Steve Martin: In Conversation with Charlie Rose

Who knew Charlie Rose had it in him to come off as boorish, rude, inappropriate and uninformed? But apparently the brilliance and flawless eloquence of his guest is more than a match for Rose's missteps in this interview, which I consider easily worth the cost on Audible, even at twice or three times the listed price. Rose's glaringly obvious gaffes here include: Asking a question and not waiting for an answer before asking another question; asking a question and then interrupting his guest as Martin attempts to give an answer; laughing inappropriately during a heartfelt confession of real (and not joyful) emotion; providing false information in his question, forcing his guest to contradict him in his answer; and at one point, unbelievably, actually fumbling condolences when Martin begins to cry during retelling of a particularly painful anecdote related to his difficult relationship with his father. Humble, gracious Steve Martin easily and seemingly effortlessly sidesteps ALL of the mines in this minefield of an interview, though, and you'll come away with a new respect for Steve Martin, a newfound interest in discovering and reading everything Steve Martin has ever written, and a newfound wonder at how inept interviewers ever manage to rise to celebrity status in the entertainment industry.

This is a solid listen, I'm glad I bought it, and I will doubtless listen again several more times. Although I was unable to locate Audible recordings of either Martin's exquisite novella Shopgirl or his play Picasso at the Lapin Agile, this interview did inspire me to use a credit immediately on Martin's novel An Object of Beauty, which apparently was inspired by his own experience as an art collector.

Another proof that one will always spend a pleasant time listening to Steve Martin... Hoping to have more Audio files by Steve Martin...

Amazing how much is covered in an hour, actually almost in spite of Charlie Rose, who comes across as uninformed about his subject & is corrected repeatedly on guesses he makes which he shouldn't be having to guess about.

this is pretty much a repeat of the things that Steve said in his book born standing up. But it's still totally worth listening to!

Charlie interrupted undoubtedly due to time constraints. But Steve Martin was fresh and positive.

It was fun to learn a little more about this talented performer.

And the "Born Standing Up" is great as well