Steve Martin’s 1979 comedy album A Wild and Crazy Guy featured his catchphrase “Well, excuuuse me!”
Martin developed the phrase as part of a flamboyant, absurd stage persona that mixed exaggerated confidence with deliberately awkward behavior. The character often interrupted conversations, misunderstood social situations, and delivered deliberately overextended versions of ordinary expressions.
A Wild and Crazy Guy was Martin’s second comedy album and followed Let’s Get Small, which had won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording. The later album included spoken routines and musical performances, including Martin’s novelty song “King Tut.” Its title also echoed another of Martin’s recurring comic phrases and stage concepts.
The phrase is sometimes associated generally with late-1970s American sketch comedy, but it is specifically linked to Martin’s stand-up persona. Chevy Chase and Andy Kaufman were also prominent comedians of the period, while Richard Pryor released influential comedy albums of his own; none performed this signature catchphrase as Martin did.