WORLD : Steve Martin Visits Saudi Arabia
Comedian Steve Martin, whose “well excuuuuse me” line entered American lingo, visited U.S. troops in the desert today but kept it more a social call than a show.
The first entertainer brought to Saudi Arabia by the USO, Martin and his wife, actress Victoria Tennant, signed autographs, cracked a few jokes and walked among about 500 members of the 24th Infantry Division, an M-1 tank unit based at Ft. Stewart, Ga.
Climbing aboard one of the huge tanks, Martin joked “we’re going to put a condo here” next to the tank, which bore a sign reading “Speed and Power Beach Club.”
“The pool is on the other side,” Martin said.
He explained to the troops that rather than putting on a show--”They said they didn’t want us to do a show”--that he would just talk with the soldiers.
“What we’re going to do is do what they call grip and grin--we grip your hand and grin at you. It’s all we can do.”
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