Martin Short From ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Reveals Why ‘SNL’ Made Him Feel Like ‘the Biggest Failure in the World’

Martin Short recalled having so much anxiety when he was on SNL that he would go from feeling like he was on top of the world on Saturday night to a slow descent into anxiety. In fact, 48 hours before the show would begin, he'd feel like 'the biggest failure in the world.'

by Gina Ragusa

Published on October 4, 2021

3 min read

Why did Martin Short feel anxious about ‘SNL’?

Short recalled feeling anxious when Saturday night would draw close, admitting the series messed with his mojo. He remembered Saturday nights as being a high point, but then it was only downhill from there. “It is like final exams,” he said in a 2016 interview on The Off Camera Show. “I mean, you pump and you pump and you get it out. And let’s say Saturday night goes great.”

Martin Short, Steve Martin, and Chevy Chase reunite on SNL | Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images

“You go to the party, you feel great, get phone calls, Sunday morning, you feel great, why thank you,” he continued. “But then around Sunday night and you’re watching TV with your wife, and maybe there’s a baby who’s crawling around and you’re going Christopher Reeve’s coming in tomorrow. I don’t have any ideas. And then it’s Monday, and you fake your way through the meeting with the host, and now it’s Monday night. And you’re saying, OK, I have nothing. I have nothing. I feel like the biggest failure in the world in 48 hours before that, you felt like I’m a king.”

What lesson did Martin Short take from ‘SNL’?

Short recalled an SNL episode when he just went rogue and winged it when Jesse Jackson hosted. “Andy Breckman, very funny writer, and Jesse Jackson was the host,” Short recalled. “And we wrote a piece literally at quarter after six. I had been fascinated by the word ‘moot.’ I mean, I was using ‘moot’ that day. So we came up with a piece where Jackson would say some fact. And his answer to the case. ‘But the point is moot!’ It’s all moot because blah blah blah. And that was the running thing. You put it in never thinking that would be [make it]. Of course, Jackson loved it and was one of the first pieces that he did on the show.”

Short reflected on how that example shows that people shouldn’t be so critical and hard on themselves. “If I can give one bit of wisdom to my children, it’s just your biggest fan,” he said. “And then maybe that sensibility will catch on to others, but just cut yourself some slack and know that you’re doing the best you can and you’re working as hard as you can and just be proud of that and stop worrying about – hey I’m not as rich as that guy.”

Are Martin Short and Steve Martin competitive in comedy?

Martin Short joked about meeting Martin who is a longtime friend – and how he didn’t seem to be very rich when they first met. “I went to Steve’s house to pick up a script for Three Amigos,” Short recounted on the PBS News Hour. “I couldn’t believe how great and beautiful this house was, a Picasso here and a Bacon there. And I said to Steve: ‘How did you get this rich, because I have seen your work?'”

Martin’s response? “I said: ‘Could you get this script to Marty Short?'”

Short also said he gels with Martin and there isn’t a sense of competition. But of course, he couldn’t help but throw in some fun ribbing. “In general, I don’t remember feeling upset that Steve was funnier at dinner or something because it never happened,” he joked.