Steve Martin’s awkward backstage encounter with Elvis: “Wanna see my guns?”
When the great book of comedy is eventually written, there will be a large chapter devoted to Steve Martin. The iconic funnyman isn’t just an incredible stand-up, clever writer, and stunningly good banjo player, he’s starred in some of the most hilarious films ever made. Parenthood, The Jerk, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, he has made millions of people split their sides over the decades and is showing no signs of slowing down.
Being such a big star comes with many privileges. Across his long career, Martin has rubbed shoulders with all manner of celebrities, and not just the ones he’s shared a screen with. He’s had romances with Mary Tyler Moore and Karen Carpenter and, in perhaps the most bizarre incident of his life, he had an unexpected run-in with the ‘King of Rock and Roll’.
Speaking on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, Martin told the former late-night host about the time he sort of met Elvis Presley. The comedian had been opening for Ann-Margret, a Swedish singer and actor who had starred with Elvis in Viva Las Vegas. She’d also been romantically involved with the singer, although details surrounding that are sketchy at best. “It’s after the show and I know Elvis is going to come back and say hello to Ann-Margret,” Martin recalled. This is indeed what happened, before things quickly got weird.
“Elvis walked by and he saw me and he stopped and he said, “Son you have an oblique sense of humor,’” said the five-time Grammy winner. By his own admission, Martin’s act had a little ‘weirdness’ in it at this early stage of his career. To be honest, his act has a little ‘weirdness’ in it regardless of the time period. “He came in and now we’re talking, I’m talking with them and I… don’t know what to say,” Martin continued. “We run out of conversation, then he said ‘want to see my guns?’… He took out a six shooter and he opened up and dumped all the bullets in his hand and before he handed me the gun to look at it and I was looking at [it], I’m marveling at it. Then he took out another gun [and] did the same thing.”
The legendary artist was a well-known gun nut in his prime. He owned a vast collection of firearms, which only expanded when he joined the Army in 1958. He reported used to fire bullets at the TV whenever John Lennon appeared on screen, following ‘The King’ turning on the Beatle due to his outspoken political views. He also once gifted President Richard Nixon a Colt .45 on a visit to the White House.
Martin would have been opening for Ann-Margret in Vegas in the early 1970s. The comedian was still relatively fresh as a stand-up. He was a few years away from finding his feet as a movie star and hadn’t yet made his career-defining appearances on Saturday Night Live. As for Presley, he was very much in the final stretch of his legendary run. He would pass away in 1977, aged just 42.
When you meet a larger-than-life figure like Elvis, you expect to get a few stories out of it. However, Martin probably wasn’t expecting to get one quite so dangerous.
