Fans Come to Martin Short’s Rescue After Ruthless Reviewer Deems Iconic Comedian “Desperately Unfunny”

By Alex Vena
Published Sep. 8, 2023, 5:15 p.m. ET

Where to Stream:

Only Murders In The Building

Powered by Reelgood

More On:

Martin Short

A scathing critique of Martin Short has the internet up in arms, but the response has generated a flood of trend-induced tributes to the actor and comedian’s career.

The editorial entitled “Why We Keep Putting Up With Martin Short” was published in Slate this morning by writer Dan Kois. In the piece, Kois described the Only Murders in the Building star as “desperately unfunny,” and noted that he “find[s] Martin Short’s whole schtick exhausting, sweaty, and desperately unfunny.”

In protest, fans have flocked to X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) to support Short.

While some have retweeted the article with their opposing views, with one fan writing, “there’s literally nothing that’s not funny about Martin Short i don’t understand this,” others refuse to give the story any online traffic.

Many have been sharing their favorite clips of Short, which include scenes from interviews, Arrested Development, Saturday Night Live, and more.

Fans have deemed him “a national treasure,” and a “top 5 funniest person to be put in front of a camera.” One fan even compared the statement “Martin Short isn’t funny” to saying “the sun isn’t hot.”

Hulu even got in on the action, tweeting a picture of Short and writing, “Martin Short, confirmed funny guy.”

In the wake of headlines surrounding Jimmy Fallon, a video has even resurfaced of Short being interviewed alongside his Only Murders co-star Steve Martin on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he jokingly tells Fallon that “there is no host in late night that pretends to care the way you do.”

“I mean no one captures phoniness the way you do,” he quipped.

One Twitter user retweeted the clip, posing the question, “what would Martin Short buy first if he won the lottery?”

Amid the critique, fans are not only being reminded of Short’s more recent work, but most famous comedy bids as well, including bumbling interviewer Jiminy Glick.

In short, Martin Short has got a lot of fan love.