Martin and Short bring their chemistry to the masses – San Francisco Chronicle

By Peter Hartlaub

Martin Short and honoree Steve Martin walk the red carpet at the 43rd AFI Life Achievement Award Gala honoring Martin at Dolby Theatre on June 4, 2015 in Hollywood.

Martin Short and honoree Steve Martin walk the red carpet at the 43rd AFI Life Achievement Award Gala honoring Martin at Dolby Theatre on June 4, 2015 in Hollywood.

Steve Martin (left) plays George and Martin Short plays Franck the flamboyant and officious wedding planner in "Father of the Bride."

Steve Martin (left) plays George and Martin Short plays Franck the flamboyant and officious wedding planner in "Father of the Bride."

Martin and Short bring their chemistry to the masses

Steve Martin and Martin Short are associated with a lot of locations far outside the Bay Area: Canada, Los Angeles, Live from New York

But when asked to share any memories provincial to San Francisco, both comedy legends come up with a long and poignant formative story from the mid-1960s. Martin drove up from L.A. and slept in his Volkswagen van as an 18-year-old, performing some of his first paid gigs in North Beach. And San Francisco was the first U.S. city that Canada-born Short visited, at age 15.

My sister Nora was a nurse in San Francisco, and my mother and I went down, Short says. They snuck me into the hungry i (nightclub). We saw Joan Rivers opening for Carmen McRae. It was the most exciting thing to be in San Francisco in 1965 and going to these hip clubs.

Martin and Short will return in spirit, if not the city limits on their latest comedy tour; a two amigos variety show that arrives at the Concord Pavilion on Friday, Aug. 11.

The comedians talked about their friendship during a phone interview last month. The conversation was stilted at times, in part because Short was calling from Ontario, Canada, and Martin from Santa Barbara. But their chemistry comes through, even on a three-way conference call.

Their first appearances on Saturday Night Live were nearly a decade apart, and Shorts early comedy roots (including SCTV in Canada in 1982-83) didnt offer much crossover with Martin, who had by the early 1980s become a Hollywood star.

They met in the spring of 1985, when Short went to Martins house to pick up a script for Three Amigos, a 1986 feature film comedy with Chevy Chase.

Lets put it this way. Maybe three weeks into the movie, I felt like I had a new friend that I really liked, Martin says. I didnt know if he liked me, but I liked him.

They maintained their friendship, appearing together in the Father of the Bride movies in the 1990s, and after that during random red carpets, charity benefits and late-night talk show guest spots. But their careers were often in different spheres, with Short pursuing stage and television projects such as Primetime Glick, and Martin starring in movies and touring with the bluegrass band the Steep Canyon Rangers.

A 2011 conversation between Short and Martin at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal led to a tour, where the pair interviewed each other and took questions from the audience. Now their show has developed short gags, a video presentation, music and other random parts.

We just kept adding, Short says. The conversation ... certainly worked, and thats when we were reminded of our natural chemistry with each other. Then we just started adding bits and adding routines and adding ideas, and it just evolved into a kind of a hip variety show.

About 25 minutes of the two-hour show is musical, with Martin playing bluegrass, and Short showcasing one of his more underrated talents: his voice.

Martin says hes continually impressed with Short, who won a Tony Award for his work in the Neil Simon musical Little Me in 1999, and later played Leo Bloom in The Producers in Los Angeles.

I knew it, but I didnt know it, Martin says. Hes a terrific singer. I can only think of one other person whom I toured with, with the same kind of solidity, and that was Karen Carpenter.

Short and Martin have crossed the country several times together, but theyre eager to get the conversation back to San Francisco. Martin says San Francisco newspapers have always been good to me, mentioning a 1972 rave by Chronicle critic John Wasserman, when Martin was starting a career-boosting run at the Boarding House.

He was in San Francisco years before that, driving up as early as 1963.

I would drive up from L.A. to San Francisco, get the cheapest hotel possible, or live in my VW van, Martin says. I remember passing the Purple Onion (and hungry i). There would be Lenny Bruce playing there and Mort Sahl playing there, and whoever the Smothers Brothers playing there and the Kingston Trio.

Martin says one of his first paid comedy performances was at the Coffee Gallery in San Francisco, next door to former Beat Generation landmark Coffee and Confusion in North Beach. He offers a sober account of his performances there sometimes for a crowd of no one.

But with this pair, its never serious for long. Asked if these larger crowds on the Martin and Short tours shout out requests, the pair settle into a nice self-deprecating comic groove.

The show is very tight. Theres hardly any room for anyone to shout out anything. Were always talking, Martin says.

Particularly Bravo! Short quips.

Theres definitely no room for Bravo, Martin says.

Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicles pop culture critic. Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub

Steve Martin and Martin Short: 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11. $37.50-$183. Concord Pavilion, 2000 Kirker Pass Road, Concord. (925) 676-8742. http://www.livenation.com

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Martin and Short bring their chemistry to the masses - San Francisco Chronicle