Quotes from Martin Short

I think that even though the characters were heightened, the 'SCTV' cast were all such strong actors they found a certain truth in playing them. I think that's why the show stays fresh and timeless.

Any time you're honoured by your home, it's a bigger deal than most.

The thing you can always rely on, your core person, comes from your family's attention and love.

David Lynch and I almost made a movie together in the late '80s. We had lots of dinners and lunches. He's a very cool, hip guy. This film, let's face it, is like an homage to him, I would imagine he'd find it funny.

I've done lots of improv things but not a whole movie.

All you're trying to do in an improvisation is get as much material as possible for the editing room.

The mark of the man is how he responds to situations. You're not going to avoid tough times. We're all over the barrel some of the time. What are you going to do about it?

Comedy is so subjective. If you trip and fall down, some people will laugh, and some people will say, 'Oh, physical comedy is so pedestrian.' Some people look at Three Stooges as lowbrow; some people consider them artists. No one is wrong. It's just a personal take.

I think Canadians are great satirists because we sit in the middle of these two giants: Great Britain and the U.S.

'Nice' is not a common label for comedians, but it is for Canadians. I like it.

Being the youngest of five, you're adored, you're fueled with confidence.

I've always thought one of the tricks of being an actor for a long time is keeping yourself interested once you've figured out how to pay the rent.

Everything alters and changes with time. Some things that are considered triumphs, and 10 years later, they're considered minor.

I know if I were to drop dead now, people would probably write nice things in the obit.

I have a kind of objective luxury about my career.

I remember, as a kid, nothing struck me funnier than seeing Richard Nixon look into the camera and sincerely tell everyone he didn't know where the 18 minutes had gone from his tapes. But there was all this sweat on his upper lip. We knew he was lying. He knew we knew he was lying. But he was determined to tell the lie.

I was a huge fan of Steve Martin, as everyone I knew in comedy was.

No one is any one thing.

When kids like Steven Spielberg were eight and nine and 10, they had little cameras, and that's all they wanted to do. When I was 10, I was in my attic pretending to host my own variety show. Spielberg wasn't. That's why he's a film director, and I'm doing what I'm doing.

When you get to a point where you're successful enough that you can say, 'I don't have to take any job anymore,' and you're still good at what you do, how do you decide what work to take on? I think the answer is that you pursue what you enjoy. In my case, it's variety.

Often audiences vary... but I've always found Milwaukee to be a fabulous place to play with great audiences and very hip.

When you start a new project and they say, "Your director is going to be Joe Blo," you're hoping that Joe Blo will be the next Martin Scorsese, but it doesn't always work out that way.

People have very specific opinions of comedy. Slapstick was an art form in the '20s and the lowest form of show business in the '50s. Who's right, who's wrong? Who's an idiot, who's not?

My natural state is to be happy. I'm naturally buoyant. I wake up feeling, 'What a great morning!' I've had some tragedy in my life, absolutely, but I don't know one human being who hasn't. You either learn from it and become empowered by it, or you become a victim to it. It's life, after all.