Standard of Excellence?

On November 29, the 92nd Street Y held a lecture by Steve Martin, the actor and writer, with an art critic from The New York Times.  The lecture was on his new novel about contemporary art, An Object of Beauty, released a week earlier.  It was a sell out with 900 people.  It was also Martin's second such appearance at the 92nd Street Y, and his second lecture facilitated by Deborah Salomon, the Times critic.

What Martin and Solomon didn't know was the event was  telecast via closed circuit, and the audience was solicited for questions.  This led to a Y staffer handing a note to Salomon, on stage and mid-lecture, directing her to ask Martin questions about his career, like what was it like to host the Oscars and appear with Alec Baldwin in the movie It's Complicated.  It was all downhill from there.  The next day the Y's executive director e-mailed the lecture's guests, apologizing for the event that didn't meet the Y's "standard of excellence" along with a full refund.

Martin wrote an op-ed in yesterday's Times, titled The Art of Interruption, where he explained "If the e-mailers could have lived with 'I am unamused' for just a little longer, or had given us some understanding based on past performance, or even a little old-fashioned respect, something worthwhile, unusual or calamitous might have emerged. Who knows, maybe I would have ended up singing my novel."

Or maybe he just should have done his old King Tut routine?

Martin said he's looking forward to returning soon to the 92nd Street Y "to play basketball."  He also quipped, "As for the Y’s standard of excellence, it can’t be that high because this is the second time I’ve appeared there."

And to match digital ire, he tweeted a warning to fellow artists.

Ex-cu-use me!