The Absent-Minded Waiter

This is the kind of genius timing that Steve Martin is known for. The scene, however small, is a great example of the perfection of Martin's early stuff. Elements: Timing, extenuating circumstances, through line, immediacy, wonderful tactics, very clear obstacles and a perfect sense of doing it for the first time.

This 7 minute short reminded me of Pixar's Oscar winning Ratatouille, which too had a clumsy waiter named Linguini who turned out to be the only heir of the restaurant's dead owner. Well, Steve Martin is no one's heir in this skit and therefore I really wondered how a restaurant managed to retain his services in spite of his maladroitness. Would it not have been much funnier had his character been the restaurant owner's son or relative? I think I would have.

The Absent Minded Waiter is not hard to follow: it is a pretty simply sketch displaying an absent minded waiter's complete idiosyncrasy in dealing with the restaurant patrons. If Steven (played by Martin) were your waiter, you would be really unlucky till he gets your bill. The catch is that if you are able to endure him till he gets your bill, you may get really lucky.

There are some funny moments here, such as Steven missing to light Susan Cates' cigar each time he passes her. But it would have been funnier to add some more situations: such as Steven being the boss' relative or Steven realizing his own mistakes yet repeating them or having the other waiters keep an eye on Steven. The sketch could have had some shining double entendre gags between Steven and bombshell Susan's character. Sadly, there are no such situations and we only get a few chuckles throughout.

The Absent Minded Waiter is a bit of a miss; replace Steve Martin with Rowan Atkinson of Mr. Bean fame and this would have been a gem of a comedy.

Verdict: Predictable situations and Underutilized situations Make The Absent Minded Waiter An Average Comedy

Early on in his fame, Steve Martin gave massive credit to Jerry Lewis' style of zaniness. The Absent-Minded Waiter is an obvious homage to Lewis' wacko style, and a superb one at that.

Pundits will say it's little more than an extended early-"Saturday Night Live" sketch--"SNL" vet Buck Henry even has a major role--but for sheerly silly laughs, it can't be beat. Martin plays the most moronic waiter ever hired for a restaurant. Henry plays a war-veteran of AMW's shenanigans who brings his wife (Garr) to the restaurant for a crash course. It's no-hold-barred craziness, and since it lasts only seven minutes, it's just long enough to be hilarious and not unbearable.

Martin and fellow writer Carl Gottlieb obviously hit pay dirt a couple of years later with The Jerk, but this is an extremely funny warm-up for that feature. (In fact, Martin used it as a prologue for his live stand-up act for years.) It's been released on video, so search hard for it--it's worth the while.

When we "go to the show" in these 21st Century times, we typically go to a multi-screen,super theatre, which is usually part of a big, national chain. We usually see but one movie, preceded by lotsa trailers. Before these 'previews of coming attractions', we, the movie going public, can count on viewing seemingly countless commercials. Everything from the latest cola sensations to local real estate lady is hawked.

In years past, there were many different types of movie shown at the cinema, which were one screen operations and typically located in the neighborhood business district. In addition to the Feature,one would see several different kinds of film, which depended on day and time.Travelogs,Newsreels, Cartoons and Serial Chapters were examples of program content. Also a format that thrived from the earliest days of film right up to the 1950's was the Comedy Short.

THE ABSENT MINDED WAITER is a fine example of a sort of throw back to those zany, illogical but always laugh making little films. Just like so many of those comedy series, ABSENT MINDED showcases the talents and comic routines of a comedian which was conceived as a live set piece, then honed, fine tuned and perfected in front of a live audience. No matter if the venue was Vaudiville or a modern Comedy Club. It could be the English Music Hall or today's Las Vegas.

Steve Martin tried something different with his ABSENT MINDED WAITER. He succeeded, but in a field (Short Subjects, usually 1 to 3 reels long)which is greatly diminished from its former status. Whereas now a short like this is a real,reel novelty; at one time, some performers lived there almost exclusively.

We're sure that had Mr.Martin been around in "the Old Days", he would have been right up there with Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, W.C. Fields, The Marxes, Laurel & Hardy, The Stooges,Joe McDoakes, etc.,etc.,etc...........

With the combination of Steve Martin, Buck Henry and Teri Garr, you know that you're in for something good. And the Academy Award-nominated short "The Absent-Minded Waiter" is just that. Martin stars as the inept title character who messes up Henry's and Garr's dinner experience every step of the way. If one wanted to take a serious look at this short, I might compare it to a scene in "The Graduate", for which Henry wrote the screenplay (you may recall the scene where Ben does everything possible to make Elaine feel uncomfortable during the date).

This is apparently available on a box set of Steve Martin's TV appearances, but I saw it on YouTube. With any luck, all Oscar-nominated shorts will eventually be available there.

Good one.