I’m sorry you may be extremely funny, I just doubt you are funnier than Steve Martin. Watch this wild and crazy guy”s Happy feet.

See he’s funnier than you. His work in the seventies was revolutionary, he made deconstructing the scene, a scene. His work on Saturday Night Live was legendary; watching him face off against Bill Murray or John Belushi is the pinnacle of American comedy in an oversaturated market. But sadly, for the greater part of our generation we see Steve Martin as the sweet buffoon from Cheaper by the Dozen or Bringing Down the House. I’m not saying these are monstrosities or even particularly terrible, I’m just trying to communicate that Steve Martin is so much better.

LA Story is an incredibly personal film, about a man pushing against LA phonies despite being a phony himself. This same joke, this same thought process is shown in his stand-up performances throughout the ‘70s. I say this because while LA story, the Jerk and Planes Trains and Automobiles are easily accessible and popular with our generation, his years on TV are not. Martin left stand-up to pursue a career in film throughout the ‘80s and many of the early performances on SNL and other shows were left to nerds like me. This is a shame, because they were ludicrously funny.

It occurs to me that this is reading like an obituary, incidentally here is an obit Martin wrote for the New Yorker . Anyway, this is not Steve Martins obituary he is alive and well, more importantly he is releasing a collection, “Television stuff”, which compiles his early material across three DVDs. Arguably, the funniest and the most important period of his career, it will be wonderful to see on something other than YouTube.

Watch Steve Martin in Planes Trains and Automobiles and LA story and you see a wickedly funny but thoughtful performer. Read his many essays and articles and you get a feeling for his sharp intellect. Listen to his bluegrass and you hear him playing bluegrass. Most importantly watch this DVD and you will see he is funnier than you.

Steve Martin: Television Stuff has been released in America and is available to order on amazon.com. Sadly, there is no UK release date as of yet, but really what is the cost of a region free DVD player compared to the misery of not seeing this.