Top 10 Moments That Made Us Love Steve Martin

Steve Martin’s character Roger finds himself on the end of a mystical soul transfer gone wrong. Now sharing his body with someone else, he has to fight for control. That’s when the movement element of Steve Martin’s comedy takes center stage. His arms and legs jerk around as passersby see his odd behavior. After the other soul’s voice suggests it’s both of their bodies, Martin’s character has a hilarious response. As an audience, we absolutely felt for him in this moment, laughing even further as he talked to his hand and continued lurching around. This is peak Steve Martin physical comedy gold.

Oftentimes, Steve Martin’s bodily movements elevate a good piece of comedy to a great one. In “The Man with Two Brains,” that idea is on full display. Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr gets pulled over by an Austrian policeman. Suspicions of drunk driving lead to the funniest, and one of the most absurd scenes in the movie. Martin’s character is forced to do a series of peculiar, and weirdly difficult sobriety tests. Walking on two hands makes us giggle, then one hand makes us laugh harder. How can you not be entertained and impressed by these acrobatics? The finale of the hardest, most ridiculous sobriety test of all time doesn’t disappoint either. Watching Martin’s character nail it is extremely amusing.

There are inspirational speeches, and then there’s Lucky Day’s El Guapo speech to the people of Santa Poco. In this Western comedy film, Lucky Day finds himself and his two amigos in a battle against a group of bandits. In this iconic speech, he uses the antagonist, referred to as El Guapo, as a metaphor. Martin’s character tries to uplift and inspire the villagers in what can be characterized as a heroic moment. What makes this moment even more amazing is knowing everything that preceded it, including the fact that Lucky Day and his two amigos were originally in town as actors filming a movie. Now immersed in the Santa Poco environment and dangers, this speech cements Lucky’s status as a hero.

Steve Martin first played the banjo in his teens. His interest in stand-up comedy grew around the same time. Both interests significantly influenced the development of his famous persona. In his late twenties, Martin made frequent appearances as a stand-up comedian on TV shows, including “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.” Perhaps his most memorable moment on the show occurred in 1975 when he combined his banjo playing with his comedic talents. While continuously delaying his banjo-playing with jokes, Martin earned a series of deserved laughs from the audience. Besides the humorous jokes, Martin’s cheerful demeanor and stylish 70s outfit made him all the more admirable. This outstanding act relatively early in his career surely earned him plenty of new fans.

In this classic “SNL” sketch, Martin cleverly critiques the commercialization of King Tut in an unforgettable way. The lyrics, combined with Martin’s distinctive singing voice and dance moves, stirred a great deal of laughter from the audience, and rightfully so. Tutankhamun died around the age of 18. The sketch contains a theme of the young boy’s death leading to unparalleled commercialism, tourism, and global fascination with his tomb and Egyptian culture in general. The humorous manner in which Martin prompted audience members to consider this perspective made this arguably his most memorable “SNL” performance. This is especially the case given that it aired in the 1970s, during the height of the world-famous Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibition.

Portraying a fire chief in the movie “Roxanne,” Steve Martin’s character, C.D. Bales, has a defining physical characteristic: his large nose. Personality-wise, he is very likable, smart, and witty. One particularly awesome scene from the movie occurs after a guy in a bar insults C.D.’s nose. C.D. scoffs at the quality of his insult and then challenges him to a game where the man's dart throw score determines how many better nose jokes C.D. will deliver. The people in the bar are then thoroughly entertained, and so are we. This scene showcases Martin’s comedic talent and makes his character even more likable than he already was in prior scenes.

Neal and Del, played by Steve Martin and John Candy respectively, get off on the wrong foot in “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” After a plane-diverting blizzard and a reluctant deal lead the two to stay in a motel room together, things don’t get any better. Martin’s character does the large majority of the talking in this scene, or ranting you could say. He absolutely berates Del’s lack of storytelling ability. To top it all off, Martin’s character gives Del one final piece of storytelling advice. His fitting tone and superb execution of this humorous line embody Martin’s brilliance. The fact it comes in one of his all-time classic movies makes it all the more iconic.

Having a burger is a great way to immerse yourself into American culture. In an iconic scene in “The Pink Panther,” Steve Martin’s Inspector Clouseau works on his English so that he can properly order one. With a relaxed demeanor and laser-sharp focus, he struggles mightily through an ESL lesson. After his many failed pronunciations, the teacher suggests they stop. But Clouseau doesn’t give up that easily. As a viewer, you gotta respect his dedication and drive. He really, really wants to get it right. Throughout this scene, his pronunciations, mannerisms, and determination make this a hilarious and utterly unforgettable moment in the movie.

Have you wished the supermarket sold an item in a different quantity? If so, you certainly can relate to George Banks in this incredible “Father of the Bride” scene. When he starts tearing open hot dog bun packages, you can’t help but question why. But when a worker questions him, it all begins to make sense. Martin’s character brings up an excellent point that not only makes us laugh, but also enlightens us to the illogical reality of the hot dogs and hot dog buns packaging discrepancy. The word choices in this legendary rant are brilliantly executed. We thank Mr. Martin for making us consider this perspective and for fighting for weiner and bun equality.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

His Acceptance Speech, “Mark Twain Prize for American Humor” (2005)
Martin Made the Audience Laugh by Discussing His Ability to Make Them Laugh

The Ruprecht Dinner Scene, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” (1988)
Martin Nailed the Facial Expressions During This Popular Comedy Film

The Pretend Exit, “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” (1962–1992)
Martin Hilariously Pretended He Had to Leave the Show

The Book Show Comment, “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” (1993–2009)
Martin Took a Humorous Shot at Conan’s Show

“Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It,” “Only Murders in the Building” (2021-)
Martin Put His Musical Talent on Full Display

In this comedy classic, Navin Johnson is ready to take on adulthood and find his purpose. He goes on a series of adventures marked by humor, naivety, resilience, and personal growth. Along this humorous and unexpected journey, he finds wealth and love. In one particularly memorable scene, Navin gets into an argument with his wife after becoming broke again. His emotional, yet humorous leaving-home moment is Martin at his best. He effectively conveys the fitting emotion, tone, and hilarious repetition of “All I need.” This was Martin’s first leading role in a feature film, one that accelerated his stardom as a comedy actor. This scene especially showed us that all we need is more Steve Martin.

Let us know in the comments what Steve Martin moment made you laugh the hardest!