Steve Martin Used to Give Out ‘Personal Encounter’ Cards That You Can Now Buy Online
While it’s obviously exciting for comedy fans to encounter the legendary Steve Martin out in the world, it’s assuredly less exciting for Steve Martin himself.
After five decades in show business, the guy’s probably pretty sick of taking selfies, fielding questions about Three Amigos and being pestered to autograph everybody’s DVD copies of Shopgirl.
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In fact, at one point in his career, Martin was so wildly (and crazily) popular that he came up with a unique process to circumvent the autograph-giving process entirely. Martin printed a bunch of “signed” business cards to hand out to fans who stopped him on the street. Each card read: “This certifies that you have had a personal encounter with me and that you found me warm, polite, intelligent and funny.”
A similar strategy was later employed by Thomas F. Wilson, the actor who played Biff in the Back to the Future movies. He reportedly carries cards to give out to fans containing the answers to every question he’s routinely asked, including his thoughts on Michael J. Fox, and the secret ingredients that went into making the movie’s fake manure.
According to Steve Martin, he only handed out his “personal encounter” cards for “six months in the ’80s” but soon stopped because “I found people didn’t quite get it.” Even though the bit didn’t last for too long, the legend of the cards grew. “I did do that once, and people think I still do it,” Martin once revealed.
Despite his claims that this only ever happened in the 1980s, Martin seemed to suggest that he was still handing out the cards during a 1993 interview with Playboy, boasting that they were a real time-saver. “It’s a way to deal with (autograph seekers) quickly and not be rude,” Martin stated.
While it left fans with a humorous memento, Martin eventually discovered that the streamlined process wasn’t satisfactory to people. “I realized that when people ask for an autograph, what they really kind of want is a little encounter; to find out what you’re really like in 30 seconds,” he later explained.
Martin abandoning his card bit may have actually increased their mystique. In 2021, actress Kat Dennings shared a picture of her own Steve Martin card on Instagram, calling it her “all-time most coveted item.”
We don’t want to devalue Dennings’ prized treasure, but there is apparently someone on eBay selling the Steve Martin cards — none of which were personally signed, by the way — for just $29.99.
We obviously can’t vouch for the authenticity of the cards, but according to the listing, they were a part of an auction at Julien’s Auction House, included in a lot listed as “Steve Martin paper ephemera.” These cards were supposedly never given out, just kept “in a desk drawer for 30 years” after the comedian decided to put an end to the gimmick.
Individually these cards are a fun memento, but when bought in bulk, they would be a great way to impersonate Steve Martin.
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