View source for Let's Get Small

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Let's Get Small
| type       = live
| artist     = [[Steve Martin]]
| cover      = Letsgetsmall.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = 1977
| recorded   = 1977 
| venue = [[The Boarding House (nightclub)|The Boarding House]], [[San Francisco, California]]
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Comedy]]
| length     = 38:10
| label      = [[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros.]]
| producer   = [[William E. McEuen]]
| prev_title =
| prev_year  =
| next_title = [[A Wild and Crazy Guy]]
| next_year  = 1978
}}
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{rating|4.5|5}}<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r234556}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[The Village Voice]]''
| rev2Score = B<ref>{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=October 3, 1977|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv10-77.php|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|location=New York|accessdate=September 26, 2015}}</ref>
| noprose = yes
}}
'''''Let's Get Small''''' (1977) is an album by American comedian [[Steve Martin]]. It includes "Excuse Me", a comedy bit whose title went on to become a national [[catchphrase]]. The album went [[RIAA certification|platinum]]<ref name="riaa">{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=steve+martin#search_section |title=Gold & Platinum - RIAA |website=[[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]] |date=May 9, 1978 |access-date=April 21, 2025}}</ref> and peaked at No. 10 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' Pop Albums Chart]].<ref name="bb200">{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1977-12-03/ |website=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=December 3, 1977 |access-date=April 21, 2025 |title=Billboard 200™ Week of December 3, 1977}}</ref>

It was recorded at [[The Boarding House (nightclub)|The Boarding House]] in [[San Francisco, California]].{{citation needed|date=February 2015}}

This album won the [[Grammy Award]] in 1978 for [[Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album|Best Comedy Album]].<ref>[http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=&field_nominee_work_value=&year=1977&genre=6 Awards Nominations & Winners | GRAMMY.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Some of Martin's bits were dependent on visual demonstration, such as when he dances as a Vegas pop singer on the track "Las Vegas" (presumably recognizing this in the context of recording the album, Martin's shoes are audible and quite loud as he performs the dance on this track) and also during the "Let's Get Small" track where he discusses getting small while driving — here he mimed driving a car while being so short as to barely reach the bottom of the steering wheel.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} Martin had debuted this particular bit in a February 26, 1977 appearance on the show ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''.<ref>[http://snltranscripts.jt.org/76/76nmono.phtml SNL Transcripts: Steve Martin: 02/26/77: Steve Martin's Monologue<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

The album cover shows Martin wearing balloon animals, bunny ears, Groucho Marx glasses, and a fake arrow through his head; these were all staples of his live act.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} He made balloon animals on some of his ''Saturday Night Live'' appearances as well as his guest appearance on ''[[The Muppet Show]]'', while the fake arrow through the head was spoofed by [[Dinah Shore]] for a guest appearance by Martin on her talk show.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}}

==Track listing==
#"Ramblin' Man/Theme from Ramblin' Man"&nbsp;– 2:14
#"Vegas"&nbsp;– 5:45
#"Let's Get Small"&nbsp;– 13:34
#"Smoking"&nbsp;– 2:10
#"One Way to Leave Your Lover"&nbsp;– 1:33
#"Mad at My Mother"&nbsp;– 1:22
#"Excuse Me"&nbsp;– 2:32
#"Grandmother's Song"&nbsp;– 3:33
#"Funny Comedy Gags"&nbsp;– 3:05
#"Closing"&nbsp;– 2:02

"Grandmother's Song" was released as a 7" vinyl [[Single (music)|single]]. A very short excerpt of "Let's Get Small" is the single's [[B-side]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/master/view/721033|title=Steve Martin (2) - Grandmother's Song / Let's Get Small at Discogs|website=[[Discogs]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/wbs8503|title=45cat - Steve Martin - Grandmother's Song / Let's Get Small - Warner Bros. - USA - WBS 8503}}</ref>

==Production==
* [[Norman Seeff]] – photography

==Legacy==
The phrase "well, excuuuuuuse me" has entered the [[vernacular]] due to a bit featured on this album.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Kapsis, Robert E.|title=Conversations with Steve Martin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wfvIDQAAQBAJ|access-date=16 September 2024|year=2014|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|language=English|isbn=9781626743229}}</ref> The bit was cited as an inspiration for ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' character [[Link (The Legend of Zelda)|Link]], who uses "Well, excuse me, Princess!" as a catchphrase in the [[The Legend of Zelda (cartoon)|1989 cartoon]].<ref name="Carpenter">{{cite web|url=https://www.polygon.com/zelda/23540526/legend-of-zelda-cartoon-oral-history-zeldathon|title='Excuuuuse me, Princess!': An oral history of The Legend of Zelda cartoon|last=Carpenter|first=Nicole|date=11 January 2023|work=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]|language=English|access-date=17 September 2024}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Steve Martin}}
{{Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1977 debut albums]]
[[Category:Steve Martin albums]]
[[Category:Warner Records albums]]
[[Category:Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album]]
[[Category:1970s comedy albums]]
[[Category:1977 live albums]]
[[Category:Comedy albums by American artists]]
[[Category:Stand-up comedy albums]]