'He kept following me': Inside the friendship of iconic comic duo Steve Martin and Martin Short
As a room full of steely-faced men nurse shots of tequila, Steve Martin and Martin Short break into song.
It was 1986 and the actors were performing a show tune in a dingy bar in Mexico.
They sang and danced in unison, further confusing the already perplexed crowd: "My little buttercup has the sweetest smile. Dear little buttercup, won't you stay awhile?"
The song was incongruous with their surroundings, though it was meant to be. It was all part of an act, and the beginning of an iconic comic pairing and an enduring friendship.
READ MORE: Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts 'grew up together'
Martin Short and Steve Martin first appeared on the big screen together in 1986's The Three Amigos. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
Incredibly, despite their ease on screen, Martin and Short had only met each other once before signing on for the now cult classic '80s film that also stars Chevy Chase.
The comic duo had met two years earlier, backstage at an hour-long version of Saturday Night Live called The New Show. Martin was the show's guest host.
Though they would meet properly at Martin's house when Short came to pick up his Amigos script. Their comic chemistry soon shone.
"We were on the set of Three Amigos!, and he did something, and I just had this feeling like, 'That,' Martin told People in 2022 of his first impression of Short.
"As a comedian, you appreciate people who are funny, and he just had it."
Unlike their unusual experiences of making a film and bidding farewell at the end of production never to see the other cast members, Martin and Short kept in touch.
READ MORE: The enduring 'love story' of Ben Affleck's life: Matt Damon
Short and Martin have been friends and comic partners since the 1980s. MediaPunch via Getty Images
They were soon meeting for dinners and even taking holidays together before making three more films.
Martin once joked the pair's ongoing connection was out of his hands.
"Marty just kept following me," he joked in a 2021 interview with The Guardian.
"Every time he changed his number, I found the new one," Short quipped.
Jokes aside, the Texan born Martin and the Canadian born Short are true friends.
Martin once shared that If Short wasn't available for one of his and his wife's dinner parties, they would simply cancel the party.
"Marty is just truly very, very funny – and he has so many friends," Martin told the media outlet.
"On his birthday, his phone is like: 'Ding! Ding! Ding!' Oh look, Steven Spielberg has sent over a birthday show for Marty."
READ MORE: Ali Larter's struggle after Hollywood fame
For more than 40 years, on screen, Martin and Short's names have been synonymous with the other and brilliant comic timing.
They have starred opposite each other in the two original Father of The Bride films, scores of SNL appearance, multiple national comedy stage tours.
"There's just an ease between us," Martin told People.
"You have a perspective at this age that it's not forever," Short added.
"So to feel great and healthy and have loved ones around you, you appreciate it."
In recent years, the duo have teamed up with US singer and actor, Selena Gomez, for the multi-Emmy winning series, Only Murders in the Building.
For Short and Martin, their friendship and work relationship is all about comic timing. Getty
The unlikely trio have returned for a fourth season of the crime-comedy.
"Steve used to have a joke: "What I love working about Marty, he understands the concept of 60-40," Short told The Hollywood Reporter.
"But the reality is no, these are not issues that mean anything to us. I think what would affect me with Steve is if he was rude to a waiter, or if he snapped at me, and that's the furthest thing from anything he'd ever do."
After four decades, Marin, 79, and Short, 74, remain on the same page.
"I've hosted the Oscars three times. The first two times, I was very nervous. But I overcame it because I'm a professional," Martin told the LA Times.
"And then the third time, I hosted with Alec Baldwin and I was not nervous at all. Looking back, I realised, 'Oh, I had someone else out there with me'.
"And that's what I feel with Marty. We love to time things. We love to nail it. And we like our bits that work. Some of the jokes in our Netflix special, we thought, 'Well, we have to take them out now because people have seen them.'
"Now, four years later, we go, 'Gee, I really miss that joke.' We put it back in and nobody even remembers it."
FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.
Most viewed in Celebrity
Stephanie Rice reveals next career move after being ‘rejected’ from 130 jobs
Martha Stewart responds to backlash over ‘offensive’ Halloween costume
Aussie fitness influencer hospitalised in Bali after contracting deadly brain infection
Stephanie Rice breaks down sobbing in vulnerable social media video
