Ed Grimley would go completely mental
Throughout a show business career spanning nearly 45 years, Martin Short has dazzled audiences with his wacky characters, including the hyperactive manchild Ed Grimley.
Now Grimley is coming to Costa Mesa to perform with the Pacific Symphony at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall on Friday and Saturday evenings. Well, that’s not exactly right.
Short, who has often embodied the fictional character obsessed with the game show “Wheel of Fortune” and its host, Pat Sajak, will be on stage.
And Short will share the stage with — how’s this for a strange meeting of fantasy and reality — none other than television personality Sajak.
The comedian said he had never watched “Wheel of Fortune” while growing up Ontario, Canada, or had even met Sajak, but his parents were fans of the American television game show.
When he began developing a persona for Toronto’s Second City stage, Short said in a phone interview, he thought about creating a superfan of pop-culture, zeroing in on “Wheel of Fortune.”
Grimley’s television debut in 1982 led to success, and Short continued to play the character on “Saturday Night Live.”
He eventually did meet Sajak.
“He certainly is a funny guy,” Short said during the phone interview, sounding far more subdued than his character, who with his greasy, pointy hair would prance around and often end up in front of a picture of his idol, Sajak, hanging on the wall during a “Saturday Night Live” scene.
Short is an old-fashioned song-and-dance man. And he’s been touring the country performing concerts since 2001 with various symphony orchestras, including the Boston Pops and the Dallas and Pittsburgh symphonies.
Playing the symphony circuit has been a welcome one since he grew up in a musical family. His mother was a concertmistress with the Hamilton Symphony Orchestra in Canada, and his father was president of a symphony.
Short said he has always been impressed by the grandeur of symphony halls.
“It’s so exciting to hear that roll of sound,” Short said. “I enjoy it all.”
But for fans of his off-the-wall comedy, Short will bring the jokes and comedic timing to his show with the Pacific Symphony. Between singing and dancing through show tunes, he’ll present some of his favorite characters from “Saturday Night Live” and mix in improvisation as well.
“It feels loose, but it’s actually structured,” he said. “They’re great arrangements.”
Short, who has won Emmy and Tony awards, has enjoyed acclaim for his roles in movies that include “Three Amigos,” “Father of the Bride, “Father of the Bride Part II” and “Mars Attacks!”
His work in the theater included playing a lead role on Broadway in the musical version of the Neil Simon film “The Goodbye Girl,” for which he received a Tony Award nomination and an Outer Critics Circle Award. Short won a Tony and another Outer Critics Circle Award for his lead role in the musical “Little Me.”
Short continued work on the stage in the Los Angeles run of “The Producers,” where he played opposite Jason Alexander.
He still keeps busy. He and comedian Maya Rudolph, also of “Saturday Night Live” fame, will star in the new live variety show “Maya and Marty in Manhattan,” coming to NBC this summer.
The Pacific Symphony show is a reunion of sorts for principal Pops conductor Richard Kaufman. He said he has worked with Short in the past and has been friends with Sajak for nearly 40 years.
In the first half of the concert, Sajak will join the symphony to narrate “Casey at the Bat,” and Kaufman’s daughter, vocalist Whitney, a guest soloist with a number of orchestras in the U.S. and overseas, will join the orchestra to celebrate her father’s 25th anniversary leading Pops for Pacific Symphony.
Short will then take the stage for the second half of the show.
“Martin will bring all sorts of things to our shows ... singing, comedy and undoubtedly some surprises,” Kaufman said. “People can expect to be really happy they were lucky enough to be there.”
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IF YOU GO
What: Martin Short
When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa
Cost: Tickets start at $35
Information: (714) 556-2787 or visit scfta.org
