From: ThomasIrv
Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 19:09:36 -0500
To: seance@thechurch.EBay.Sun.COM
Subject: Steve and Marty, Comedians
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I'm still working on finding my setlists and notes about the San Juan
Capistrano shows, so I'll share some of the humourous items from the mouths
of Steve and Marty at those shows before I forget them.

At one point in the show, after a particularly loud shouting of requests by
the audience, Steve announced that, "Peter and Richard will be here next week
to play all of those that we don't play."

Sunday night, Steve burst into a little a cappella Jon Anderson impersonation
(the singer from Yes). Marty laughed and asked Steve something like, "Is that
from his cocaine days?" and then followed up by saying, "and when he always
wore white?" to which Steve said, "He should have worn black, then he could
have seen where he spilled it."

Sunday night's humourous highlight, however, was when someone was whistling
in the back, and Marty said, "Is that the sound of a San Juan Capistrano
Swallow?" to which Steve retorted, "The question is, DOES San Juan Capistrano
swallow?"

Marty displayed a slightly darker humor after the Sunday show, when signing
an autograph for a record collector. The collector had brought in the MWP Art
Attack album and the Ann Carlberger solo album. The Art Attack was on top.
Marty was happily signing away, saying, "Glen, do you spell your name with
one "n" or two?" and then when he lifted the Art Attack to reveal the front
of the Ann Carlberger, he stopped for a moment, looked kind of surprised, and
said, "You know that's my ex-wife." There was an uneasy silence for a second
or two, so I offered, "Well, you played on the album, right?" to which Marty
replied, "I WROTE most of the album." He signed it, then put Art Attack back
on top.

I'm reminded of a couple of other items from older shows:

Omaha, on the Starfish tour, Steve introduced "Unsubstantiated" by saying,
"This is a song we wrote today while ironing our shirts." Everyone, of
course, had on wrinkled shirts.

Minneapolis, G.A.F. tour: Some people had brought a big banner and would hold
it up between songs. Peter stopped the show to read the banner to the whole
auditorium, so that they could stop holding it up. It read something like,
"Borrowed grapes from stores of gold, how about some songs of old" or "Oh,
lord we need miracles, we need more wine and gold, how about some songs of
old" or something like that. Anyway, Peter read the banner aloud and Steve
said, "How about something from the 15th Century?"

The funniest thing I've ever heard from Steve, however, was at that same
Minneapolis show: Someone up front was yelling something about Peter Murphy,
to which Steve said, "What do I think of Peter Murphy? I think it's a good
thing Ryko has re-released all the old Bowie albums so we don't have to
listen to Peter Murphy." (Much laughter) Then he said, "No, actually, I think
he should get together with Eldritch. Yeah. Then they could be the Sisters of
Murphy."

I'd love to hear anyone else's remembrances of the band's wit.

Thomas Irvin

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