Happy Feet

Not so much a bit as a state of being. Throughout his 1970s arena shows, Martin would periodically break into what he called "Happy Feet"—an ecstatic, arhythmic dance that communicated pure, uncut joy.

The genius was in the context. Martin would be in the middle of a deliberately terrible joke—the kind of joke that practically apologizes for existing—and then suddenly his legs would take over, and he'd be dancing across the stage with the abandon of a man who just won the lottery.

It shouldn't work. It's a grown man dancing badly during a comedy show. But Martin understood something fundamental: comedy is partly about permission. When the audience sees someone that unself-consciously happy, their defenses drop. They want to be wherever he is.

Happy Feet became a symbol of Martin's entire approach to comedy: the form itself was the joke. He wasn't doing stand-up—he was doing a parody of stand-up performed by someone too joyful to know the difference. The audience laughed at the comedy and envied the freedom.