Let's Get Small

Performer: Steve Martin
Engineer: William E. McEuen
Producer: William E. McEuen
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Solo performer: Steve Martin (spoken vocals). Recorded live at The Boarding House, San Francisco, California. Includes an excerpt from Steve Martin's book CRUEL SHOES. There is nothing small about this recording. Martin was on the cusp of greatness when he released this first LP, recorded in a small San Francisco comedy club. Listening to LET'S GET SMALL now shows not only how far this wild and crazy guy has come, but also how utterly strange and unique his offbeat monologues and awry images were back in the laconic '80s. Martin skewers some of stand-up comedy's most hoary chestnuts-the arrow through the head and faux Groucho glasses were never the same again. His fast-talking Vegas showman spoof contains the immortal line "It's impossible�to put a Cadillac in your nose�" Martin is one of stand-ups' masters of inflection and nuance; how things are said is always as important as what is said. Martin's trademark "whoa"s and "okay-uh"s defined his style for a decade. The album contains the classic routines "Let's Get Small," "So Mad at My Mother," and "Smoking." In one hilariously rhetorical bit, Martin relates that people often come up to him and ask, "Steve, how can you be so ****ing funny?" LET'S GET SMALL answers that question in a big way.

Alternative Press (12/00, p.128) - Included in AP's "10 Essential Comedy Albums" - "...One of the '70s most inspired stand-up comedians. With a style that was equal parts vaudeville and surrealism. Martin was never funnier than on this set..."

Before he became one of America's top comic actors, Steve Martin was one of the biggest phenoms stand-up has ever seen. During the 1970s, the prematurely grey comedian and longtime television writer scored million-selling records, sold out arenas, and hosted numerous network specials. In 1978, Martin even scored a hit record, cracking the Billboard top 20 with "King Tut," his novelty ode to the mummy fad sweeping the nation. While he played up his zany arrow-through-the-head persona, his wider appeal rested on a subtle, yet ever-present intellectualism. Martin studied philosophy in college, and an existential sense of the absurd ran through his oddball observations. In the `80s, the original wild and crazy guy officially announced his permanent retirement from stand-up.

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