The Observer – Sunday 29th October, 2000

The following passage is from an article about Steve Martin written by Vanessa Thorpe, which appeared in The Observer.

Steve Martin has a problem with “hellos”. He doesn’t quite know whether to gush or to play them for laughs. When Richard E. Grant, the English actor who is now one of Martin’s closest friends, arrived in Hollywood to start working with him on the film LA Story, their first encounter got off to a stuttering start.

“We are so thrilled you are able to do this movie,” said Martin, his face wreathed in the magnanimous smiles of the superstar.
” Believe me, the thrill’s all mine,’ matched Grant.

Then, as a long afternoon of exchanging sugary pleasantries stretched out before them, Martin suddenly switched tactics and went into a comic “bit” that Grant has come to know as his “all-purpose Showbiz Schlockmeister routine” and which involves showering the visitor with an intentionally ludicrous stream of stock insincerities.

His pose as a gracious and civil host had lasted less than 30 seconds. This turns out, however, to be longer than many strangers get. Even the printed cards that Martin once handed out to autograph hunters did not take the idea of celebrity very seriously. They read: “This certifies that you have had a personal encounter with me and that you found me warm, polite, intelligent and funny.”