#john-lithgow

#john-lithgow

I started in stand-up because it felt like the most direct way to connect with people. There's no filter. You go on stage, and you find out very quickly if something works. That shaped everything for me. It forced me to be honest. If you're not honest, the audience knows. That idea still drives how I work today.

John Slattery, 63, moved to an apartment on Bank Street in the West Village after marrying the actress Talia Balsam in 1998. At the time, he had established himself as a character actor.

Here, a central character hides behind so many layers of deceit, he almost believes his own version of the truth while his wife refuses to believe their son died in the war. The pitfalls of capitalism and the hollowness of the American Dream certainly resonate today as they did after World War II.

He had already picked on me several times for laughing too loud, too readily (that wasn't even a joke, he chastised me at one point). I was trying hard to suppress my laughter to hold it in, to hold it back, to not fully express the joy I was feeling. I was being somewhat successful. And then I wasn't. Everyone in the audience was laughing but I was laughing too much.

Steve Martin Writes the Written Word is an aptly-named collection and excellent introduction to the comedian's best writings, including some new material. In another piece, he makes the list of 100 greatest books he read laugh out loud funny with fake titles such as "Omelet: Olga - Mnemonic Devices for Remembering Waitress' Names" and "Marijuana! Totally Harmless (can't remember author)."