He’s got the face of a movie star and he became a stand up comic first.

Steve Martin, hilarious, totally unique and original

He's a boss. He went up there with material he didn't even try. He worked out material on his first Carson. That's BALLS.

Steve Martin is the reason we have comedy clubs today. His book *"Born Standing Up"* is one of the best books I've ever read.

This feels so fresh even tho it’s almost 50 years old

My brother caught his act in San Francisco. After his gig was done everyone just followed him around the campus and he kept cracking jokes

Jonny had class, so missed today.

Love this show..I grew up watching it..lol my aunt got me into old shows. Love Steve Martin he sure got better over the years..

He's always hilarious. 👏

A complete original. Still hilarious and cutting edge 40 years later

Steve was still finding his voice here. Back then, you could do it on national TV! (And he obviously succeeded, becoming one of our national treasures.)

Steve was always so darn handsome.

Little did anyone know he would become a huge megastar.

I had his albums and would listen to them all day. Along with all the Cheech and Chong and other great comedians. Love the past.

My boys 😍😍 Steve wearing a tuxedo is everything! I have a crush on him since I saw Cheapen By The Dozen as a kid 😩

Me and my friend Scott Greco saw this in, what, the 7th grade? I thought he was the funniest, coolest, comedian I'd ever seen and what was even better, noone else I knew and ever heard of him.

To think within five years, he was playing 15k seat arenas. And "dorky" worked in this era.

OMG! His hair!

I closed my eyes, then opened them when he said too. Worth it. Funny guy.

1972, wow. I didn't even know about him until his album Let's Get Small in 1977. Can see in this video how he had the makings of a great comedian, but the timing, delivery, etc needed improvement. Which he did.

Besides being an innovator in comedy during that time, he was also naturally fast, quick witted. Was funnier outside his sets/routine. Martin Short as well. Watching those two nowadays you'll see they're probably the funniest ppl still going today

It's so cool that Steve dressed up like this. He must have been celebrating the birth of his current wife earlier that year!

When I was in college in the mid-70’s, Steve performed at the school and everyone seemed so excited that he was coming but I had never heard of him so I didn’t go. Shortly after that he became huge and everyone knew about him.

I saw Steve do some crazy magic one time, he can be good....that king tut dance was great

Had it's moments but Steve Martin definitely got better as time went on

He got better over the years.

I love him! Lol, He was so funny in SNL, I'll never forget his King Tut bit and a lot of funny movies too. The Jerk and others not to forget he is a banjo-picking fool! He's always entertaining. Nice seeing him with Carson.

My one brother was watching Carson and Steve Martin was on. My dad just happened to stop and watch a for few minutes. Martin was playing the banjo with the arrow through his head. My brother said my dad left the room angry and said, "That guy is sick" !

Wild and crazy guy on LP and eight track! Fond memories of the class trip to Boston and 50 kids singing “King Tut” at the top of their lungs. Nowadays I have a great deal of sympathy for the chaperones and bus driver lol!

Steve's comedy was groundbreaking. He bucked convention and risked the absurd. He was postmodern; a Dadaist in chaotic expression without the philosophical underpinnings. As a kid in the 70's he was just the funniest guy ever, wild and crazy, but it's interesting now to see the unique craftsmanship and thought he put into his comedic persona. Does it still hold up? I still feel like a kid when I watch him, and it's funny as hell.

🎉Happy 77th Birthday Steve🎊 To have an evening with you and Martin would be a dream come true❣✌

Thanks for this post! Grateful for KZfaq!

What was great about johnny Carson was he had such a diverse guest list, he never overshadowed them, he always had new talent. He was polite and it didn't feel like he was just having his friends over. He was professional and just plain respectful

This should be preserved for all of eternity

Love Steve Martin, just as great back then as he is today. ♥️

What's interesting about watching older shows is looking at the passage of time. Nowadays if you see an old guy on tv you expect him to reference the 50s and 60s. Hearing these guys talk about the 1930s is crazy to me. But I guess what the 1930s was in the 1970s is the same as what the 1980s are in the 2020s.

He’s got a Harrison Ford vibe back then

Steve’s hands are huge. I never knew. ✋🏼

1972 was and always will be Ten Years Ago; its insane to think were in 2024! The world was supposed to have blown-up by now..lol .😅

Didn't Steve go gray by the time he was 30? I didn't much care for him when I was younger, but now I'm 50 and I realize I wasn't smart enough to get it then, I remember the movie 'The Jerk', I think Kathleen Turner was in it, and the scene was where they pulled up in driveway and she said (about the worker's trimming) 'What are those *ssholes doing?' and he said 'honey, those aren't *ssholes they're azaleas', every time since I saw that movie, when I see these guys I mysteriously bust out laughing, Love Steve

😍 I have the hugest crush on him... yes even now

was given his book, BORN STANDING UP, so thought I would check out his first appearance on the tonight show. he was not that good, was struggling but he really blossomed later.

I always remember his skits on SNL "Walk like an Egyptian," "I forgot stealing was Illegal," and, "those French have a word for Everything!.“

He was only 27 years old and such a pro.

When the humble man that wrote the show comes out from behind the curtain, and plays it cool.

Does the magician act exist here on YT? Love to see it.

before gray hair! 💜 Steve Martin!

Funny how he didn't kill 'em on his first stand-up on Carson unlike Louie Anderson, Drew Carey, and Garry Shandling did. His brand of comedy was way ahead of its time--the audience wouldn't catch up until 1977 with "Let's Get Small."

Planes trains and automobiles just pure class

I’ve heard a lot of comedians say that when they first got started, they were so uncomfortable with themselves that they adopted a stage persona almost as protection or a wall between themselves and the audience. Like, you don’t hate me, you hate this obnoxious guy. Bobcat Goldthwaite is an obvious example, but I’ve heard others talking about it too (often on Conan’s podcast). The way Steve Martin makes a big stage grin after each joke like, “Hey hey! I know this joke is lame too!” reminds me of that. I feel like he really started to open up and be vulnerable to audiences in LA Story and Parenthood, which is when I started to love him even more than I had as a wild and crazy guy and the Jerk. All the more credit to Johnny Carson to be able to spot genius still in the bud. I’m not sure, if I just saw this performance, that I would recognize the genius of Steve Martin and the decades of comedy gold he would give us.

The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson still the best talk show that ever was, especially compared to the ones that are on now.

And he got funnier and funnier and still cracks me up!

wow. only time i've seen steve martin bomb. well, young and nervous.

Change the title. During the introduction, Johnny says Steve made his first appearance on the show but did magic. This clip is NOT his first appearance on the Tonight Show.

That tie!!

Wow, he was very green and nervous during this!

He's a helluva lot funnier than most comedians at the time with their one-liners, tired Vaudeville schtick, and slapstick gags. Martin is poking fun at all of that subtly here that whole, "I just flew into Miami and boy are my arms tired" comedian mentality. The whole routine is a sort of send-up of that type of comedy which was still hugely popular in 1972.

So different from the slick act he developed later.

Lov him

I first witnessed Steve Martin in 1974 at MTSU... He walked out to a "crowd" of maybe 60 people, played the banjo and attempted his comedy of improbable, uncomfortable bits and general absurdity that was not well received. I recall a group of people getting up at about 5 minutes in and Steve saying "Easy on the rush" and this one departing fella of rural reflections replied "Now we know why this was free, included with tuition, but at least he might be able to eat with that banjo....., with a little practice...." Martin kept doing his routine and the place sorta giggled from time to time with that urge one gets when the level of witnessing that which is uncomfortable, and will never quit. There were a couple of times you could hear a pin drop. The rural fella leaned back in and shouted: "Hit that banjo son, stir up the crickets at least...." The most laughs of the night.

Carson was the best of the best!

I grew up on the same block as STEVE..in a condo made of stone..uhh..

The funniest.

We always knew it, but in this video, Johnny shows that for NBC, he really made the boks lololololol

Johnny was the best! Was so loved by many!

Two greats

Confirms that Steve Martin has looked old basically his entire adult life.

I didn't know that Martin was on this early.

To quote Johnny, "He's back tonight...." indicating this was NOT his first stand up appearance on the Tonight Show.

He was 26!!!!!

Started off a little slow but got going about a third of the way through and showed us a little of what we could expect for the next half century....

He was on The Smothers Brothers Show before he made it to Carson.

Love Steve, but who would have guessed that Drew Carey's first Tonight Show appearance would be funnier than Steve's first two?

He got so hilarious later in years I'm surprised he made it there after watching this

I had forgotten how square his jaw was back then.

5:09 I realize this was late night, but I didn't know they were allowed to say "horny" on TV in 1972.

JOHNNY CARSON 23 DE OCTUBRE DE 1925 23 DE ENERO DE 2005 98 AÑOS 79 AÑOS 18 AÑOS

I never found him funny, now Jonny Carson was funny!

Stephen Glenn Martin, más conocido como Steve Martin (Waco, Texas, 14 de agosto de 1945), es un actor, comediante, escritor, productor, músico y cantante estadounidense. Martin se dio a conocer públicamente en la década de 1960 como escritor de The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, y más tarde como invitado frecuente en The Tonight Show. En la década de 1970, Martin realizó sus rutinas de comedia de humor absurdas, antes de que se abarrotaran en giras nacionales. Desde la década de 1980, habiéndose separado de la comedia, Martin se ha convertido en un actor exitoso, así como en un autor, dramaturgo, pianista e intérprete de banjo, que eventualmente ganó premios Emmy, Grammy y American Comedy, entre otros.

He looks the eldest brother on "My Three Sons" he could be the 4th Douglas.

Steve Martin reminds me of a car salesman - who just happens to be a great comedian.

Is this before Trains, Plains, and Auto mobiles?

Please upload something involving the comedian Peter Cook!

Nobody ever notes how similar he and Harrison Ford are.

Had this taken place today, Steve Martin wouldn't have gotten through the first joke with out Jimmy Falon's fake and annoying laughter

Before the days of toilet jokes yet still funny.

Funny stuff

For the love of God he's got massive hands or he's just happy to see me...

So, he wasn't very good to start with but luckily for him and for us he improved.

Can't get used to seeing Steve Martin without his trademark white mop.

Wow...that was pretty bad lol...thank God he got waaaaay better

Try describing Steve's comedy act to anyone whos never seen it. Cant do it.

His hands are big.

The difficult second album…

C+

Steve was 27 years old in this appearance.

Big hands.

Classic! Back when comedy wasn’t totally cynical. Love it.

I hope Steve put in his book of appearances Johnny appeared SLUGGISH!! 😳😳😳

Really not that funny but nobody ever is funny all the time but Steve had star quality and thats a fact