The first time I saw this I thought it was funny. The second time, I appreciated the supreme confidence these two must have had that this routine was going to kill. There’s no way out of this once you’ve started it. So. I posted it twice, so you too can watch it twice.
Also not a Johnny fan, but this is great. Thanks for sharing it!
Two masters at their height. Steve Martin was on at east 66 TIMES?!! Wow. I’m also struck by how much Martin looks like another Tonight Show mainstay of the past — impersonator Rich Little.
Thanks for sharing this, David. I had a stage foil for two years in high school musicals. We absorbed one another’s timing, knew (just through the twinkle in one;s eye) how they were going to deliver a line.
At our last reunion, he was dying from heart disease. As I began to leave, I leaned over, hugged him and whispered, ‘Best costar one could evey hope for.” He weakly smiled that smile of his and, as usual, said it all with just one word: “Ditto.”
I hope Carson and Martin had some similar expression of respect before the end. It’s what makes life worth living.