Coverage: Steve Martin and Martin Short get Vail laughing
Special to the Daily
Steve Martin and Martin Short brought their comedy routine, “Now You See Me, Soon You Won’t” to the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail on Sunday, July 14.
Number of people: Sold out. The Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater’s maximum capacity is 2650 people.
Hometown shoutouts: They made jokes about marijuana, saying the only thing higher than the altitude in Colorado is the people. Martin, a former Aspen resident, joked about the rivalry between Aspen and Vail.
History in Vail: Martin said he performed in Vail almost exactly 40 years ago.
Audience participation: Martin and Short invited three men up on stage to be the “Three Amigos.” The two sang the titular song from the movie “The Three Amigos,” which was when they first met, and told the volunteers to do the signature Three Amigos salute.
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Biggest laugh: Short dancing in a skin-tight unitard to his famous “Step Brother to Jesus” parody of the Broadway shows “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Hair.”
Tender moment: Martin shared personal stories, both funny and bittersweet, about his mother and father, who both had health issues later in life.
Best musical moment: A very long fiddle solo from Steep Canyon Rangers’ Nicky Sanders. Wearing a suit, a fedora and black New Balance 574’s, he wove in riffs from The Beatles’ “Blackbird” and Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” into a classic bluegrass jam.
Best unplanned moment: Martin’s microphone unclipped from his belt and Short joked, “you’re passing a stone.”
Most memorable quote: “The minute we stop having fun, that’s when we quit,” said Short – and he actually wasn’t joking.
