Books : Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life

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Author name: Steve Martin

: Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 792.7028092
EAN num: 9781416553649
ISBN number: 1416553649
Label: Scribner
Manufacturer: Scribner
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 224
Printing Date: November 20, 2007
Publishing house: Scribner
Sale Popularity Level: 10568
Studio: Scribner



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Product Description:
The Emmy and Grammy Award-winner's candid, spectacularly amusing memoir of his years in stand-up


In the mid-seventies, Steve Martin exploded onto the comedy scene. By 1978 he was the biggest concert draw in the history of stand-up. In 1981 he quit forever. Born Standing Up is, in his own words, the story of 'why I did stand-up and why I walked away.'

At age ten Martin started his career at Disneyland, selling guidebooks in the newly opened theme park. In the decade that followed, he worked in the Disney magic shop and the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott's Berry Farm, performing his very first magic/comedy act a dozen times a week. The story of these years, during which he practiced and honed his craft, is moving and revelatory.

Martin illuminates the sacrifice, discipline and originality that made him an icon and informs his work to this day. To be this good, to perform so frequently, was isolating and lonely. It took Martin decades to reconnect with his parents and sister, and he tells that story with great tenderness. Martin also paints a portrait of his times: the era of free love and protests against the war in Vietnam, the heady irreverence of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in the late sixties, and the transformative new voice of Saturday Night Live in the seventies.

Amazon.com Review:
At age 10, Steve Martin got a job selling guidebooks at the newly opened Disneyland. In the decade that followed, he worked in Disney's magic shop, print shop, and theater, and developed his own magic/comedy act. By age 20, studying poetry and philosophy on the side, he was performing a dozen times a week, most often at the Disney rival, Knott's Berry Farm. Obsession is a substitute for talent, he has said, and Steve Martin's focus and daring--his sheer tenacity--are truly stunning. He writes about making the very tough decision to sacrifice everything not original in his act, and about lucking into a job writing for The Smothers Brothers Show. He writes about mentors, girlfriends, his complex relationship with his parents and sister, and about some of his great peers in comedy--Dan Ackroyd, Lorne Michaels, Carl Reiner, Johnny Carson. He writes about fear, anxiety and loneliness. And he writes about how he figured out what worked on stage.

This book is a memoir, but it is also an illuminating guidebook to stand-up from one of our two or three greatest comedians. Though Martin is reticent about his personal life, he is also stunningly deft, and manages to give readers a feeling of intimacy and candor. Illustrated throughout with grey and white photographs collected by Martin, this book is instantly compelling visually and a spectacularly good read.


Amazon.com Exclusive
Three Bonus Deleted Passages from Steve Martin's Born Standing Up

On Returning to Disneyland
Ten years later, after the Beatles, drugs, and Vietnam had changed the entire tenor of American life, I returned to the magic shop at Disneyland and stood as a stranger. As I looked around the eerily familiar room another very first came over me, a previously unknown emotion, one that was to have a curious force over me for the rest my life: the longing tug of nostalgia. Looking at the counter where I pitched Svengali Decks and the Incredible Shrinking Die, I was awash with the recollection of indelible nights where the sky was blown open by fireworks and big band sounds drifted through trees strung with fairy lights. I remembered my youth, when every moment was crisply present, when heartbreak and joy replaced each other quickly, fully and without trauma. Even now when I visit Disneyland, I am steeped in melancholy, because a corporation has preserved my nostalgia impeccably. Every nail and screw is the same, and Disneyland looks as new now as it did then. The paint is fresh, and the only wear allowed is faux. In fact, only I have changed. In the dream-like world of childhood memories, so often vague and imprecise, Disneyland remains for me not only vivid in memory, but vivid in fact.

On Meeting Diane Hall
During the day, I attended Santa Ana Junior College, taking drama classes and pursuing an unexpected interest in English poetry from Donne to Eliot. I would occasionally assist on a college stage production--never appearing in one--as a member of the crew. Years later I was looking through a box of memorabilia and noticed a silk-screened playbill of the musical Carousel, May, 1964, which listed me as a stagehand. The lead actress was Diane Hall. Something connected and I remembered that Diane Keaton's name was once Hall, (hence, Annie Hall). I confirmed with her that she was in that production. Neither of us remembers meeting the other, yet we must have worked in proximity. More evidence that I was a wallflower. Decades later, we ended up 'making love' on the floor of a movie set on Father of the Bride.

On the Kennedy Assassination
One Saturday in 1963, I had finished a class and was about to drive to Knott's Berry Farm for the afternoon shows when I saw a clump of agitated students across the campus. I asked someone what was going on. 'They're saying that the president's been shot.'

I drove across town to Knott's and punched radio buttons. I could hear the scheduled programs clicking off and being replaced by live broadcasts. Assassination seemed so ancient and inconceivable, I was sure that someone would soon correct the erroneous report. President Kennedy died that day and I didn't know that news could be taken so personally by a nation. Sitting backstage, watching the Birdcage's black-and-white TV drone out the increasingly grave report, we were all mute. We assumed the performance that night would be canceled, but as show time neared, word came down that we were going on. We couldn't fathom why; we believed no one would show up, much less enjoy us. I still can't explain the psychology, why the very full house that night was able to roar with laughter. The obvious must be correct: our silly show was providing some kind of balm that soothed the ache.

In 2003 I hosted the Oscars on the particular weekend that the United States invaded Iraq. The news was grim and just hours before the show I flipped on the TV and saw a report, subsequently proven false, that our captive soldiers were being beheaded. I quickly turned the TV off, sick. I knew, from my experience forty years earlier with the Kennedy assassination, what my job was, and I harbored a secret knowledge that the audience would laugh. I also felt that soldiers who might be watching would be tuning in to see the Oscars and all its hoopla, not a cheerless comedian doing what he doesn’t do best. I decided to acknowledge the circumstances early in the show and then get on with the jokes. The academy had announced that the show would 'cut back on the glitz.' I walked out for the opening monologue, took a look around the stage at the dazzling, swirling staircases, mirrored curtains and polished floor, and simply said, 'I'm glad they cut back on the glitz.' It got a laugh of relief and the show could go on.

More from Steve Martin

The Alphabet from A to Y with Bonus Letter Z!
Shopgirl
The Pleasure of My Company


Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Other Plays


Pure Drivel

Praise for Born Standing Up
'[A] lean, incisive new book about the trajectory of [Martin's] life in comedy...Born Standing Up does a sharp-witted job of breaking down the step-by-step process that brought Steve Martin from Disneyland, where he spent his version of a Dickensian childhood as a schoolboy employee, to both the pinnacle of stardom and the brink of disaster...tightly focused...Born Standing Up is a surprising book: smart, serious, heartfelt and confessional without being maudlin.' --Janet Maslin, The New York Times

'Absolutely magnificent. One of the best books about comedy and being a comedian ever written.' --Jerry Seinfeld, GQ

'The writing is evocative, unflinching and cool. When Martin takes a scalpel to his life, what you feel is the precision of the surgeon more than the primal scream of the unanaesthetized patient...Born Standing Up is neither fanfare nor confession. It gives off a vibe of rigorous honesty. With lots of laughs.' --Richard Corliss, Time Magazine

'A spare, unexpectedly resonant remembrance of things past…Martin's one true subject is the evolution of his comedy--the transcendent moments...A smart, gentlemanly, modest book…winning.' --Jeff Giles, Entertainment Weekly, EW Pick: A

'A charming memoir tracking what the great comic characterizes as his 'war years.' Martin offers an eloquent and exacting account... [and] approaches his subjects with generosity, warmth and integrity.' --Kirkus Reviews

'Sure to delight fans and create new ones.' --Laura Mathews, Good Housekeeping

'What fun to discover the humble beginnings of some of his iconic personas...inspiring.' --Rachel Rosenblit, Elle

'The archetypical story of the underdog's rise and a particularly American story...beautifully written, honest, engaging, and quietly brave.' --Frederic Tuten, Bomb Magazine

'Son, you have an ob-leek sense of humor.' --Elvis Presley





Customer Reviews
User popularity level: out of 5 stars

Rated by buyers 4 out of 5 stars - Straight From the Heart
This is a deceptively simple and straight-forward book. There are few adornments or self-delusions. Mr.Martin tell us his story without asking for understanding or sympathy or applause.

And it's a wonderful story, indeed - entirely about the work of being a performer.

In Martin's case, the theme is diligence. The object lesson is this: Preparation is Everything. Like Fred Astaire, Martin practiced and practiced long into the night to create the on-stage illusion of ease and simplicity.

And this book illustrates the same principle.

A marvelous, esssential and often very funny (What did you expect? This is Steve Martin!) read for anyone who ever has to stand up in front of an audience for any reason and hold their attention for a few minutes.


Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - Bravo! Rare Autobiography that's too Short
One of the very first show business tenets I heard was 'always leave them wanting them more.' And that's what Steve Martin has done with this book. While the pages go down as easily as a vanilla ice cream cone on a summer day, there simply isn't enough here, and I want more of Mr. Martin's life and career then he gives out. I look forward to the day when Steve Martin writes about his movies and books, for if he does half as good a job writing about those as he did writing about his comedy career here, they will be well worth reading.


Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - Honest and straightforward.
I enjoyed getting to know Steve Martin in this book. Although I was never a fan of his standup routine, this book made me laugh. And, it's honesty and down-to-earth quality caught me by surprise. Anyone interested in getting into show business should read it. This book really shows you that persistence pays.


Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - Great Insight
Admittedly, I have always been a fan of Steve Martin, and I particularly like it when he displays his serious side (as in the end of Trains, Planes, and Automobiles). He does that here. I challenge you to read the last chapter (after you have read the rest of the book) without shedding a tear or two. This book was also very funny. I found myself laughing aloud during times in school when I was supposed to be quiet. Great read!


Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - Lessons For Artists
Easy-to-read and devoid of pretense, "Born Standing Up" is everything you expect from Steve Martin's writing. It is witty, interesting, and offers welcome surprises. Far more than a historical memoir, the book is a terrific inside view of the painful process of an artist learning their craft. Martin's book could be recommended on a "lessons in craft" basis to writers, artists, musicians, jugglers, poets, olympic athletes, and anyone trying to perfect an odd skill. The most amazing thing about Martin's story is he was willing to keep plugging away at stand-up comedy with a "failing" act for more than a decade. And yet, in his ten years spent "wandering in the wilderness" as a failure he evolved and experimented with the disparate elements (magic, banjo, art, philosophical absurdity, props, etc.) that would eventually gel in a performance that became wildly successful. (Note to all artists: Martin's act improved immeasurably when he decided to exclusively present original material based on his own comic theories.) There are other books written by artists about epic struggles in the process to do "good art" (one that comes to mind is novelist Steven Pressfield's "War of Art) but Martin's book is uniquely appealing as a very personal, empathetic tale of miserable human struggle worthy of Charles Dickens or Victor Hugo. I can barely imagine the soul-bashing one must endure over 10 years spent before thankless audiences in odd-ball nightclubs. And yet Martin persevered and waited for his talent to mature, his ideas to arrive, the stars to re-align out of Aquarius, and the gods of fame to ultimately reach down and anoint him with sucess and fame. And then, as in all deals with the gods, the horrible price to be paid: celebrity. Anyone reading Martin gets the idea that there is a thoughtful, formidable and somewhat lonely intelligence within. True, fame brings cash. Money is good, but unlike many celebrities you get the idea that for Martin fame was isolating, exhausting, a disappointment. While fame yielded money & power, on a personal level it must have been nightmarish to have countless throngs come up for an autograph and spew Martin's famous lines back in his face: "I'm a wild and crazy guy" or "Excuuuuuuuse Me -- can I have an autograph?" That Martin did not enjoy fame for it's own sake underlines and reveals his artistic focus. His stand-up comedy craft was never aimed at getting rich, famous, or powerful per se. It was aimed at the arcane goal of creating unique original gags that made an audience laugh in a particular way that suited Martin -- in much the way a magician is most satisfied when his unique trick goes off perfectly. When the audiences got too big, when fame got in the way, the process unwieldy, Martin walked away from stand-up. Another noteworthy lesson to artists: If circumstances are corrupting your artistic ideals, it's a great time to walk away.

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