Will the Real Steve Martin Please Stand Up

If your name is the same as a famous person, you'll know what it's like.

I arrive at the offices of an important client; it's a large and impressive multi-storey building. I enter through the revolving door and walk across a large expanse of marble to the front desk. I tell the receptionist the name of my contact and hand over my business card. The girl behind the desk glances at the card and does a double take at me, clearly suppressing a smirk. A moment later, she's on the phone in an almost-too-business-like voice, "I have a Mr Steve Martin here to see you".

Sometimes it's more open. "Whoah... you look a bit different than you do on screen!" If I'm in a good mood, I quip back, "Yes, it's amazing what they can do with make-up". On a bad day, I give them the tired look and they mumble something like, "I guess that's not the first time you heard that".

I used to work with a guy called Matt Dillon. He understood. But it could be worse. I recently heard a Dr Harold Shipman being interviewed on BBC radio. Of course, he wasn't Dr Harold Shipman, the notorious serial killer who commited suicide in jail in 2004!

Yes, it could be worse. After all, the Wild and Crazy Guy is basically a good sort. And we do have some things in common. Steve is just a nickname; we're both Stephen on our birth certificates. We were both performing magic shows when we were teenagers. I give lectures and presentations, which is not so different from stand-up comedy. I'm an amateur actor in my spare time and he's a fabulously rich professional actor. Doh!