Steve Martin and Martin Short: An Evening You Will Forget For the Rest of Your Life

Steve Martin and Martin Short do not perform stand-up comedy so much as they throw a high-end, self-deprecating variety show. Their shared set is built on decades of showbiz mileage and a mutual desire to roast each other under the guise of an old-school Hollywood bromance. While the modern comedy landscape often demands heavy thematic weight or vulnerable truths, this performance leans entirely into the polished silliness of a lost era. It is a breezy mix of musical numbers, retrospective banter, and character bits that treats their decades of fame as a punchline rather than a monument.

Filmed at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina, and released on Netflix in 2018, the 74-minute special caught the duo in the middle of a highly successful, multi-year touring partnership. The show moves between joint banter, including an opening duet comparing their egos to Chris Christie’s appetite, and solo segments. Martin delivers dry, deadpan observations and plays the banjo with his bluegrass band, the Steep Canyon Rangers, while Short injects physical energy, a bagpipe gag, and a late-segment revival of his celebrity-skewering character Jiminy Glick. The special received four Emmy nominations, praised by critics for its nostalgic charm and the genuine affection anchoring the two performers’ rapid-fire roasts.