When Johnny Carson announced his retirement, we were saddened but there were consolation prizes. His last few months of shows were wonderful as performer after performer came by and made a little extra effort for his or her farewell appearance with Johnny. For Steve Martin's last turn, which was on May 6, 1992, Johnny prevailed upon him to do The Great Flydini. This was a routine Martin had developed years earlier and performed here and there, mostly for personal appearances and charity affairs. As I understand it, he hadn't done it in years, in part because of the long prep time involved and in part because he'd pretty much quit performing in front of live audiences. (He did the routine again at least once. A year later, there was a big charity concert at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown L.A. where Neil Young and The Great Flydini opened for Simon and Garfunkel. Bet that was an evening.)
If you'd like to see another Steve Martin appearance with the once and future King of Late Night, there's one from 1976 up on the Johnny Carson website. If you prowl that site, you'll find a lot of fine video clips. You'll also find a history of The Tonight Show containing a couple of errors.
And now, without further ado — The Great Flydini…
