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The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten.: The Tweets of Steve Martin
With over 1.4 million followers (a number growing by the day), and a now famously uncanny ability to pack 140 characters with a maximum amount of humor and wit, Steve Martin has defined what it means to be a celebrity in today's world of social media. Martin's tweets have been covered by personal blogs, major news outlets, and everything in between, and this collection brings his funniest, most memorable messages together for avid followers and offline fans alike.
Audio CD
First published January 1, 2012
53 people are currently reading
1365 people want to read
About the author
Steve Martin
208 books3,194 followersStephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician, and composer. He was raised in Southern California in a Baptist family, where his early influences were working at Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm and working magic and comedy acts at these and other smaller venues in the area. His ascent to fame picked up when he became a writer for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and later became a frequent guest on the Tonight Show.
In the 1970s, Martin performed his offbeat, absurdist comedy routines before packed houses on national tours. In the 1980s, having branched away from stand-up comedy, he became a successful actor, playwright, and juggler, and eventually earned Emmy, Grammy, and American Comedy awards.
In the 1970s, Martin performed his offbeat, absurdist comedy routines before packed houses on national tours. In the 1980s, having branched away from stand-up comedy, he became a successful actor, playwright, and juggler, and eventually earned Emmy, Grammy, and American Comedy awards.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 243 reviews
July 14, 2017
I was looking for a laugh, and found several:
Weight now fluctuating wildly because of twice daily 20 minute starvation diets.
Next phase of weight loss program: Brazilian Butt Workout. I’ve looked at a hundred photos. So far, not working.
I just downloaded eleven hundred books onto my kindle, and now i can't lift it.
7 hour sleep diet worked great. Will power held beautifully.
Going on 5 minute shower diet, followed by 30 second tooth brushing diet. They say these really work.
HI, I'M STEVE'S CAPS LOCK KEY AND I'D LIKE TO MEET OTHER CAPS LOCK KEYS. I'M INTERESTED IN BOATING AND HIKING..
Today is National Marijuana Day. A day when...uh...wow, Wolf Blitzer is SO funny.
The secret of a happy life is [inaudible].
I've decided I want to get to know Cher on a first name basis.
"REPORT FROM JURY DUTY: defendant looks like a murderer. GUILTY. Waiting for opening remarks."
Okay, these are not the funniest things ever, maybe, but I smiled and sometimes laughed aloud. He sometimes includes responses from followers, which are also funny. Of this he of course has a running joke:
Conversed with shrink about followers being funnier than me. He really made me laugh. Shrink funnier than I am.
It’s Steve Martin. 50 pages, small book, maybe twenty minutes reading, and laughs for free??!! I am (years late) going to follow the dude on Twitter, finally!
Weight now fluctuating wildly because of twice daily 20 minute starvation diets.
Next phase of weight loss program: Brazilian Butt Workout. I’ve looked at a hundred photos. So far, not working.
I just downloaded eleven hundred books onto my kindle, and now i can't lift it.
7 hour sleep diet worked great. Will power held beautifully.
Going on 5 minute shower diet, followed by 30 second tooth brushing diet. They say these really work.
HI, I'M STEVE'S CAPS LOCK KEY AND I'D LIKE TO MEET OTHER CAPS LOCK KEYS. I'M INTERESTED IN BOATING AND HIKING..
Today is National Marijuana Day. A day when...uh...wow, Wolf Blitzer is SO funny.
The secret of a happy life is [inaudible].
I've decided I want to get to know Cher on a first name basis.
"REPORT FROM JURY DUTY: defendant looks like a murderer. GUILTY. Waiting for opening remarks."
Okay, these are not the funniest things ever, maybe, but I smiled and sometimes laughed aloud. He sometimes includes responses from followers, which are also funny. Of this he of course has a running joke:
Conversed with shrink about followers being funnier than me. He really made me laugh. Shrink funnier than I am.
It’s Steve Martin. 50 pages, small book, maybe twenty minutes reading, and laughs for free??!! I am (years late) going to follow the dude on Twitter, finally!
May 25, 2012
http://philadelphiareviewofbooks.com/...
The year is 1980.
Sam Weir brings Cindy Sanders to the local movie theater to see Steve Martin in The Jerk. Sam is a geeky freshman at William McKinley High School in Chippewa, Michigan. Cindy Sanders is not a geek. She is a member of the school’s cheerleading squad. When Sam gives Cindy an heirloom necklace, she takes it reluctantly and refuses to wear it because it’s old and Sam didn’t spend any money on it. Sam, arguably the least geeky of his friends, ditches his old crew of geeks to hang out with Cindy’s vapid, but more popular group.
Cindy is a young republican.
“Poor people shouldn’t get handouts. They should get jobs.”
Sam grimaces.
All of this would be acceptable to Sam. But it’s not, because Cindy does not laugh for a moment during The Jerk.
He hates these cans. Stay away from these cans.
Sam says, “Isn’t this great?”
Cindy looks around the theater, perplexed by the laughter of the audience.
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“You want some popcorn or something?”
“Will popcorn make this movie funnier?”
“You don’t think this movie’s funny?”
“I think it’s stupid. I mean, come on, how old is this guy? He’s got grey hair and he’s running around like a five-year-old.”
Cindy gets an idea.
“Sam?”
“Yeah?”
Cindy leans over into Sam’s seat and kisses his neck. This is, by far, the furthest Sam has ever gotten with a girl. Cindy is the crush of his young life. But he is repulsed by her touch. How could anyone say such things about Steve Martin?
The scene appears in an episode of Freaks and Geeks, called “The Little Things” co-written by producer Judd Apatow. You all know Judd Apatow. But don’t judge this little-seen television show by his later work. Freaks and Geeks has none of the obscenity of Superbad, and resists the sappy sentiment of Knocked Up and the tedium of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Funny People. The characters are the creation of Paul Feig of Bridesmaids fame, but the naturalistic affect and balance between understated comedy and realistic drama is more akin to Greg Mottola’s excellent 2009 film Adventureland, featuring Jesse Eisenberg as a recent college graduate stuck in suburban Pittsburgh working amusement park rides for a summer job. In fact, Freaks and Geeks resembles the latter movie more than any of the other work of the show’s creator and executive producer.
But this review is not about Freaks and Geeks. I just can’t help plugging this underappreciated show any time it comes up. The Complete Series is the kind of DVD set you immediately pass around to your friends when you learn they’ve never seen the show. Do people even buy DVDs anymore?
In the immortal words of Rob Gordon in High Fidelity, “…what really matters is what you like, not what you are like… Books, records, films — these things matter. Call me shallow but it’s the fucking truth, and by this measure I was having one of the best dates of my life.”
And by this measure, Sam Weir rightfully dumps Cindy Sanders.
“He’s got grey hair and he’s running around like a five-year-old.”
These words, used by Cindy to ridicule The Jerk, perfectly summarize Steve Martin’s powers of humor. Martin has always been an oldmanboychild. From his first appearance on SNL in the mid-70s to his underwhelming latter-day role as Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther movies, Martin has practiced a brand of inoffensive, silly humor with an inexplicable tinge of knowing sophistication.
Martin continues this tradition in his new book, The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten.
“I can’t believe he got paid for a book of his tweets.” My wife said this. She’s walking on thin ice. Just kidding.
Only a sampling of said tweets can give one any idea of Martin’s microblogging humor. It’s dad humor, to be sure, but slightly cool, slightly ironic dad humor.
“(Attempting to class-up Tweets) I think it was Oscar Wilde who said, ‘Is it gay in here or is it just me?’”
“Conversed with shrink about followers being funnier than me. He really made me laugh. Shrink funnier than I am.”
“At 6pm PST, starting overnight caviar on toast-points fast, giving up capers and diced hard-boiled egg yolk condiments.”
“Bin Laden porn videos included ‘I Can See Your Nose,’ and ‘Is That a Toe I see.’”
Sometimes the responses from Martin’s followers are funnier than his original tweets.
Martin: Rare Bird Alert #3 on Amazon! I’m as happy as a clam. Wait. Are clams really happy?
@gropious3: The chilling sound of clam-laughter has caused many fishermen to quit the sea.
Martin: Out on the town today. I tried to tweet but couldn’t find a tweet booth. Maybe they’re a thing of the past.
@Heidi_vonM: And then when you find a tweet booth you know it’s probably gonna be broken and smell like pee inside :/
Albeit, none of these lines are mind-bogglingly funny, and many of them lose the element of surprise of a continuous twitter feed which they rely on for full effect. But that might be the point. Steve Martin, a 66-year-old comedian who has ventured recently into old-timey banjo records and literary novels and screenplays is the only major comedian of his or many subsequent generations to fully capitalize on and explore the comedic possibilities of 140 characters.
In his introduction to The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten., Martin writes, “I started tweeting for purely commercial reasons. I realized that when I did a television show to promote a book or record, and that television show had an audience of, say, four million people, about four hundred of them rushed out to buy the book or record. I figured if I had a Twitter audience of four hundred thousand – an audience that was tuned into me – and I promoted a book, then four hundred thousand of them would rush out and buy my book. Instead, forty of them rushed out to buy my book.
“All this tweet material turned out to be good for one thing only: tweeting.”
Martin has made another royal waste of time, under the ruse of new technology, a little bit more bearable.
The year is 1980.
Sam Weir brings Cindy Sanders to the local movie theater to see Steve Martin in The Jerk. Sam is a geeky freshman at William McKinley High School in Chippewa, Michigan. Cindy Sanders is not a geek. She is a member of the school’s cheerleading squad. When Sam gives Cindy an heirloom necklace, she takes it reluctantly and refuses to wear it because it’s old and Sam didn’t spend any money on it. Sam, arguably the least geeky of his friends, ditches his old crew of geeks to hang out with Cindy’s vapid, but more popular group.
Cindy is a young republican.
“Poor people shouldn’t get handouts. They should get jobs.”
Sam grimaces.
All of this would be acceptable to Sam. But it’s not, because Cindy does not laugh for a moment during The Jerk.
He hates these cans. Stay away from these cans.
Sam says, “Isn’t this great?”
Cindy looks around the theater, perplexed by the laughter of the audience.
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“You want some popcorn or something?”
“Will popcorn make this movie funnier?”
“You don’t think this movie’s funny?”
“I think it’s stupid. I mean, come on, how old is this guy? He’s got grey hair and he’s running around like a five-year-old.”
Cindy gets an idea.
“Sam?”
“Yeah?”
Cindy leans over into Sam’s seat and kisses his neck. This is, by far, the furthest Sam has ever gotten with a girl. Cindy is the crush of his young life. But he is repulsed by her touch. How could anyone say such things about Steve Martin?
The scene appears in an episode of Freaks and Geeks, called “The Little Things” co-written by producer Judd Apatow. You all know Judd Apatow. But don’t judge this little-seen television show by his later work. Freaks and Geeks has none of the obscenity of Superbad, and resists the sappy sentiment of Knocked Up and the tedium of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Funny People. The characters are the creation of Paul Feig of Bridesmaids fame, but the naturalistic affect and balance between understated comedy and realistic drama is more akin to Greg Mottola’s excellent 2009 film Adventureland, featuring Jesse Eisenberg as a recent college graduate stuck in suburban Pittsburgh working amusement park rides for a summer job. In fact, Freaks and Geeks resembles the latter movie more than any of the other work of the show’s creator and executive producer.
But this review is not about Freaks and Geeks. I just can’t help plugging this underappreciated show any time it comes up. The Complete Series is the kind of DVD set you immediately pass around to your friends when you learn they’ve never seen the show. Do people even buy DVDs anymore?
In the immortal words of Rob Gordon in High Fidelity, “…what really matters is what you like, not what you are like… Books, records, films — these things matter. Call me shallow but it’s the fucking truth, and by this measure I was having one of the best dates of my life.”
And by this measure, Sam Weir rightfully dumps Cindy Sanders.
“He’s got grey hair and he’s running around like a five-year-old.”
These words, used by Cindy to ridicule The Jerk, perfectly summarize Steve Martin’s powers of humor. Martin has always been an oldmanboychild. From his first appearance on SNL in the mid-70s to his underwhelming latter-day role as Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther movies, Martin has practiced a brand of inoffensive, silly humor with an inexplicable tinge of knowing sophistication.
Martin continues this tradition in his new book, The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten.
“I can’t believe he got paid for a book of his tweets.” My wife said this. She’s walking on thin ice. Just kidding.
Only a sampling of said tweets can give one any idea of Martin’s microblogging humor. It’s dad humor, to be sure, but slightly cool, slightly ironic dad humor.
“(Attempting to class-up Tweets) I think it was Oscar Wilde who said, ‘Is it gay in here or is it just me?’”
“Conversed with shrink about followers being funnier than me. He really made me laugh. Shrink funnier than I am.”
“At 6pm PST, starting overnight caviar on toast-points fast, giving up capers and diced hard-boiled egg yolk condiments.”
“Bin Laden porn videos included ‘I Can See Your Nose,’ and ‘Is That a Toe I see.’”
Sometimes the responses from Martin’s followers are funnier than his original tweets.
Martin: Rare Bird Alert #3 on Amazon! I’m as happy as a clam. Wait. Are clams really happy?
@gropious3: The chilling sound of clam-laughter has caused many fishermen to quit the sea.
Martin: Out on the town today. I tried to tweet but couldn’t find a tweet booth. Maybe they’re a thing of the past.
@Heidi_vonM: And then when you find a tweet booth you know it’s probably gonna be broken and smell like pee inside :/
Albeit, none of these lines are mind-bogglingly funny, and many of them lose the element of surprise of a continuous twitter feed which they rely on for full effect. But that might be the point. Steve Martin, a 66-year-old comedian who has ventured recently into old-timey banjo records and literary novels and screenplays is the only major comedian of his or many subsequent generations to fully capitalize on and explore the comedic possibilities of 140 characters.
In his introduction to The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten., Martin writes, “I started tweeting for purely commercial reasons. I realized that when I did a television show to promote a book or record, and that television show had an audience of, say, four million people, about four hundred of them rushed out to buy the book or record. I figured if I had a Twitter audience of four hundred thousand – an audience that was tuned into me – and I promoted a book, then four hundred thousand of them would rush out and buy my book. Instead, forty of them rushed out to buy my book.
“All this tweet material turned out to be good for one thing only: tweeting.”
Martin has made another royal waste of time, under the ruse of new technology, a little bit more bearable.
February 18, 2015
WHY IS STEVE MARTIN THE GREATEST MAN WHO EVER LIVED?! So, he was already my favorite tweeter. But, granted, I haven't actually been on twitter that long. So I've mostly read his newer tweets. And retweeted the majority of them. To put so much laughter into so few characters is a true talent and, boy, he pulls it off.
That being said, this book was simply a gift. I'll admit that I'd spent many afternoons flipping back through his old tweets and laughing again and again. But to make it all the way to the beginning, well, that I'd never accomplished. So to have a book of those older tweets forever on my book shelf. A gift. Plain and simple.
I've even taken to carrying this short, lovely book with me everywhere because I keep quoting it. Hilarious, amazing, and definitely one of my favorites. I know I've already read it about three or four times since I first bought it the day it came out. And I know I'll continue reading it again and again because, honestly, it's too fantastic not to be constantly read.
Read it. You won't regret it.
That being said, this book was simply a gift. I'll admit that I'd spent many afternoons flipping back through his old tweets and laughing again and again. But to make it all the way to the beginning, well, that I'd never accomplished. So to have a book of those older tweets forever on my book shelf. A gift. Plain and simple.
I've even taken to carrying this short, lovely book with me everywhere because I keep quoting it. Hilarious, amazing, and definitely one of my favorites. I know I've already read it about three or four times since I first bought it the day it came out. And I know I'll continue reading it again and again because, honestly, it's too fantastic not to be constantly read.
Read it. You won't regret it.
March 30, 2012
some of my favorite steve martin tweets:
A watched iPhone never syncs.
iPhone and computer came back from spa with DIFFERENT CONNECTOR CORD. Is something going on?
7 hour sleep diet worked great. Will power held beautifully.
Weight now fluctuating wildly because of twice daily 20 minute starvation diets.
I just downloaded eleven hundred books onto my kindle, and now i can't lift it.
HI, I'M STEVE'S CAPS LOCK KEY AND I'D LIKE TO MEET OTHER CAPS LOCK KEYS. I'M INTERESTED IN BOATING AND HIKING.
A pic of steve martin dressed up as creepy guy with a hammer is followed with this tweet:
Creepy Guy here fixing basement. Odd that he has to tie me up to do it.
At home today, building a table. I'm using data I found around the house.
Today is National Marijuana Day. A day when...uh...wow, Wolf Blitzer is SO funny.
Bin Laden porn videos included "I can see your nose," and "Is that a toe I see."
SOMEONE IS MOVING MY LIVING ROOM WINDOW AN INCH A DAY.
A watched iPhone never syncs.
iPhone and computer came back from spa with DIFFERENT CONNECTOR CORD. Is something going on?
7 hour sleep diet worked great. Will power held beautifully.
Weight now fluctuating wildly because of twice daily 20 minute starvation diets.
I just downloaded eleven hundred books onto my kindle, and now i can't lift it.
HI, I'M STEVE'S CAPS LOCK KEY AND I'D LIKE TO MEET OTHER CAPS LOCK KEYS. I'M INTERESTED IN BOATING AND HIKING.
A pic of steve martin dressed up as creepy guy with a hammer is followed with this tweet:
Creepy Guy here fixing basement. Odd that he has to tie me up to do it.
At home today, building a table. I'm using data I found around the house.
Today is National Marijuana Day. A day when...uh...wow, Wolf Blitzer is SO funny.
Bin Laden porn videos included "I can see your nose," and "Is that a toe I see."
SOMEONE IS MOVING MY LIVING ROOM WINDOW AN INCH A DAY.
March 5, 2012
Let me preface this by saying that I am unabashedly in love with Steve Martin. Yes, he's older than my father. And yes, he's married. But if he wasn't - I'd so be on a crusade to snag him.
This book is a collection of Martin's hilarious tweets (and also some hilarious replies from some of his followers). I literally read this in a half hour, so saying it's light reading is a bit of an understatement - but it made me laugh out loud. A bunch.
A few of my favorite tweets:
"The secret of a happy life is [inaudible]."
"I've decided I want to get to know Cher on a first name basis."
"Bin Laden porn videos included 'I Can See Your Nose,' and 'Is That a Toe I See?'"
"Advice for writers: If you're a writer, a real writer, a really, really real writer, like, REALLY a writer, you should not write a sentence like this one."
"REPORT FROM JURY DUTY: defendant looks like a murderer. GUILTY. Waiting for opening remarks."
This book is a collection of Martin's hilarious tweets (and also some hilarious replies from some of his followers). I literally read this in a half hour, so saying it's light reading is a bit of an understatement - but it made me laugh out loud. A bunch.
A few of my favorite tweets:
"The secret of a happy life is [inaudible]."
"I've decided I want to get to know Cher on a first name basis."
"Bin Laden porn videos included 'I Can See Your Nose,' and 'Is That a Toe I See?'"
"Advice for writers: If you're a writer, a real writer, a really, really real writer, like, REALLY a writer, you should not write a sentence like this one."
"REPORT FROM JURY DUTY: defendant looks like a murderer. GUILTY. Waiting for opening remarks."
July 27, 2012
This book will take you ten, make that nine, minutes to read. But those minutes will be among the most organized nine, make that, ten minutes of your life.
I give this book five, make that four, stars because on a per word basis this book is unmatched for laughs. And by "unmatched" I mean "greatly surpassed" by many other books.
I give this book five, make that four, stars because on a per word basis this book is unmatched for laughs. And by "unmatched" I mean "greatly surpassed" by many other books.
September 3, 2012
This was a very amusing read. I’ve seen Steve Martin’s movies, of course, but this was a new avenue of humor to explore. Steve Martin’s tweets and his record of some of the public’s responses are real gems. It is wonderful that part of his royalties for this book go to the Steve Martin Charitable Foundation, helping to fund projects in the arts and education.
March 2, 2012
This is definately Steve Martin! Very humerous, and loved the responses to some of his tweets, as well. Though I'm not fond of the world of twitter, it does work well for the comedy industry.
Oh yeah, and Creepy Guy IS Creepy.
Oh yeah, and Creepy Guy IS Creepy.
May 22, 2012
Steve is obviously a very funny man and his wit thrives in the compressed, quasi-poetic limitations of the twitter medium, but the real charm of this slender volume is the equally funny participation of his twitter followers and the clever interplay between Steve and his "co-authors".
August 13, 2012
Not a book I would normally seek out. But I saw it in a library display and picked it up. Funny! Delightfully bizarre! Made me want to download (sign up for? Join?) Twitter just to follow Steve Martin, who is a modern Renaissance man if I know one.
June 11, 2015
Steve Martin was made for Twitter. His fun with words, with meanings, with deadpan. He nails it.
January 2, 2017
Sure you can go back and read all of Martin's tweets and the responses they've gotten, but he's done you the favor of compiling them here.
February 25, 2012
Hilarious.
Transcendent.
Purple, obsequious AND clairvoyant.
Steve Martin.
'Nuff said.
Transcendent.
Purple, obsequious AND clairvoyant.
Steve Martin.
'Nuff said.
June 28, 2017
Cute, light reading. I'm not sure it's really a Four-Star, but less would seem mean-spirited, and the book doesn't merit that.
Read
February 9, 2021Steve Martin joined Twitter in 2010 & joined the tide of Twitter-inspired books with this collection of tweets (his & others’) in 2012.
It made me nostalgic for the Internet of days gone by ....
Skimmed but DNF
It made me nostalgic for the Internet of days gone by ....
Skimmed but DNF
August 12, 2022
3.5 stars
A nice quick book for a laugh on my morning walk. Conk. Ugh, stupid lamp post. Almost like I shouldn't read while walking. <- Inside (the book) joke.
A nice quick book for a laugh on my morning walk. Conk. Ugh, stupid lamp post. Almost like I shouldn't read while walking. <- Inside (the book) joke.
March 27, 2021
I love these humorous, easy-reading little books. And I love Steve Martin.
August 11, 2014
hated it, but here are my fav lines
■ You mean I didn’t need to buy a kindle for each book I downloaded????
@KeyboardHussy: Change the text size.
■ I don’t want to watch the Superbowl till I read the book first. The show leaves out all the characterization
■ I JUST DOWNLOADED ELEVEN HUNDRED BOOKS ONTO MY KINDLE, AND NOW I CAN’T LIFT IT.
■ French fries are actually potatoes and not fried frenchmen.
■ Next phase of weight loss program: Brazilian Butt Workout. I’ve looked at a hundred photos. So far, not working.
■ Going on 5 minute shower diet, followed by 30 second tooth brushing diet. They say these really work.
■ 7 hour sleep diet worked great. Will power held beautifully.
......................
■ Going on twenty minute starvation diet.
......................
■ I am going on a diet for the next hour.
■ It’s odd. No matter how much I keep eating, I can’t get my stomach to go flat.
■ Practice your thumbs up in front of a mirror at home.
......................
Some of you will make the mistake of pointing your thumb down. Don’t worry. A few tries will make it perfect
■All this tweet material turned out to be good for one thing only: tweeting.
■ The secret of a happy life is [inaudible].
■ Today is National Marijuana Day. A day when… uh… wow, Wolf Blitzer is SO funny.
■ You mean I didn’t need to buy a kindle for each book I downloaded????
@KeyboardHussy: Change the text size.
■ I don’t want to watch the Superbowl till I read the book first. The show leaves out all the characterization
■ I JUST DOWNLOADED ELEVEN HUNDRED BOOKS ONTO MY KINDLE, AND NOW I CAN’T LIFT IT.
■ French fries are actually potatoes and not fried frenchmen.
■ Next phase of weight loss program: Brazilian Butt Workout. I’ve looked at a hundred photos. So far, not working.
■ Going on 5 minute shower diet, followed by 30 second tooth brushing diet. They say these really work.
■ 7 hour sleep diet worked great. Will power held beautifully.
......................
■ Going on twenty minute starvation diet.
......................
■ I am going on a diet for the next hour.
■ It’s odd. No matter how much I keep eating, I can’t get my stomach to go flat.
■ Practice your thumbs up in front of a mirror at home.
......................
Some of you will make the mistake of pointing your thumb down. Don’t worry. A few tries will make it perfect
■All this tweet material turned out to be good for one thing only: tweeting.
■ The secret of a happy life is [inaudible].
■ Today is National Marijuana Day. A day when… uh… wow, Wolf Blitzer is SO funny.
August 10, 2012
I have always been a fan of Steve Martin- his writing, his comedy, his acting, his banjo playing, and his tweeting. Which is perhaps why my expectations for this collection of his tweets were so high. I have been following Steve since he first got a twitter account, and his tweets are completely hysterical, so to have them collected here, all in one place, was a really exciting prospect. But unfortunately, halfway through the book, Steve decided to start including not only his tweets, but many of the responses from his followers, and while they were often amusing, I found them to be distracting. They were often not in the same comedic style as Steve's tweets, so the rhythm of what I was reading felt off, and thus a lot of the humor of the book was lost. Collecting your own tweets into a book seemed to me to be an awesomely absurd idea, especially if these tweets are the irreverent, bizarre, and hilarious tweets of Steve Martin. But to include the responses of random tweeters seemed a bit excessive to me.
The first half of the book, however, before he includes the responses, is complete gold, and it was a shame that the whole book wasn't like it.
The first half of the book, however, before he includes the responses, is complete gold, and it was a shame that the whole book wasn't like it.
October 13, 2014
I really cannot believe the diverse ingenuity of Steve Martin sometimes. The man is funny, of course. One of the few innately funny comedians of today. He is cute, even handsome. Clearly intelligent. And he can act. More than a few successful films in his career, he has also written a handful of masterful screenplays, plays the banjo, can even sing. He is wonderful as a standup comedian, even has an interest in philanthropy. His three novels thus far show another dimension that impresses me, ShopGirl demonstrating the romantic and compassionate side, The Object Of Beauty showing his academic and respectable knowledge and interest in the fine art world, and The Pleasure Of My Company portraying an unexpectedly empathetic capability, especially for those often dismissed as outsiders (probably because h himself has been-is one). I need my very own Steve Martin To Go!
June 5, 2016
For what it is, this collection of tweets by Steve Martin is fine. The problem is that what it is isn't much to begin with. The "book's" premise is that it is a sampling of random tweets that Mr. Martin put out there in the ether. To flesh out the text he also includes some of his follower's responses to his tweets. There is an occasional clever or laugh out loud tweet collected here, many of them from Mr. Martin's followers on Twitter as opposed to him. For reading in the bathroom it is a more than adequate diversion. However, I would find it lacking for use anywhere else. Perhaps when you have guests let it sit out, and if they browse through it maybe an interesting conversation will develop.
FYI: The $15.99 price listed on the cover is ridiculous. This text is nowhere near worth that price!
FYI: The $15.99 price listed on the cover is ridiculous. This text is nowhere near worth that price!
April 15, 2012
I am a big admirer of Steve Martin's comedy, the absurdism of it of. I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. In his introduction, he goes on how there is a narrative to the book, where he learns to pay attention to his tweets. My first thought was, now there he goes again being pretensious and needy in the desire to justify his work in a literary context, I mean, really, it is a collection of tweets for god's sakes. But I did notice the change of the content from the interaction of the audience. THat was interesting to me because of my interest with the audience-performer relationship of verbal behavior (This is me showing my behavior analysis roots)so for me personally, it had more meaning. For someone not as insane as I am, it is a fairly amusing collection of one liners.
July 2, 2016
Humorous if you are fan, if you aren't still a good read. At times I would crack up, other's I would think, "this man is not mentally stable" but it was a good read overall which I enjoyed. Sometimes it is rather enjoyable to take a walk through someone else's head for a while. This was just a good, fun read for me. I wasn't looking to learn anything, be enlightened or really think to much. This was a great book to read while reading other books. I didn't have to remember where I was, no characters to keep track of, just a good bedside read to flip through at the end of the day and I wanted to relax without resorting to mindly flipping channels on the television (which I am trying to get away from)
June 7, 2012
Oh Steve. You crack me up. Witty and funny and sometimes silly. You are right up my humor alley. You've inspired me to start tweeting. It's hard to fit myself into that few characters. But I'm trying. I am now following Steve Martin's tweets and I think I love him. I even got my husband to read part of the book. It's an easy quick read (I mean, come on, it's Tweets for gods sake). It was funny to see that he thought some were hilarious that I thought were just okay. Always interesting to learn new and different things about my spouse! He loves my sense of humor but we don't agree on Steve Martin's. Go figure.
August 25, 2012
Okay, I LOVE Steve Martin. I love his skits, his musical abilities, and his ridiculous humor. I especially love his books. This one, though . . . come on! This little book (and I mean little - it took about 20 minutes to read and I'm not kidding) is tweets he has written and collected over time. And it's also the responses he has received from those tweets, so technically, he didn't even write, say 75%, of this "book." And yes, the tweets are funny. And stupid. And silly. But book worthy? Not so much. Save your money and just follow him on Twitter. It's that simple. (Hmmmm. . . maybe that was the point . . . if so, well played, Mr. Martin, well played.)
March 13, 2012
Classic Steve Martin humor. My only gripe is that it's WAY too short. Seriously. I saw it in a book shop at LAX, started browsing it, and before I knew it, I had finished it. (My apologies to the airport book store. Perhaps they should consider shrink wrapping it like porn magazines.)
That said, I'm thinking of going back on Amazon and buying it anyway to add to my Steve Martin book collection. Either that, or reactivate my dusty ol' twitter account. I thought there was nothing worth reading on Twitter - maybe I was wrong.
That said, I'm thinking of going back on Amazon and buying it anyway to add to my Steve Martin book collection. Either that, or reactivate my dusty ol' twitter account. I thought there was nothing worth reading on Twitter - maybe I was wrong.
April 9, 2012
Although I do love me some Steve Martin (I still think The Jerk is a work of genius), this compilation of tweets is just not quite worth it. There are a few instances of funny - the "hokey pokey" section and the section finishing Christmas carols are the best parts. But, it's mostly Martin setting up his tweetmates; in fact, his followers often come up with something more humorous than they're given. I'll stick with his biography, his stand-up, and even his banjo music - I'll forgo the tweets.
October 16, 2012
If you have an hour or so and want a good laugh, read this! I and two different co-workers all read this the same day, while waiting around at court. Steve Martin decides to join Twitter, and the book is his Tweets over a period of time, and then after awhile, the responses thereto, which sometimes are funnier than what he himself posted! I'm not a big "Tweeter", but if I could get Steve Martin to be one of my "friends" (or whatever you call them on Twitter), that would be a lot more interesting and more fun than what feeds I do get, most of the time not even bothering to read. Hmmm...
February 15, 2016
I love Steve Martin as an actor & comedian, and this was my first experience with him as a writer, if you can class a collection of his memorable Tweets, and some of the responses from his followers as writing. That sounds worse than it is. This is an enjoyable collection of wit and cleverness, which I read while cooking dinner over a few nights. It's the kind of book you can pick up, have a laugh or smile, put down and keep going with another task. Great light entertainment, that almost made me want to start a Twitter account (but not quite!)
April 5, 2012
"The Tweets of Steve Martin" is the subtitle of this hilarious little collection of lulz and hoo-haws and snort-inducing blatherskite. You get all the absurd brilliance you'd expect from Martin's 140-character offerings, with extra helpings from others out there in the Twitterverse.
Part of the royalties go to Martin'a charitable foundation, making it even more enjoyable. A mere 105 pages filled with tweets, normally something I'd turn my nose up at, is here a tasty tweet. Make that treat.
Part of the royalties go to Martin'a charitable foundation, making it even more enjoyable. A mere 105 pages filled with tweets, normally something I'd turn my nose up at, is here a tasty tweet. Make that treat.
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