It really isn't, and yet the gruelling, brutal apprenticeship described in the article all happened before this moment. This was his 16th (!) appearance on the Tonight Show and seemingly the one that broke him into celebrity status; at least the article implies that. The earlier ones were probably even worse; I seem to recall watching some that were terrible.
Then something like 2 or 3 years later, he's the genius-level Steve Martin. The only thing in the video that feels like genius Steve is the physicality of the speedy bit at the end. The writing isn't that good, but his execution is impeccable. You can see his combination of wildness and precision. It's easy to see how it took many thousands of performances, plus incredible talent, to get to that level of control over his instrument.
He describes this wonderfully in the OP:
"The act tightened. It became more physical. It was true I couldn't sing or dance, but singing funny and dancing funny were another matter."
"The new physicality brought an unexpected element into the act: precision. My routines wove the verbal with the physical, and I found pleasure trying to bring them in line. Each spoken idea had to be physically expressed as well. My teenage attempt at a magician's grace was being transformed into an awkward comic grace. I felt as though every part of me was working. Some nights it seemed that it wasn't the line that got the laugh, but the tip of my finger. I tried to make voice and posture as crucial as jokes and gags."
Then something like 2 or 3 years later, he's the genius-level Steve Martin. The only thing in the video that feels like genius Steve is the physicality of the speedy bit at the end. The writing isn't that good, but his execution is impeccable. You can see his combination of wildness and precision. It's easy to see how it took many thousands of performances, plus incredible talent, to get to that level of control over his instrument.
He describes this wonderfully in the OP:
"The act tightened. It became more physical. It was true I couldn't sing or dance, but singing funny and dancing funny were another matter."
"The new physicality brought an unexpected element into the act: precision. My routines wove the verbal with the physical, and I found pleasure trying to bring them in line. Each spoken idea had to be physically expressed as well. My teenage attempt at a magician's grace was being transformed into an awkward comic grace. I felt as though every part of me was working. Some nights it seemed that it wasn't the line that got the laugh, but the tip of my finger. I tried to make voice and posture as crucial as jokes and gags."