When you think of Martin Short, what comes to mind? His Saturday Night Live–era Nathan Thurm? SCTV's Jackie Rogers, Jr.? Ed Grimley of both SNL and SCTV? Primetime Glick's Jiminy Glick? Franck Eggelhoffer in Father of the Bride? Ned Nederlander in ¡Three Amigos!? Star of Broadway? Daytime talk-show host? You get the idea.

The 57-year-old Hamilton native has had a long and varied career. Sure, some of his range can be chalked up to the vagaries of show business. But Short also made a decision not to overstay his welcome anywhere. He spent just two seasons on Second City, one on SNL, two on Glick. He even found the perfect vehicle for his irrepressible hamminess and crazy characters in a Broadway production, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. He could have ridden that horse into the sunset, but that's not his style.

"I loved it, but I did it for nine months," he said by phone from his home in Los Angeles. "I've never been defined by the admiration of strangers, so the only thing that really appeals to me is to keep saying 'And now what? What would be fun? Where would you probably fail?' and things like that. So you're trying to keep yourself interested, as opposed to just hitting the mark."

His appearance at the Red Robinson Show Theatre in Coquitlam on Friday (June 22) won't be nearly as structured as his work on the boards, but it'll be just as fun. "It's a lot of improvising, a lot of looseness and interaction with the audience," he said. "I want the audience to have a good time. But my tendency is to feel that if they didn't have a good time, well, they didn't get it, as opposed to I'm not worthy."

When Short was here last, in 2004, he offered a breezy evening of fun and fond reminiscences with his beloved alter egos, sketches, and a video segment looking back on his career. But he never feels the need to do crowd favourites just for the sake of it.

"When you do any kind of live show, it's a mistake to think, 'Oh, I must do this or they'll turn on me,'" he said. "Because they wouldn't be there if they didn't kinda like you. You don't want them to walk away and say, 'Oh, that wasn't worth the money.' You want them to say, 'Boy, that was fun. That was like a party. That was great.' And what you include in the evening to get that final response doesn't necessarily have to be every old hit."

Just as well, or he'd be there all night. His work on both iconic TV programs alone provided countless unforgettable hits. The higher-profile SNL brought him more fame than his time north of the border, but Short has a soft spot for his first love.

"There was a long history, just as friends, with that group," he said. "We were also shooting it in Toronto, which is where I lived. With Saturday Night Live, we were in a sublet and I was working all the time. And the show is a higher-pressure show. Listen, I was treated like a prince there. I have great memories from Saturday Night Live, but my heart always belongs in SCTV."

That's our Marty. Fame really does become him.