Steve Martin Checks His Messages During the Show | Carson Tonight Show

Original Airdate: October 28th, 1976
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[@mattmays9063]

Steve Martin is a masterclass in comedy and delivery. His unique gift lies in his ability to command a crowd with complete confidence while doing very little on the surface. What sets him apart is his capacity to elevate even the simplest material, using masterful timing, physical presence, and subtle expressions. He creates a powerful comedic effect that feels both effortless and precise, proving that it’s not just the writing, but how it’s delivered that makes all the difference.

[@siggeek503]

Yeah thats a fair take i agree. Theres just so Much coordination going into having them seamlessly work together and it’s a lot to memorize and also nail the timing perfectly.

[@A.I-GAMING]

The true King of comedy.

[@n.s.3410]

Hearing him describe an answering machine like it’s space age technology is blowing my mind.

[@scarletryane8842]

For the time it WAS space age technology! When they saw someone retrieve messages by playing those beeps into a receiver, they figured we were close Scotty beaming us up one day! And it was expensive to have one of those...super fancy!

[@davidlynds9483]

I was born in the 1960's and I'm still amazed we have these "futuristic" devices in our pockets that are waaaay more powerful than the computers NASA used to send rockets to space and the moon. Shows like Star Trek had little communication devices that also had super computing power and I'd think how cool it would be to have something like that!

[@scotthurr5925]

It Was To Me! Actually makes nowadays tech AWESOME to have that knowledge.

[@scotthurr5925]

@@davidlynds9483 Destroy so many plot conflicts... Except the ones where they lost signal. That's still a possibility... *Glares at my internet provider meaningfully*

[@kit2770]

Johnny sneaking a drag on his cigarette is the most 70s thing ever. Lol

[@Tackz777]

If the rotary phone doesn’t make you feel old, Johnny smoking 🚬 on set should. Seems like 100 years ago. Classic comedy. And yeah, Steve Martin has looked 50 since he was about 9.

[@markdinkel-uh2je]

He was hilarious in 'The Jerk'.

[@jx14aby]

And the entire bit is about a telephone answering machine.

[@danielcraft3727]

I lived in a small town where you only had to dial 4 numbers, then they added the 3 number prefix then the area code then 1. 4 numbers to 11 making our lives easier, lol.

[@MrJm323]

@@danielcraft3727 Yeah, I don't get it why we now have to dial our area codes when we are dialing a number WITHIN our area code.

[@LIBBYS_BIGGEST_FAN]

He is a WILD and CRAZY GUY .

[@markdinkel-uh2je]

But that's ok for them

[@tvanderson1960]

My favorite of all time. I memorized his routines and friends fell over laughing 🎉😂❤

[@JULZ_RULZ]

I had his book, "Cruel Shoes". Loved him since 1974. .when I was 9!!

[@LIBBYS_BIGGEST_FAN]

OMG you’re old !

[@JULZ_RULZ]

@@LIBBYS_BIGGEST_FAN LOL!!! My oldest sister, 74, bought me "Cruel Shoes". She went to see him at the Westchester Premiere Theater in NY back in 1977. I wasn't allowed to go.😔😉

[@Paul71H]

@@LIBBYS_BIGGEST_FAN Is it really that surprising that someone who is about 59 years old would comment on a video of a 1970s TV show on KZbin?

[@LIBBYS_BIGGEST_FAN]

@@Paul71H Are you going to tell us about your pet dinosaur ? 🦖

[@brendalg4]

​@@Paul71Hit's surprising to young people because they believe older people don't know how to use computers.

[@hope5360]

48 years ago and still starring in a hit show! 🎉💜👏

[@mjproebstle]

Steve really cracked Johnny and the rest of us up!

[@cz2165]

Johnny Carson knew and appreciated comic genius when he saw it.

[@skateboard_sandwich]

Martin is legend. Best segment ever.

[@mariopeluso5926]

Hopefully not based solely on this performance.

[@skateboard_sandwich]

@@mariopeluso5926 Oh, no, this is just a minor part. :D

[@brimart0151]

8:14

[@ryanellis4474]

Brilliant appearance!! Johnny is brilliant as always also!!

[@russhowser9747]

Johnny seemed sluggish.

[@ryanellis4474]

​@@russhowser9747 - Haha! It's because there was a yak on his chest. Since you love live music, you ought to subscribe to my KZbin channel. I have lots of premium blues bands featured on my channel. I post two-to-three-hour, multiple-set shows (with HD video and sound) by the best groups around. I am about to post an hour-long set at an outdoor amphitheater in Michigan performed by the president of the Detroit Blues Society (Sweet Willie Tea [I have other videos posted of his amazing playing already you can look up]). He is a phenom.

[@judithquinn614]

Thanks!

[@outtathyme5679]

The guy at the garage is “Super Dave Osborn” I think. They were friends and writers for the Smothers Brothers

[@thegameshowguy1]

Yes, that was the late, but great Bob Einstein. Who is also Albert Brooks’ brother.

[@michaellinner7772]

​@@thegameshowguy1he decided not to go with his actual name, mostly because there was a guy already named Albert Einstein. You might have heard of him 😉

[@J35Y1]

I love the smother brothers

[@ginor8416]

I thought the mechanic was going to say “don’t worry about the other night….”

[@danmartens8855]

@@thegameshowguy1 What? Really?

[@darwynmead2597]

His Routines and his comedy was some of the very, very best.

[@uncah_bucchal2953]

There will never be another Johnny Carson.

[@raydunakin]

I love his banjo playing!

[@marcchervin8905]

Doc, on that high "G" at the end of the break! Miss that band 🥹❤️

[@jillkjv3816]

Fantastic memories. 😊

[@davemeshamsr6000]

Hahaha the phone really dates this episode 😂

[@Paul71H]

Well it is from 48 years ago. 🙂

[@KaoticOrder]

You can't date an episode

[@kstepko]

And the total lack of manscaping.

[@budstik]

Some kind of technology for that answering machine

[@CarolynGagliarducci]

😂Absolutely Totally Agree 💯 Steve Martin is a wild and 🤪 guy

[@Paul71H]

I'm sure I'm not the first to say it, but Steve Martin has looked like he's 50 years old for a large part of the past 50 years! (He was actually much younger than 50 here.)

[@misterx420]

He was 31 years old here.

[@Gilbert-r1d]

Steve Martin isn't only the funniest man that ever lived he is so accomplished His writing has kept them in the business for this long My opinion

[@lonzo61]

His frailing is fantastic.

[@CasperLCat]

People never laugh at the best parts of Steve’s material. “The Day the Dopes Came Over” is such a weirdly funny title, even before he gets into it.

[@rockbassrules]

My fave from his book, Cruel Shoes, is “The Diarrhea Gardens of El Camino Reale” 😂😂😂

[@DonTruman]

LOL, that was great. I remember those answering machines. Cutting edge technology for 1976, but more trouble than it was worth to retrieve messages remotely.

[@ANOSINCRIVEIS1973]

I love Johnny!!!

[@Andrew-Antioch-Kim]

The good ole days!

[@afterthefox]

yep...the good ole days....

[@ChuckCastle471]

Got to hand it to Johnny for getting Steve’s humor. The drag from the cigarette is why the 70s were better.

[@spencertwoeightyz3383]

no

[@JeffCogswell]

Even back then he was an AMAZING banjo player!!!

[@debbiemichaels4632]

He did Dualing banjos with Earl Scruggs . Johnny Carson was no longer host of the Tonight show

[@NickMurray]

Johnny's hair is making its own statement in this clip

[@gm12551]

I’ve been waiting for this since the Carson tapes.

[@annegray800]

What year was this?

[@gamernorcal]

@@annegray800 October 28th, 1976

[@annegray800]

@@gamernorcal thanks

[@THX-vb8yz]

Didn't realize that Steve is doing the claw style...... Very cool

[@yopekok5448]

Didn’t know he was-a standup comedian. Love all his movies. Wow he plays the banjo so well

[@markinman8156]

he was a comedy writer for a show or shows in the 60's, as well as doing stand up. At some point in the 70's his career took off and he was everywhere, sold out auditoriums and even stadiums.

[@michaellinner7772]

He actually started his career playing the banjo at Disneyland for, as he puts it, next to nothing.

[@markdinkel-uh2je]

He kicks A on the Banjo. One of the best.

[@GlamGam1964]

He’s also a dancer.

[@JULZ_RULZ]

I named my one and only child/son after Steve!! True story!😂

[@brocktoon8]

That's awesome!

[@grandlotus1]

Comedy gold, Jerry!

[@VideoAmericanStyle]

To people who don’t “get” his act: it’s not meant to be straight jokes. He’s doing a meta-act. You have to loosen up to absorb what he’s doing…and yes, it’s brilliant.

[@ShirleyJKreim]

He’s brilliant.

[@williambaxter4628]

Johnny's comb over!

[@TT_1221]

Married at 62, became a Dad at 67 for the first time. I think that's the way to do it!

[@theamaturepro]

I grew up with parents who were very involved in my life and were pretty strict. They say it was intentional, but they had my little sister much later in life and she got away with everything she wanted to do. Even when my mom suspected she was smoking pot, she simply said she was just too old and tired to really care as long as she kept A's in school. My long winded point is, there's a definite benefit to having kids later in life... My parents were less stressed and my sister actually turned out getting her MD. I'm in no rush, although I don't know if I'll wait as long as Steve!

[@DavidGurneyCow]

If it flys, floats, or flirts, rent it.

[@minnesotajack1]

It’s wonderful that I’d never seen any of these jokes before except the book he wrote.

[@hollywoodharriet13]

We still had dial phones in 1976!!?? Wild!

[@Paul71H]

From what I recall, rotary phones were still somewhat common in the 1980s, but they were definitely on their way out, and touch-tone (push-button) phones were steadily replacing them. I'm pretty sure that touch-tone phones were already in use in 1976, but there were probably still plenty of rotary phones too.

[@richardkirk5098]

I had a rotary phone nearly into the 90s

[@bobmalack481]

Ya, they're were on the outs by then with the push button number pads. Witness mid 70's tune 'Don't call us, we'll call you' by I don't temember who/what band. Robert at 69, it's a blurr...

[@nimbusco8956]

We had touch tone phones when I was a kid in the 70s, but that newfangled high technology cost an extra couple of buck or 2 per month on the phone bill!

[@ricarleite]

I had a rotary pulse phone back in 91. I used to dial by tapping in the receiver the amount of each number in the precise timing.

[@rcaive0875]

Steve is holding the phone to his ear while the messages are being played over the loudspeaker. 😆

[@matheusadams8552]

I can't believe it! Steve Martin created the Simpsons joke "i know you can read my thoughts boy" (S05E20)!!

[@sl-bo4lb]

Funny Bob Newhart style in reverse bit.

[@kurtvanluven9351]

Exactly

[@leilanirocks]

Steve Martin’s comedy never frails… but he sure can! 🪕

[@pibly7784]

Steve’s arms are pretty buff here. He definitely works out. 👍

[@ttaylor758]

There are several great KZbin videos of Martin on the Tonight Show

[@jgrey8959]

I was really expecting Ernie at the garage to tell him not to be embarrassed about the other night.

[@thebestofu-tubebytheresaes5189]

Don’t ask my family who are relatives talk about distinction lol

[@richardkirk5098]

Boy, I miss The Tonight Show.

[@sunnyd4125]

I loved Steve Martin's " Shopgirl" movie from his book.

[@GarySmith-up1un]

Johnny's hair sure looked better when he got older. Reminder for me also😅

[@jimmapes4596]

IN my book Steve is the greatest comic genius of all time. I'm not sure I had seen this bit before. Just solidifies it.

[@bluetickfreddy101]

The Good Ole Days😊

[@ZdenekLU]

Nice banjo skills.

[@chriskelly6559]

We had a big time party when Steve did the King Tut bit on SNL, '80ish? Old now.

[@virgiepoguian3438]

Wow, I love it, very funny you did,,

[@GoukiLoki]

Great choice! Request: Jack Webb visit in 2/17/78 with later Buddy Rich coming on?

[@gregwicker856]

He came at a different angle!!

[@jacobdehaan4114]

Only Steve Martin would have the guts to strip down to his underwear on television 😂

[@kathyduby8150]

Ed looks all confused at the end.

[@CaptainRetroStation]

He was waiting for the alcohol to kick in.

[@gm12551]

For reference: on this episode Steve Martin is 31, today Selena Gomez is also 31.

[@gustavofigueiredo1798]

Thanks for the insightful perspective, haha! Can Selena play the banjo, though?

[@jayclarke6671]

'Selena Gomez'?

[@NoOne-kr4jc]

@@gustavofigueiredo1798 Yes, she does a lot of tricks on the G string!!! ;DDD

[@MrBiPauler]

Wow I love Selena Gomez. She’s the most followed woman on instagram and has a billion dollar cosmetics company!! ❤

[@jk-kr8jt]

Is that a daughter of Steve Martin's or what is the connection?

[@kd8opi]

The guy from the garage fixing the cigarette lighter in Steve’s car on the answering machine sounds like Frank Abagnale. The guy (former con man) who the movie “Catch Me If You Can” is based on. He was a guest on Carson at around this time and told the most amazing stories. His voice has a unique pattern. Plz, can someone one else watch the Frank Abagnale appearance (first is best) and check this?

[@kurtkensson2059]

Wow... a rotary phone, _and_ a beeper.

[@brendalg4]

This is not the beeper you are probably thinking of. It is just a device to trigger the cassette answering machine to rewind.

[@tomloft2000]

@@brendalg4 Pagers began to get big sometime in the mid 80s.

[@swedeman5785]

Thanks kurtkensson2059, had no idea "an OLD phone" is called rotary on "American languge :-)

[@brendalg4]

@@swedeman5785 later on, the touch tone phone came along. A rotary phone is the one with a dial where you stick your finger in, and move it to a stopper... And then pull your finger out... Then the dial rotates backwards. Then you put your finger in for the next number. Touch tone is where you can push the number you want directly.

[@kurtkensson2059]

@@swedeman5785 At least I got _one_ of them right!

[@gregorcollins]

The kids don’t know about Steve. But the adult goats do

[@jimthorstad]

I’ve never seen this performance. Classic early Steve. I wonder if it was just before they recorded his first album. I think they recorded it at the Troubador. Some of the material he used with Carson is similar but unpolished versions of what was on that album.

[@daytripperhd]

steve was on over 60 times!

[@stephenwoehr6500]

"I have a book coming out soon, hopefully. I probably shouldn't have eaten it in the first place, really." -- Milton Jones

[@db90990]

Some are saying Bruce lee was on his show, not so, he was PLANNING to in Aug 1973 but as we all know, Bruce died the previous month 👊

[@devingibson4463]

I'd like to meet Bill. He and Steve really seem to get along.....

[@romeysiamese6662]

Omg ……a dial phone!

[@Ky29999]

❤funny stuff

[@johnchamberlin2077]

ROTARY phone !

[@cliffordnewell2445]

Bombo

[@everything_mania]

He's 31 years old here.

[@BotsWeekendCovers]

Johnny is without a doubt the G.O.A.T but Craig Ferguson is a close #2. Man I miss Johnny!!!!

[@jayondrums21]

What year is this?

[@gz9520]

1976

[@bretthess6376]

2024 😁

[@surewhynot6040]

So much better than Pryor

[@dirkdiggler2052]

Nice comb over johnny

[@ellengutknecht4994]

Can you post new shows of Steve or Eydie or both? Ppl would appreciate it. Thanks!!

[@daytripperhd]

he NEVER repeats an act on carson

[@JohnHall-uv2jm]

Thumbs up only for Johnny Carson. I've never thought Steve Martin was funny

[@johammond9359]

I didn't know Steve Martin played bango? Wow, he's really good.

[@galewinds7696]

BanJo......not bango

[@markinman8156]

@@galewinds7696 according to the messages Steve was not very good at bango, but at least he tried. lol

[@Paul71H]

Steve was well known for incorporating banjo into his comedy act in the 1970s, and several decades later he did a bluegrass album and tour playing banjo along with a band called the Steep Canyon Rangers. Check out the video (somewhere here on KZbin) of Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers playing a song called "Orange Blossom Special" -- it's amazingly good.

[@johammond9359]

@@Paul71H thank you

[@bobmalack481]

He still plays with professional Apelation bands and is highly regarded. Robert at 69 from Virginia.

[@milfordcivic6755]

I never found Steve Martin was good at being a comic, he was always good at playing the straight man in comedies.

[@q45ij54q]

The Jerk? Dirty Rotten Scoundrels? No, he's a comedic genius.

[@ponchocervantes]

There was a, BRIEF intermission…

[@silversrayleigh8980]

Tbh, this wasn't his best show ... still fun... but not his best. >> One of my favorite people on earth btw so im only judging him to HIM.

[@TSquare7741]

When Steve isn’t joking around he actually looks a bit depressed. Interesting.

[@jerzeyguy71]

Catching Johnny grabbing a puff..

[@jonstreng7850]

Unlike most entertainers, specifically comedians, Steve Martin and Martin Short got funnier through decades. Now, shamefully, it seems neither of them do comedy as much. They have primarily gone back to their musical talent.

[@galewinds7696]

What would he have to receive messages on?

[@markinman8156]

Answering machines have been around since the 1930's, perhaps before. They were available for home use as early as the 60's. Became more affordable and popular in the early 80's.

[@Paul71H]

@@markinman8156 Yep, and in that era they would have recorded audio onto some kind of physical cassette tape. Later machines (probably around the 1990s) recorded to built-in digital memory.

[@MikeNaples]

My finger has some sympathy pain watching him with that rotary dialer.

[@reidveryan9414]

Comb over. Oi...🤦

[@kevvymetal666]

This is what used to pass as comedy. Act zany.

[@i8twosouls]

curious if Johnny fired his stylist after this episode, what is with the horrid combover?

[@SMETSYSGNIMIT]

I like him in movies,😮but I never thought he was a good comic.

[@wackyworldnews]

steve martin's hair is less white than normal here....or is it just me? oh knowsssssss it's another mandela effect !!!

[@brendalg4]

Because he didn't go gray at 9 years old like people are saying.

[@Paul71H]

He was younger here than in most clips you have probably seen. His hair was pretty white by the mid-1980s, but this is 1976.

[@Max1616fire]

Ed didn’t think he was that funny

[@EileenAdams-qz8cl]

Ed's wrong

[@bobrussel524]

This wasn't one of his better comedy acts. New their was a reason they needed to keep telling me he was a funny comedian.

[@garycombs5721]

The world’s greatest mystery is how anyone could find his stand up routine to be funny. I love his movies, but his stand up has always been mediocre at best.

[@bubsmp]

Did not realize that my comedy hero would later become a liberal snowflake. Wild….maybe, Crazy…..yep.

[@gz9520]

I don’t think you’re crazy, just a bit confused.

[@bobmalack481]

He's got it right, progressive marxists not needed here. ​@@gz9520