The Great Flydini

[Brown]

I just bought the DVD set of highlights from "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson." To my delight, one of the discs includes Steve Martin's routine, "The Great Flydini," apparently in its entirety. This was one of Martin's funniest bits, and one of the most outrageously funny "magic" performances ever created. I remember seeing it when it was first aired, and I laughed my head off. When I saw it again today, the routine provoked the same response.

[Brown]

I should add that I would very much like to find Steve Martin's first HBO special from the late 1970s. In it, Steve did a card trick called something like "King of Hearts, come down and dance!" which had me laughing so hard that I could hardly catch my breath.

He also did a legitimate magic trick that was quite good, but he designed his routine so that the audience would discover the secret eventually, and the revelation would generate laughs throughout the rest of the show.

[UnrepentantSinner]

Originally posted by Brown
I should add that I would very much like to find Steve Martin's first HBO special from the late 1970s. In it, Steve did a card trick called something like "King of Hearts, come down and dance!" which had me laughing so hard that I could hardly catch my breath.

He also did a legitimate magic trick that was quite good, but he designed his routine so that the audience would discover the secret eventually, and the revelation would generate laughs throughout the rest of the show.

Ahahahaha! I performed that in the bar at the Amazing Meeting. I saw him do it 20 years ago and I still laugh when I think about it. I honestly thought I was the only person who remembered that particular "trick."

Another one he did on one of the late shows had to have the assistance of videotape. He'd simply cut and shuffle the cards then ask the host if he saw him mark the aces. The host says no, and Martin suggests they view the replay in slo-mo. The tape shows him flipping the cards over until he gets to an ace and then he'll bend a corner, or mark on it with a pen or tape a small flag to it.

I'm laughing as I type...

[Brown]

Originally posted by UnrepentantSinner
Ahahahaha! I performed that in the bar at the Amazing Meeting. I saw him do it 20 years ago and I still laugh when I think about it. I honestly thought I was the only person who remembered that particular "trick."Martin's set-up for the "King of Hearts" trick is what really made it funny. He did some fans and flourishes, to show that he really had some legitimate conjuring skill, and then he did the "King of Hearts" trick. His unexpected technique was what tripped my humor switch.

[Questioninggeller]

See the video of this:

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