Steve Martin - Let's Get Small
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CD Details
Artist: Steve MartinBrand: Martin
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2008-05-20
Music Label: Rhino Flashback
Soundtracks:
- Ramblin' Man (Main Theme from the Ramblin' Man)
- Vegas
- Let's Get Small
- Smoking
- One Way to Leave Your Lover
- Mad at My Mother
- Excuse Me
- Grandmother's Song
- Funny Comedy Gags
- Closing
Music reviews of Let's Get Small
Music Review: Oh Death and Grief and Sorrow and Murder...
Rating: 4 Stars
I had this album on vinyl, but haven't actually listened to it since some time in the 1980s. I realized that my wife had never heard any Steve Martin, and I knew I had to get the cds. It was interesting getting the reaction of a totally new listener and comparing it to my own sepia-toned nostalgia.
The good: My wife laughed quite a bit more than I expected her to, honestly. There is a lot in this album that still holds up. Martin is great at building expectation and then taking a sharp left turn that makes you laugh out loud. The story about his girlfriend is still a classic.
On a personal note it was also great finally being able to share the source of so many of my own sayings, lines, and bits. I'd forgotten just how much of my own comedy comes from Steve Martin's early years, and I think this gave my wife an insight into my formative years.
The bad: I hate to criticize one of the true greats, but listening to this today I can clearly see that it was recorded and edited on the cheap. The sound quality isn't always very good, jokes from multiple shows run together in sometimes confusing ways, there is a little too much "filler" in some places and not quite enough in others, etc. If the original recordings of these shows still exist (fat chance, I know) I'd love to see someone recut them into a new album.
Also, as with almost all comedy albums, there are some bits that are a little hard to follow without the visuals. It's a shame, too, because the audience seems highly amused. But as I said, that's a problem with almost every comedy album ever made, so it's not a criticism. It's just too bad that videos of Steve's early shows aren't more readily available.
In short: this is still a great album, even so many years later. It's certainly dated (he calls himself a semi-professional comedian, the price of tickets is $4, and he complains about $15 ticket prices in Vegas) but the comedy is well-crafted, intelligent, and far less offensive than most of what you'll find today. There is some swearing, but it's all in service of the comedy and not just to be shocking. But best of all, the performance is subtle enough that it rewards close attention and repeated listening. Martin doesn't just spoon-feed the audience, he makes you meet him halfway. And it's definitely worth the effort.
Description of Let's Get Small
Steve Martin, Let's Get SmallMartin's got the audience in the palm of his hand on this mid-'70s recording of a show at The Boarding House in San Francisco. The comedian and his crowd are on the same wavelength; everyone in the room seems to share a California post-hippie sense of absurdism. Occasionally punctuated by banjo playing, Martin's almost cocky performance somehow manages to ramble with a sense of purpose. He certainly doesn't have to worry about losing the crowd; every tossed-off remark and gesture is readily gobbled up. Some of Martin's material verges on the surreal, and not surprisingly, drug references abound. One subtext of the album is the tension between conventional show biz and the hipper brand of comedy that Martin saw himself as embodying. But the comic doesn't really play favorites: both alternative and mainstream culture are targets for his funny jabs. --Fred Cisterna
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