East Bay Journal - Interview: Martin Higgins
Martin Higgins, writer, director, satirist, and all-around professional curmudgeon in the tradition of H.L. Mencken and W.C. Fields, is one of those prodigiously talented individuals often referred to as a Renaissance Man, which is to say he wears many, many hats. Among his many achievements are the books The Nastiest Things Ever Said About Republicans and The Nastiest Things Ever Said About Democrats (both published by Lyons Press in 2006) inclusion in Maxine Hong Kinsgston's Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace anthology (KOA Press 2012), and the independent films Magic Boat (1990) and Palooka (1991) both of which he produced, directed and wrote. Martin got started the entertainment business after serving as a U.S. Army Sergeant during his two tours of duty in Vietnam.
“I started producing video documentaries when I got back from Vietnam in 1972, as part of a grassroots media movement that became magazine format television,” says Martin, “I’ve worked as a writer/producer/director for theater, television, and films with my own production company, radio personality, stand-up comedian, gag writer, keynote speaker, speechwriter, technical writer and media producer at Microsoft’s Main Campus, corporate ghostwriter, slam poetry writer/performer, writers of book and magazine articles, freelance screenplay “doctor” and, for the past two years, I have been producing online motivational and instructional programming for Kaiser Permanente. Currently, I’m writing a comedy/fitness book for the outspoken “Anti-Gym” owner, Michael Karolchyk, who appears regularly on The Dr. Phil Show.” (Commercials Martin produced for Karolchyk can be viewed online at http://www.theantigym.com/exposed.html. Click on “Caught in the Act” on the nav bar. That’s Martin in the Captain Ahab beard.) According to Martin, “These spots set off a firestorm in Denver and prompted death threats and vandalism – the best publicity in the world.”
“As to the writing process itself, “Long-form storytelling requires a lot of imagination, a fair amount of weaving skills and a willingness to ‘murder your darlings’ – those little bits that you love, but do not carry their own weight.” Martin explains, “A 3,500 – 4,500 word, tight, powerful, first-person story is the coin of my realm. I write on Day 1, edit on Day 2 and then rewrite for weeks. When it’s done, I feel like lying back on my pillow, staring at the ceiling, and letting the textured popcorn ceiling bring me images and emotions. Michelangelo would splash water on dry stones to evoke the same sort of inspiration. Imagine if he had a textured ceiling over his bed…”
As with legendary writer/directors Billy Wilder, John Huston, and Preston Sturges, Martin eventually learned that the only way to prevent directors from screwing up his scripts was to become a director himself. “If you want to see your story on the screen, you have no other choice than to direct all the creative aspects, actors and actresses, and both the principal photography and editing process,” he says, “Film is unlike other arts in the sense that with a painting, song or stage play, a moderate amount of cost is incurred with the goal of realizing a fortune. On the other hand, for a film, a fortune must be raised first to possibly make another fortune that hopefully makes a profit. 95% of films don’t even recoup their initial outlay. So, right off the bat, if you’re not making your story, your vision, or your philosophical point of view, why bother? I have a brilliant associate who calls work-for-hire film and video jobs “Production Monkey” work. You might take it on to pay the rent, but even if it succeeds, it’s not yours. It doesn’t even deserve to be on your reel… unless you want more bananas.”
“Here’s the write-for-hire process,” Martin elaborates, “I get an idea (or have one pitched by the client) and develop it into a story that satisfies my innate human desire to enter another world, a different point of view. I express it to print so I can chase it around the page until it makes sense and feels complete. Then, it’s read by a producer who imposes a new set of ideas on it that track more to current trends and marketability. The producer begins to package the film by attracting talent to work both in front of and behind the camera. These talents impose another set of expectations and sensibilities on the story. The cinematographer ‘sees’ it from yet another point of reference and works with the lighting designer to create a mood. The production designer creates the style and accent of the story’s ‘world.’ Then costume, makeup, special effects, sound, and music add their touches. Then when it’s all in the can, the editor sits down and makes critical choices in piecing the story together. If you are not intimately involved in every one of these processes, you get a generalization of your story. The auteur conceit is actually a demand for full creative control. When you can pull it off – like Coppola or Scorsese - it’s unlike anything else. Such films ring of authenticity and veracity.”
As a satirist, Martin qualifies as an “equal opportunity offender,” having written books skewering both Republicans and Democrats. “As a former stand-up comedian, I seek out target-rich environments. And, Baby, there ain’t no better place for pie-flinging at the Left and Right than smack dead-center in the middle of the road. Like the punch line to Woody’s joke about the dating advantages of being bisexual: ‘It doubles your chances.’ I consider myself a situational anarchist – a political tummler, if you will, ever-ready to lead a motley gaggle of conceptual iconoclasts up onto the smorgasbord table of controversy.”
Speaking of tummlers (comedians hired to entertain the guests at summer resorts in the Catskills, a.k.a. “the Borsch Belt”), Martin tells the following story involving the mechanics of comedy.
“I met a professional tummler at Grossingers when I was a teen, schlepping borsht and latkes to the alta kocker’s and yentas. You know what he said to me? ‘Marty, don’t be a putz. Forget your Food Service Dreams of Glory. The important part of the word waiter is wait! Get paid for something you believe in. Something like this…’ He buttoned his sport coat, straightened his tie, shot his cuffs, walked over to the pool, stared into the water until he had everybody’s attention, then yelled out, “Holy Mackerel! I see a Gifilte fish!” And, as every head around the pool turned to see who was making such a ridiculous comment, he bowed his knees, placed his hands together over his head, and did a wacky jump-dive into the water. Gales of laughter. But not from me. I saw the preparation, situation, invitation, and execution of a prime piece of shtick. The type that Jerry Lewis became a multi-millionaire doing. So, I’ll play the fool if it pays cash or respect or, in a pinch, if I’m just bored of watching other people be bored.”
Martin has been the recipient of many awards and honors, including a Regional Emmy, Mill Valley, and a dozen other film and video festival statuettes/plaques/frameable awards, Add his Army Commendation Medal, Pilot’s License, Dramalogue citation, and the chops to play his wicked South Side Chicago Blues on a vintage 70s Les Paul guitar. But as he puts it, they “all pale next to an empty orange juice can wrapped with construction-paper, that has my daughter Brenna’s handprint outlined on it with the crayon inscription, ‘Here’s a big hand for my favorite Dad.’ (Guys: Be a good dad to your daughter and you get to be king for life – IF you play your cards right. (BTW: If you don’t have a daughter, for God’s sake, find a good woman and make one! PRONTO)”
Asked for a quote to sum up his work, Martin responds, “My quote, deliberately cryptic, to keep the stiffs off my lawn is ‘It is not it, doing it’s it.’“
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