“Hey NYT crossword, FYI, I’m not a member of MENSA and never have been,” said actor and comedian Steve Martin in a recent Instagram post. “Just a regler guy.”
He included a screenshot of a puzzle with a clue that read: “Elite group whose members include Steve Martin and Geena Davis,” with the answer being “Mensa,” an organization founded in 1946 that seeks people who score high on intelligence tests. According to the organization website, it has around 150,000 members across 90 countries and the only qualification for membership is scoring within the upper 2% of the general population on an approved intelligence test.
Apparently, Martin isn’t one of them. Indeed, an archived list of members didn’t include the longtime comedian known for his work on “Saturday Night Live” and “Only Murders in the Building” as well as in films such as “The Jerk” and “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” among many others.
However, it did include the other actor mentioned by The New York Times, Academy Award-winner Geena Davis, known for “The Accidental Tourist” and more. That list also included World Boxing Association (WBA) Cruiserweight Champion Bobby Czyz, former Playboy playmate Dr. Julie Peterson, and Patricia P. Jennings of the Pittsburgh Symphony, the symphony’s first Black member.
Confusion over Martin’s Mensa status might come from “How I Joined Mensa” – a humor piece he wrote that was published by the New Yorker in 1997.
“Looking up ‘Mensa’ was not going to be easy, what with having to follow the strict alphabetizing rules that are so common nowadays. I prefer a softer, more fuzzy alphabetizing scheme, one that allows the mind to float free and ‘happen’ upon the word,” wrote Martin in the piece.
It’s worth noting that Martin’s wife, Anne Stringfield, was actually a fact-checker for the New Yorker when the couple met in the early 2000s, according to People Magazine. His “How I Joined Mensa” piece is quite clearly tongue-in-cheek.
Vanity Fair noted the New Yorker piece when it included Martin on a list of genius celebrities in 2016. It also mentioned that he had already posted on social media that he was not a member of the society by that point.
“I saw that and thought you were keeping secrets,” said fellow actor Rita Wilson in a comment on Martin’s Instagram post this month. “So glad yer onesst.”