never told a fart joke either. I should've asked before: Who ARE we talking about?
he's so funny :)
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