Maya Rudolph Describes Martin Short’s Canadian Cottage Where They Worked On Comedy Material For ‘Maya & Marty’
When Maya Rudolph and Martin Short debut their new variety show Maya & Marty on Tuesday night, they won’t be the only Saturday Night Live alumni on hand. Kenan Thompson and Jimmy Fallon will guest star. On future installments, Steve Martin and Tina Fey will appear along with other big comedy names like Tom Hanks, Larry David, and frequent SNL host Miley Cyrus, according to The New York Post. Lorne Michaels, long-time SNL producer, is at the helm of the six-episode series.
The roster of SNL talent is almost expected of Maya & Marty, as both stars are legends of sketch comedy. Prior to his time on Saturday Night Live, Short, 66, was at Second City in Toronto and its television spinoff, SCTV. Rudolph, 43, is well-known for her popular SNL impersonations, such as Beyonce. The comedians discovered their unique chemistry when they performed together as part of the television special marking 40 years of Saturday Night Live. Rudolph told the Post that Michaels knew both of the performers personally and foresaw that they would work well onstage.
“I think Lorne’s really good at finding a good fit. Lorne’s known Marty far longer than he’s known me. He’s known me since I was 27, and he saw that DNA quality. We have the same hambone. It’s a genetic strain. He knows we both love to entertain.”
In a joint interview with The New York Times, Rudolph and Short revealed they got out of the city to work on material for the new show. Rudolph, her husband, and children spent several days at Short’s cottage in Canada, who described it as more of a “complex” than a little getaway in the woods.
“Maya and Paul [Thomas Anderson, her partner] and their 400 children came up to my cottage, north of Toronto, with some writers. We hung out for about five days, had dinners. There’s different buildings and properties —— All right, an estate. This is the place where Fergie and Prince Andrew honeymooned. We Canadians call it a cottage.”
Rudolph interjected during Short’s description, teasing his description of the possibly grandiose locale as a mere “cottage.” She also offered that Short had “a stamp” in his native country. Short joked that he had his own “coin.”
Rudolph said Maya & Marty is different from SNL because it’s about humor, while the Saturday night staple has become a forum for political satire. Often, people go to SNL for some measure of news. That isn’t the case with Maya & Marty. The comedians gave Fallon an idea of the tone of the new show when they appeared on his late night program to spoof a 1980s cop show.
In the skit, posted on Entertainment Weekly‘s website, the trio is trying to be toll booth operators in “the Windy City,” where they constantly have items blowing in their faces. That kind of silliness is the comedy for which Short is best known, with his characters such as Ed Grimley and movies such as Three Amigos.
As for whether those characters and Rudolph’s notables such as Queen Bey and Donatella Versace will show up in Maya & Marty, Short told the Post they won’t do well-known bits just for the sake of doing them, although they haven’t ruled out bringing back some familiar impressions.
“You wouldn’t just trot them out because they were popular. If it’s a funny idea for the character, we could do them.”
Rudolph jokes that although she will sing on the program, she won’t do it all the time “because people will start pulling their hair out.”
Maya & Marty debuts Tuesday, May 31, at 10 ET/PT on NBC.
[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]
