Nokia Theatre was packed Tuesday night for a one-off chat and Q&A at which Steve Martin and Tina Fey expanded on highlights from her new book “Bossypants.” What was billed as a summit of two comic writers with recently released books was more of a casual three-way love fest between Martin, Fey and the audience, which laughed and applauded with near-absurd frequency.
Carolyn Kellogg’s in-depth review at Jacket Copy gets into detail:
Fey took the stage in a black dress that revealed her baby bump and high leopard-patterned heels. Martin asked if she was pregnant. “I’ve been told,” Fey answered, smoothing her hand over her belly, “that this is a hysterical pregnancy that comes from a desperate need to sell books.”
“Do the breasts go down?” Martin asked.
“I hope not,” Fey replied.
Later Fey would show off an ultrasound to Conan O’Brien (see video below). The discussion stuck to details disclosed in the book, many of which were previewed in a series of columns/excerpts Fey recently published in The New Yorker.
Martin, while hilarious, served as a very good interviewer, taking the audience on a sort of inquisition into Fey’s career from childhood in Philly, to Second City in Chicago, the fast rise to head writer at SNL, and 30 Rock.
What’s Fey trying to say with her book cover — a typical, glamor-mag-like Photoshopped headshot of the author, offset by a pair of hairy man-arms?
“It’s a confusing line that woman have to walk because you want to look good enough that they let you to stay in show business, but you don’t want to become carried away. I don’t really care, truly that much, about being ‘fancy.'”
The well-executed audience Q&A took on a very L.A. bend, with one attendee asking for advice for an aspiring comic writer. “Just get out there and do it as often as you can,” offered Martin. “Make work,” concurred Fey.
Another audience member inquired about Fey’s shoes. “It’s interesting that you ask,” interrupted Martin, segueing into a fantastical story about his supposedly 35-year-old pair of loafers.
The event was part of the Live Talks Los Angeles series, co-produced by KPCC and KCET.
This post was syndicated from LAist.com, where I am Associate Editor. A direct link to my LAist.com post index is at the top of my blog. This post was originally published here on April 21, 2011 at 10:40 a.m.
