A New York lecture series will refund patrons' money because Steve Martin wasn't funny enough:
Unless Martin showed up with a bag over his head and answered every question by using a semaphore lamp, this is ridiculous. So he was serious! He's a serious guy, aside from the comedy part. He's done serious movies. I wouldn't say "Pennies from Heaven" is a great movie, but Martin is good in it, and it was a brave move for a guy who knew the audience would be expecting a Wahld and Carazy Guy. "Spanish Prisoner" - fine work. When I hear his comedy routines on the radio, though, they haven't aged well, but I still like the high-concept persona. He was playing "Steve Martin, Comedian," just as a fairly decent actor named Andrew Silverstein invented "Andrew Dice Clay." (Check him out in the TV show "Crime Story;" he's very good.) I'd be more interested to hear his Serious opinions on art than rehash what it was like to stand in a white suit and play the banjo, but apparently that's what them-there so-phis-i-cats in New York City prefer.
