Many performers, this writer included, would agree that discussing a set with strangers after the fact is almost more nerve-wracking than getting through the set in the first place. Performing to an audience from a distance is one thing. Hearing what they have to say about it afterward, good or bad, is another. Now, imagine that the stranger in question was also the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, and you would have a situation similar to what Steve Martin experienced.
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As a comedian and bluegrass musician, Martin certainly knows his way around the stage. But even the most seasoned pro can succumb to shoddy performance conditions, which was the case while the comedian was opening for Ann-Margret at the Hilton in Las Vegas in 1971. Describing the room as having “80-foot ceilings,” Martin remarked on how the poor acoustics impeded his connection to the audience and made it the “worst comedy room.”
In attendance at one of these shows was none other than Elvis Presley, who had an oft-speculated relationship with Ann-Margret after working together on Viva Las Vegas in 1964. The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll caught Martin’s set and, upon seeing the comedian sitting in his dressing room with the door open, came in to tell Martin what he thought about his performance.
Steve Martin and Elvis Presley Go From Humor to Guns in Minutes
During a 2023 appearance on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, Steve Martin recalled Elvis Presley walking into his dressing room and saying, “Son, you have an oblique sense of humor.” This was, Martin explained, the early 1970s, which meant his comedy had “a little weirdness” to it. Nevertheless, it was enough to grab Presley’s attention, who talked to Martin for a while longer. Martin added that at one point in their conversation, a man came up to tell Elvis they had to go. This, Martin explained, was standard procedure—it was Elvis’ get-out-of-this-conversation-free card.
But Elvis replied to his convo scapegoat, “It’s okay.” Martin let out a gasp. “I thought, ‘Oh! I’ve been blessed.’” The performers’ conversation veered to Presley’s gun collection, which Martin described as “artful.” The “Hound Dog” singer presented his various guns to Martin, making sure to empty the bullets out of each one before handing it to Martin. “I’m holding three guns, and he’s holding 16 bullets. And I’m thinking, ‘Where is Elvis’ guy?’” Martin joked.
Maybe Elvis Learned His Lesson From Alice Cooper
The fact that Elvis Presley emptied each gun before handing it to Steve Martin is interesting when one considers that Presley was far less cautious a year earlier. In 1970, Presley invited rising rock ‘n’ roller Alice Cooper to his hotel room and, in true Elvis fashion, offered to show off his various weaponry. On this particular night, Presley told Cooper he would teach him how to disarm someone and asked Cooper to hold up a loaded snub-nose .38 pistol in his direction. Cooper, understandably, had a lot of things running through his head.
“The little devil here on my shoulder says, ‘Shoot him,’” Cooper recalled to the BBC in 2011. “Little angel over here says, ‘Don’t kill him. Just wound him.’” Before Cooper could make his mind up about the power he wielded over the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll at that precise moment, Presley performed his disarming trick, throwing Cooper to the ground and putting his boot on the shock rocker’s neck. “Now I know how to take a gun out of someone’s hand,” Cooper later added in a 2016 interview with The Tallahassee Democrat.
Who knows—maybe something twinkling in Cooper’s eye convinced Presley that maybe, just maybe, he ought to take out the bullets before he hands people his guns.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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