Martin Short
Martin Short trained and performed at The Second City Toronto in the mid-1970s, developing characters and skills that he brought to SCTV and later to Saturday Night Live, which he joined in 1984. Characters including Ed Grimley became nationally recognized. His career has spanned television, film, and Broadway, including Tony Award recognition for Little Me (1998) and ongoing work as a stage performer and television host.
Recommended Reading
Books are ordered from the strongest direct connection outward to broader relevance.
Fifty Key Improv Performers
Actors, Troupes, and Schools from Theatre, Film, and TV
Matt Fotis
Spontaneous Performance
Acting Through Improv
Marsh Cassady
The Improv Illusionist
Using Object Work, Environment, and Physicality in Performance
David Raitt
Legislative Theatre
Using Performance to Make Politics
Augusto Boal
Book on Acting
Improvisation Technique for the Professional Actor in Film, Theater & Television
Stephen Book
Process: An Improviser's Journey
Mary Scruggs; Michael J. Gellman
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Martin Short. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/people/martin-short
The Improv Archive. "Martin Short." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/people/martin-short.
The Improv Archive. "Martin Short." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/people/martin-short. Accessed March 17, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.