Steve Martin -vs- Robin Williams: Who U Got?

[RidonKs]

williams has had the better career i'd say, he's toured relatively consistently between movies for decades and his resume as an actor isn't matched by many. proven his versatility in all sorts of different roles.

but that said, martin's just a much more well-rounded artist overall, especially though not necessarily only once you include his music and his writing. both guys are totally unique in how and what they perform but gigantes is right; martin is flat out more cerebral and yet he still manages to pull of low-brow with the best of them. that takes talent.

i've been wanting to read his memoirs for a while now, "Born Standing Up", still haven't but i just found a few great excerpts in this blog post that really shows off just how brilliant he was before he quit the biz way back when

In a college psychology class, I had read a treatise on comedy explaining that a laugh was formed when the storyteller created tension, then, with the punch line, released it. I didn't quite get this concept, nor do I still, but it stayed with me and eventually sparked my second wave of insights. With conventional joke telling, there's a moment when the comedian delivers the punch line, and the audience knows it's the punch line, and their response ranges from polite to uprorarious. What bothered me about this formula was the nature of the laugh it inspired, a vocal acknowledgement that a joke had been told, like automatic applause at the end of a song.

A skillfull comedian could coax a laugh with tiny indicators such as a vocal tic (Bob Hope's "But I wanna tell ya") or even a slight body shift. Jack E. Leonard used to punctuate jokes by slapping his stomach with his hand. One night, watching him on The Tonight Show, I noticed that several his punch lines had been unintelligible, and the audience had actually laughed at nothing but the cue of his hand slap.

These notions stayed with me for months, until they formed an idea that revolutionized my comic direction: What if there were no punch lines? What if there were no indicators? What if i created tension and never released it? What if I headed for a climax, but all I delivered was an anti-climax? What would the audience do with all that tension? Theoretically, it would have to come out sometime. But if I kept denying them the formality of a punch line, the audience would eventually pick their own place to laugh, essentially out of desperation. This type of laugh seemed stronger to me, as they would be laughing at something they chose, rather than being told exactly when to laugh.

thats just amazing and if you've ever heard 'lets get small' or 'a wild and crazy guy', you'll understand the technique he's describing and the general performance he would aim for all the more

[L.Kizzle]

No offense to the late legends like George Carlin, Rodney Dangerfield and Sam Kinison (yah, yah, yah) those might be my two of my favorite white boy comics along with Pauly Shore (don't hate.) Kinison is tough to take from my number 1 spot though.

[gigantes]

These notions stayed with me for months, until they formed an idea that revolutionized my comic direction: What if there were no punch lines? What if there were no indicators? What if i created tension and never released it? What if I headed for a climax, but all I delivered was an anti-climax? What would the audience do with all that tension? Theoretically, it would have to come out sometime. But if I kept denying them the formality of a punch line, the audience would eventually pick their own place to laugh, essentially out of desperation. This type of laugh seemed stronger to me, as they would be laughing at something they chose, rather than being told exactly when to laugh.

that's amazing, as you said. totally fascinating.

that's also probably why i like andy kaufman so much. he did wonders with that nervous tension... made it into an absolute art form. i'm definitely a fan of subtle, non-punchline humor that's kind of a puzzle to unlock. although you can also have someone like leslie nielsen in his police squad persona who takes that and makes it more clear and straight-forward.

[L.Kizzle]

RIP Robin Williams

[Godzuki]

i never liked either of them. i always thought Robin Williams humor was pretty bad tbh....it was always way too weird.

Steve Martin to me was never really funny. he had good roles in some comedy movies and the Jerk was a classic, but he wasn't ever very funny to me.

they are pretty even tier to me but nowhere near as great as their reps imo.

[L.Kizzle]

i never liked either of them. i always thought Robin Williams humor was prett.bad tbh....it was always way too weird.

Steve Martin to me was never really funny. he had good roles in some comedy movies and the Jerk was a classic, but he wasn't ever very funny to me.

they are pretty even tier to me but nowhere near as great as their reps imo.

You seem more of a fan of toilet humor. You like the dirty mouthed comics. I say that cuz you think Bill Cosby isn't funny either.

[Godzuki]

You seem more of a fan of toilet humor. You like the dirty mouthed comics. I say that cuz you think Bill Cosby isn't funny either.

well in terms of American humor yes...i think the 'toilet' comedians are the funniest by far and don't really like the clean acts....but i'd hardly call Steve Martin a comedian in the vein of other comedians. And again Robin Williams was just really weird and perverted, not funny to me

that said i laff my ass off at korean comedians or variety shows. they're as clean as anyone. in fact i find them funnier than American comedy people in general....still put Rock/Murphy above all tho.

[King Jane]

oh so now we bumpin robin williams thredz. funny how he suddenly becomes funny an everyone is suddenly a fan now that hes dead. aint nobody even posted in here before now they flood his death thread like they wuz his best bud

[rezznor]

williams may be known mostly for his hyper-stream-of-conscious comedy, but he was also a great dramatic actor. Williams was much more versatile.

[Godzuki]

williams may be known mostly for his hyper-stream-of-conscious comedy, but he was also a great dramatic actor. Williams was much more versatile.

yeah he was surprisingly good in Dead Poets society and some other movies like that. i'll give him that.

[Myth]

Williams was better at stand up and dramatic movies. Martin was better at comedy movies. The Jerk is my favorite comedy of all time.

[riseagainst]

[BRabbiT]

SM

[BIZARRO]

Martin '76-'83 > Williams >>>> Martin Post '83

End thread/

[OncePerMonth]

Martin '76-'83 > Williams >>>> Martin Post '83

End thread/

Martin was great at minimum through 88. Stopping at 83 leaves off Three Amigos, Little Shop of Horrors, Roxanne (not great movie, but good performance), Planes Trains, and Automobiles, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.