''Comedy Is Not Pretty!'' (1979) is an album by the American comedian

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...

. It was recorded at The Boarding House in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, where his previous two albums were also recorded. When released, the album was not as well-received as his previous two albums ('' Let's Get Small'', '' A Wild and Crazy Guy''). However, at this point in his career, Martin was in the midst of writing the screenplay for his first starring role in the motion picture, ''

The Jerk ''The Jerk'' is a 1979 American comedy film directed by Carl Reiner and written by Steve Martin, Carl Gottlieb, and Michael Elias (from a story by Steve Martin and Carl Gottlieb). This was Martin's first starring role in a feature film. The f ...

''. As a result, he spent less of his time working on material for his stand-up career and the album was his first to not make the Top 10 on Billboard's Pop Albums Chart, peaking only at #25. The album was also his first to not go Platinum; it was, however, certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

. One track was simply a humorous reading of a short story from his book '' Cruel Shoes'' accompanied by a banjo solo in the background. The track "Drop Thumb Medley" is an instrumental banjo performance. This album was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for

Best Comedy Album The Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement in comedy." The award was awarded yearly from 1959 to 1993 and then from 2004 to presen ...

. Martin also starred in a

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

of the same name for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in 1980.

Track listing

All tracks by

Born to Be Wild "Born to Be Wild" is a song written by Mars Bonfire and first performed by the band Steppenwolf. The song is often invoked in both popular and counter culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude. It is most notably featured in the 1969 f ...

" (

Mars Bonfire Dennis Edmonton (born Dennis Eugene McCrohan; 21 April 1943), also known by the stage name Mars Bonfire, is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter, best known for writing the hit song "Born to Be Wild" for Steppenwolf. Career Born Dennis Eug ...

, Martin) – 5:49 #"The All Being" – 1:24 #"

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

/Men's Underwear" – 3:11 #"Drop Thumb Medley" – 2:10 #"Googlephonics" – 3:06 #"Hostages" – 1:13 #"Cruel Shoes" – 2:17 #"Comedy Is Not Pretty" – 3:26 #"How to Meet a Girl" – 3:47 #"Rubberhead" – 0:56 #" Jackie O. and Farrah F." – 3:39 #"You Can Be a Millionaire" – 2:55

Personnel

*William R. Eastabrook – Photography *Pat Kraus – Digital Mastering *Steve Martin – Composer *William McEuen – Producer, Engineer, Artwork, Editing, Art Direction, Design *

Norman Seeff Norman Seeff (born March 5, 1939, in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a photographer and filmmaker. Since moving to the United States in 1969, his work has been focused on the exploration of human creativity and the inner dynamics of the creative ...

– Photography *Geoff Sykes – Mastering *

Dean Torrence Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles ...

– Graphic Design

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1979 live albums Steve Martin albums Warner Records live albums Albums with cover art by Dean Torrence 1970s comedy albums Live comedy albums Comedy albums by American artists Stand-up comedy albums