< New Steve Martin documentary spotlights a comedy legend with nothing left to prove

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Superstar comic Steve Martin's life and legacy are explored in a new two-part documentary for Apple TV called "Steve! (Martin): A Documentary In 2 Pieces." NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says the program, debuting today, offers an intimate portrait of a surprisingly enigmatic comedy legend.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: It isn't until the second installment of this sprawling project, titled "Now," that Steve Martin reveals why he would participate in a documentary that covers everything from his 15-year struggle to succeed as a stand-up comic to his strained relationship with his father and his current marriage. He tells the cameras it's a way of getting at an essential truth in his life.

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STEVE MARTIN: My whole life is backwards. How did I go from riddled with anxiety in my 30s to 75 and really happy? How did this happen? (As character) Because

I am a wild and crazy guy.

DEGGANS: It's tough to imagine that Martin was so tense at age 35 because back then, in 1980, he was already one of the planet's biggest stand-up comics. He packed stadiums with fans devoted to his persona - a silly, clueless, arrogant character who was a wild and crazy guy. The documentary's first instalment, titled "Then," reveals how he was a bridge from issues-oriented stand-up of the 1960s to the silly '70s. It also shows how he developed his act, including thoughts about words he calls indicators.

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MARTIN: The things comedians do to indicate that the joke is over. And whether it was funny or not, the audience has made a pact. OK, that's when we laugh. That's not real laughter. So I thought, what if I created tension and never released it?

DEGGANS: That, Martin contends, produces real laughter. But it took him 15 years to prove it, starting out as a teen doing magic shows with comedy patter.

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MARTIN: It was nothing. I can tell by the applause.

DEGGANS: That brought an important revelation.

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MARTIN: Oh. They love it when the tricks don't work.

DEGGANS: He developed a character so taken with himself, he didn't realize how dumb he was. Martin says that persona, which he modified when he quit stand-up comedy in 1980, was a revelation, too.

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MARTIN: I started to realize what I was doing was a parody of show business.

DEGGANS: The second, more compelling installment focused on his current life, exposing something else about Steve Martin. He may be one of the most famous and well-liked comics who is still an enigma, even to friends like Tina Fey.

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TINA FEY: I feel like I still wouldn't be able to say like, well, the real Steve, you know?

DEGGANS: That's why it's so remarkable Martin has opened himself up to Morgan Neville, the Oscar-winning director behind the Mr. Rogers documentary "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" Martin provides Neville with tape recordings of early performances, personal notes and more. This intimacy is revelatory - from his work trading jokes with current collaborator Martin Short.

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MARTIN: I love a comedian's opening line because it sets the tone for the entire stupid show. I think it's funny.

DEGGANS: To a moment when Martin chokes up remembering a line from his co-star in the films "Planes, Trains And Automobiles," the late John Candy.

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MARTIN: I can take it in March, July, October, but it gets hard. And then he said, this time, I couldn't let it go.

DEGGANS: In one telling moment, Martin notes, as you age, you either become the worst or best version of yourself. The documentary "Steve!" argues Martin has done the latter, documenting the life of a thoughtfully ambitious, supremely talented artist who finally realizes he has nothing left to prove.

I'm Eric Deggans.

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