Martin Short: Shameless Self-Promotion Becomes Him

Martin Short is aggressively doing the talk show rounds to promote his new Broadway show after mixed (but polite) reviews did nothing to goose the box office. This is certainly one show that will benefit from word of mouth: fans ate it up and the show ends very strongly thanks to Jiminy Glick, the "Stop The Show" number that stops the show and a dash of warm sentiment at the very end. The NY Post jokes that Short is onstage for only about 10 minutes in the 90 minute revue. That's far from true -- he dominates the proceedings; the only time Short is offstage is when he's getting into the Jiminy Glick fat suit for about 10 or so minutes and it's covered neatly with the talented cast doing some terrific imitations of Joan Rivers, Ellen Degeneres, etc. I'm sure the show's people will be angry at the jab -- cheap shots are fine, but don't mislead people about the nature of a show. Will there be a correction or an apology? I doubt it. Michael Riedel loves to be at the center of attention, rather than giving the spotlight to the artists he's supposed to be covering.