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QUIZ

Completely Mental

Test your knowledge of the many faces of Martin Short

By Kevin J. Siu

Jiminy Glick in La La Wood, opening on May 6, gives Martin Short another shot at lead banana. He’s spent most of his career as comic relief — the guy who steals the scene with a full-body spasm or just-right-of-offensive accent. Consider skirt-chasing press secretary Jerry Ross in Mars Attacks! or the ambiguously European wedding planner Franck Eggelhoffer in Father of the Bride: diverting in five-minute spurts, but the long-term comic equivalent of a fourth-grade class clown bunged out on Lick’em Aid. Then came Glick: For three years on Primetime Glick, Short hectored the likes of Steven Spielberg, Jon Stewart and Sharon Stone as an anti-Charlie Rose in a fat suit — and his most deliberately annoying character became his most enduring.

1. What kids-show character did Short play early in his career?
	Polkaroo on Polka Dot Door
	Do Bee on Romper Room
	Rabbit on Cucumber
	Roosevelt Franklin on Sesame Street
	H.R. Pufnstuf

2. Although his Ed Grimley character starred in a 1988 Saturday morning cartoon (which aired after The Chipmunks), Short has cited the success of which man-child movie as having discouraged him from doing a Grimley film?
	Elf
	Jack
	Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
	Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
	About a Boy

3. What long-time TV game show host makes Ed Grimley go “completely mental”?
	Chuck Woolery
	Monty Hall
	Pat Sajak
	Wink Martindale
	Merv Griffin

4. Short took home the 1999 Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for his seven-character performance in what Broadway show?
	The Producers
	Urinetown
	Mamma Mia!
	Little Me
	You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown

5. In 1987’s Innerspace, what real-life future (and now former) couple does Short ultimately reunite?
	Bruce Willis and Demi Moore
	Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan
	Tom Cruise and Mimi Rogers
	Madonna and Sean Penn
	Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder

6. In an interview with Tom Hanks on Primetime Glick, Glick noted, “His acting style is very realistic and you go very broad.” Who was he comparing Hanks to?
	Michael Keaton
	Jim Carrey
	Chevy Chase
	Henry Winkler
	Jerry Lewis

7. What are the names of Jiminy and Dixie Glick’s twin sons?
	Eric and Stoltz
	Matthew and Modine
	Corey and Haim
	Corey and Feldman
	Malcolm Jamal and Warner

8. In a well-remembered Saturday Night Live sketch, Short’s Lawrence Orbach is training with his brother Gerald (Harry Shearer) for the Olympics in synchronized swimming. What’s Lawrence’s idiosyncrasy?
	He has webbed toes
	Speedos give him rashes
	He’s aquaphobic
	He’s an East German woman
	He can’t swim

9. Which of the following is not a Martin Short SCTV/SNL character?
	Jackie Rogers, Jr.
	Katharine Hepburn
	Irving Cohen
	Fernando Lamas
	Nathan Thurm

10. In a recent interview in W magazine, Short was asked if any of his interview subjects didn’t “get” Jiminy Glick. Short’s answer embroiled him in a Tupac/Biggie-type beef with what fellow Canadian comedian? (A truce has since been declared.)
	Brent Butt
	Tom Green
	Mike Bullard
	Mary Walsh
	Leonard Cohen