Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life

published	2007 by Scribner
binding	Hardcover
isbn	1416553649 (isbn13: 9781416553649)
pages	224
description	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, pr...more [close] 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 Riener, 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 black and white photographs collected by Martin, this book is instantly compelling visually and a spectacularly good read.
date added	05-03-07 edit book

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Trebro rated it:

(review of isbn 0743569725)

03/24/08

bookshelves: books

Read in March, 2008

I am a huge fan of Steve Martin, to the point that even though I was probably a bit too young for it, Mom took me to see Roxanne in the theater. His SNL work and standup and early movies were a big part of forming the peculiar sense of humour that I have today.

So next time *I* am laughing hysterically while the rest of the room looks on in silence, remember kids, it's all Mr. Martin's fault.

This book, which I listed to as read by the author (I think it would have been funny to have it start...more I am a huge fan of Steve Martin, to the point that even though I was probably a bit too young for it, Mom took me to see Roxanne in the theater. His SNL work and standup and early movies were a big part of forming the peculiar sense of humour that I have today.

So next time *I* am laughing hysterically while the rest of the room looks on in silence, remember kids, it's all Mr. Martin's fault.

This book, which I listed to as read by the author (I think it would have been funny to have it started to be read by someone else, but he's a bit more serious nowadays.), tells of the early days of the comic's career, from his troubled childhood to an early job at Disney, where Martin met some of the people that would affect his future career.

With a co-dependent mother and a father that, while Martin covers it a little, seems to have been abusive, Martin grew up very isolated and therefore gravitated to the adult figures he found in his work. It let to him putting together a very strange act--a new comedy, one that didn't rely strictly on joke and punchline. Part of going to a Steve Martin show was not knowing what was going to happen next.

The narrative takes us through his life a young man, warts and all, discussing his personal life and phobias, his enchantment and disillusion with flower power, failed loves, and of course the comedy. In some ways, the book is a love story to what made Steve Martin the person most of us recognize today. The zaniness came from a strong desire to be different--rejecting the acts and jokes of others to come up with something truly original. The sheer amount of work and risk it took to do so is sometimes astounding and had not a few things broken the right way, he might be an insurance salesman or something by now, or perhaps a tenured philosophy professor, wondering what might have been.

We're better for the fact that he succeeded.

Martin's tone in this book is rather serious for a good portion of it, especially his early years. There are some good one-liners here and there, but the overall tone is more scholarly than silly. Those looking for the old Wild-and-crazy-guy aren't going to find it here, though flashes of the Martin wit, when written in, are guaranteed to make his fans smile.

Perhaps most interesting to me is the description of why Martin got out of stand up and moved toward the movies. Increasingly isolated and increasingly popular, he couldn't do the things that made the act work--it's hard to be spontaneous when twenty thousand people are looking for King Tut and the interplay between actor and audience is lost completely. (Perhaps the most telling example of this loss of what made him so good is the last show he ever did, where a guitar didn't come down on stage and instead of reacting with classic Martin shtick, he froze and later yelled backstage.)

This is a book about a man and how he made his life, painful at times but very enlightening. If you want a complete biography, this isn't it. Maybe we'll get "Steve Martin: The Movie Years" at a later date. But if you want to know how it feels to be shuffled off to guest hosts on the Tonight Show or how Marin got to write for the Smothers Brothers, this is for you.

While I miss the old Steve Martin--the newer, older Martin seems to try too hard to be "deep" now, and that shows in places during the text--I understand the need to change over time. (After all, when's the last time I put on roller skates and talked about the extinction of the dinosaurs?) I am thankful to Martin for writing this very touching look at that past I loved so much, and if you are a fan of the comic, I think you will, too. (Library, 03/08)

Trebby's Take: Highly recommended!...less

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Alex rated it:

03/06/08

bookshelves: books-read-in-2007

Read in October, 2007

BORN STANDING UP: A COMIC'S LIFE BY STEVE MARTIN: Actor/writer Steve Martin’s latest book, Born Standing Up, is neither a novel nor a complete autobiography. It is an insightful and entertaining read about Steve Martin’s rise to fame through comedy, starting during his teen years and leading up to his success as an actor in blockbuster movies.

The book begins with Steve’s birth in a classic American family, with a supportive mother and a father who always wanted to pursue a career in ...more BORN STANDING UP: A COMIC'S LIFE BY STEVE MARTIN: Actor/writer Steve Martin’s latest book, Born Standing Up, is neither a novel nor a complete autobiography. It is an insightful and entertaining read about Steve Martin’s rise to fame through comedy, starting during his teen years and leading up to his success as an actor in blockbuster movies.

The book begins with Steve’s birth in a classic American family, with a supportive mother and a father who always wanted to pursue a career in comedy but never did, sticking to a more “productive” and safer job. From a very young age, Steve felt the need to be on a stage, entertaining an audience whether it was with comedic stories, amusing jokes, or slapstick magic tricks. When Steve was living with his family in Anaheim, CA, on July 17th, 1955, Disneyland opened its doors for the first time. He immediately went over and managed to get a job selling programs to park attendees. Steve Martin soon became firmly established as a Disneyland employee, climbing the ranks until he took the job as an entertainer performing tricks at the magic shop in the park.

In his later teen years, Steve began working with different groups in stage comedy. It was the start of his comedy career, when he was barely known, but would never give up. After falling in love with and falling out with Stormie Sherk, later known as Stormie Omartian, he pursued an interest in philosophy, attending Cal State Long Beach and then transferring to UCLA due to where he was performing. Eventually it became too hard for him, and he wanted to dedicate himself more to his slowly growing comedy career.

He set a goal for himself: if by thirty he hadn’t made it, he would change careers. He traveled across the country, getting work wherever he could, making friends and contacts. Thirty came and went, but he didn’t quit. His name became known, his audiences grew larger, and his routine became longer and funnier. It was at the point when he started drawing thousands that he knew he’d made it, as well as recording a number of comedy albums that were bestsellers. He also began performing on a new stand-up live comedy TV show called Saturday Night Live.

It was during 1980, when Steve Martin was performing an astonishing number of shows a week, his energy and stamina sapped, the audience numbers beginning to shrink, that he knew his stand-up career was over. It was a brilliant move by Martin, to stop when he was still at a relative high point. He turned to movies, using some of his stage material and working on a screenplay for a movie that would eventually be called The Jerk. The movie was an instant success, becoming a cult favorite, and was the perfect start to Steve Martin’s movie career.

While Born Standing Up provides a detailed biography to Steve Martin’s stand-up career, he also writes about his relationship with his family, and more importantly with his father, and how this changed during his life. Filled with memorable and some hilarious photos, Born Standing Up is an excellent, short, but very entertaining biography that will make the perfect gift for Christmas.

Please note: this book will be released on November 20th.

For more reviews, and writings, or to buy yourself a copy, please visit www.alexctelander.com....less

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Patrick rated it:

01/03/08

Read in January, 2008

If, before I read this, someone were to tell me that I would only laugh one time in the whole book, I would be like, “No way,” and he would be like, “Seriously, at one point a bird craps on Steve Martin’s head and that's literally the only time you’ll laugh in the whole book,” and I would be like, “Come on, really?” and he would be like, “Well, think about it: think about his material during this period and try to imagine how it would translate onto the page, and then think abo...more If, before I read this, someone were to tell me that I would only laugh one time in the whole book, I would be like, “No way,” and he would be like, “Seriously, at one point a bird craps on Steve Martin’s head and that's literally the only time you’ll laugh in the whole book,” and I would be like, “Come on, really?” and he would be like, “Well, think about it: think about his material during this period and try to imagine how it would translate onto the page, and then think about where he is now, both as a writer and just as a person, and imagine that person trying to convey anything that you would be able to have any connection at all to, and plus you’ve heard all of his albums, right? Like pretty recently?” and I’d be all, “They’re – they’re on my iPod,” and he’d be all, “Well, so even if there were some way to transfer a live performance of this nature to paper successfully, you still wouldn’t laugh when you see it typed out because you’ve just heard it,” and I’d be all, “So, should I not read it?” and he’d be like, “Obviously, yes, you *have* to read it, it’s a document of a period in American comedy that you’ve always admired and been fascinated by. I’m just saying you’ll be frustrated with it; in fact, what you’ll say when it’s over is: ‘I wish this book were the Internet’,” and I’d be all, “Whaaaat?” and he’d be, “Like when he talks about being writing partners with Bob “Super Dave Osbourne” Einstein and how much fun that was, you’ll be all, ‘Yes, please, more about that, click click click,’ but then he won’t give you anything, until about seven [generously margined] pages later when he will mention again that he’s still writing partners with B“SD”O, and you’ll be all, ‘More? About this?’ but he won’t tell you anything, nor will there be more than a passing mention about Saturday Night Live, plus you’ll also be creeped out when he mentions Linda Ronstadt’s panties, but that’s just because you have a problem with that word,” and I’d be all, “Yes: I can’t hear it without imagining the speaker is in some state of arrested adolescence,” and he’ll be all, “It’s a perfectly cromulent word,” and we’d be all “Simpsons reference!” and high five and I’d be all, “I’ll try to get past it,” and then I’d be all, “But wait, how do you know this is all true?” and he’d be all, “Because I am you! From the Future!” and I’d be all, “Really?” and he’d be all, “Yeah. Wanna make out?” and I’d be all, “OK. But no gay stuff.”...less

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J.P. rated it:

01/04/08

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: comedy fans, biography fans

I usually avoid these types of books like the Plague. Celebrity autobiographies---ego unchained, coupled with a "Then I went here, then I did this, then I went there and did that. . ." boring-ass format. Nine times out of ten, books like these put me to sleep.

Not so, Steve Martin's BORN STANDING UP. First of all, it's more focused than most celeb tell-alls. It centers around Martin's life leading up to and including his career as a standup comedian, not as an actor/filmmaker. ...more I usually avoid these types of books like the Plague. Celebrity autobiographies---ego unchained, coupled with a "Then I went here, then I did this, then I went there and did that. . ." boring-ass format. Nine times out of ten, books like these put me to sleep.

Not so, Steve Martin's BORN STANDING UP. First of all, it's more focused than most celeb tell-alls. It centers around Martin's life leading up to and including his career as a standup comedian, not as an actor/filmmaker. So "Three Amigos" fans, you'll have to wait for Martin's next volume for those fascinating Chevy Chase anecdotes.

This is not a laugh-out-loud book, but there are funny bits in it. Once , while working as an up-and-coming comedian in the late 1960s, Martin recalls how he stepped on to the stage of a Playboy Club on a Monday night. Monday nights in nightclubs, he tells us, were usually as dead as graveyards. On this particular night, however, the club was packed. Martin describes how his performer's ego soared---until he realized that he was standing in front of an audience consisting entirely of Japanese tourists who spoke almost no English.

Most interesting to me was Martin's chronicle of how he slowly, painstakingly evolved from a self-conscious, teenaged magician working at Disneyland to the banjo-plucking, arrow-through-the-head wildman who sold out arenas and defined 1970s comedy. Martin is generous in providing insights into how he developed the "punchline-free", surreal humor that he's known for today.

Along the way, the comic spins numerous anecdotes concerning his encounters with those who shaped his life, both personally and professionally; old-time vaudeville comedians, writer Dalton Trumbo (and his daughter, Mitzi), Johnny Carson and the Smothers Brothers are just a few of the notables who are vividly recounted. Even Elvis makes a cameo appearance.

Even more intriguing, Martin finally answers the question of why, in the early 1980s, he walked away from standup comedy, never to return.

Martin is as skilled a writer as he was a standup comedian; he keeps the pace brisk as he tells his multi-faceted tale. If you're looking for an insightful, intelligent page-turner, look here. If you don't know much about this entertainer, you'll walk away from BORN STANDING UP with a new appreciation for his singular talents. If you're a Steve Martin fan, roll up your sleeves and dig in!...less

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will rated it:

03/27/08

Born Standing Up - A Comic's Life by Steve Martin

I like reading biographies but I don't buy them. I find them hard work and normally intensely annoying. Very rarely do I ever finish one, normally I abandon them three-quarters through. This is why I don't buy them, I don't see the point of spending money on a book I won't finish and will irritate me. If I read a biography it is normally from a library or borrowed. So, you are probably asking, why the hell do you read them? Because biographies...more Born Standing Up - A Comic's Life by Steve Martin

I like reading biographies but I don't buy them. I find them hard work and normally intensely annoying. Very rarely do I ever finish one, normally I abandon them three-quarters through. This is why I don't buy them, I don't see the point of spending money on a book I won't finish and will irritate me. If I read a biography it is normally from a library or borrowed. So, you are probably asking, why the hell do you read them? Because biographies are normally written about people who have done things and, somewhere - inside the sycophancy or hatred or half-hearted cod-philosophy - there is sometimes a small nugget of information that gives you an insight into why these people became the people they are. While standing in the queue at Borders the other day, in their 40% off sale, I saw Born Standing Up. Steve Martin is a man I admire and I like his writing - Shop Girl is a wonderfully insightful film. I thought that for 40% off I would get my money's worth.

Although Born Standing Up is written by Steve Martin, about Steve Martin, he describes it as a biography "the story of a person who isn't me now". In it he looks back at his childhood and the struggle to become a stand-up comedian. He finishes it at the moment he quit stand-up and moved into the film making business. He is brutally honest - he talks about his sexual dalliances, his drug taking dalliances, his problems with his family. You get a good feel for the man he is: he isn't "wild and craaazy", he is a conservative; he isn't an extroverted performer, he is an introverted 'A' grade Philosophy student; he isn't an over-night flash in the pan; he is an exceptionally hard-working man who took 23 years to become an over-night success. And it was all that hard work that meant, when he arrived at the top, he recognised it was time to quit before he started to come down the other side.

I finished it! I read the whole book in less than a day. So, in theory, I should recommend this book - but I won't. It worked for me because I like biographies, I like biographies of entertainers, I like Steve Martin - and this was a good biography of the entertainer Steve Martin. However, a key question I ask myself when I get to the end of a book is not "Would I read this again?" but "Would I buy this again?" And I'm afraid the answer is "No!" Not even at 40% off. If you want to read it, get it from the library....less

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James rated it:

03/11/08

recommends it for: Everyone.

This probably gets an extra star for my undying love for Steve Martin.

When I was a kid, I had three heroes: Han Solo, Kermit the Frog, and Steve Martin. Two of them are fictional, so only one can tell his life story, and damn, he f'n did it. It's a story of perseverance, and how to persevere under what I would call whelming odds. Not overwhelming, but enough that you might see where he would want to pack it in. Sometimes.

I love his approach to this book. He doesn't really write t...more

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J rated it:

(review of isbn 0743569725)

02/28/08

bookshelves: biography-autobiography, humor

Read in February, 2008

recommended to J by: Julie

A friend from work let me borrow this, and I'm so glad I listened to the audio book rather than read it (I'd almost bought the book at Target last week on a whim). Steve Martin is my favorite comedian; I've had all his albums at one time or another, his early movies are some of my favorites. I don't know much of his literary work, unfortunately, like "Pure Drivel" and "Shopgirl", but will be atoning for that shortly. Hearing Martin tell his own story is a real treat. Whil...more

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CJ rated it:

01/04/08

bookshelves: 2008-books

Read in January, 2008

recommended to CJ by: Jillian
recommends it for: steve martin fans

I heard Steve Martin talk about this book a couple of weeks ago on NPR and he was brilliant. He's so low key about his celebrity it makes me want to sit and have a cup of coffee with him.

In Martin's own words this book is "a biography, because I am writing about someone I used to know." It chronicles his childhood entrance into show business and follows him all the way through playing stadiums in the 1980s.

What interested me most is his approach to doing stand up. I've ofte...more

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Diane rated it:

03/12/08

Read in March, 2008

A very enjoyable read. I've liked Steve Martin's other books, especially Shopgirl and The Pleasure of My Company, and this memoir is a good behind-the-scenes look at how he came to craft his hyper-silly comedy routine of the '60s and '70s.

I was interested to learn how much philosophy he studied and how he evolved his brand of comedy. Rather than cue the audience for a punchline, he got rid of the punchline altogether and went on with another bit, waiting for the audience to catch up. (Based...more

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Anton rated it:

12/25/07

Read in December, 2007

Well, I enjoyed this book in part because Steve Martin is pretty funny--in a drier way now than the silly way he was before--and mostly because like me, he studied philosophy and then tried to figure out how to deal with being on a stage. So I thought I could learn something. This book, a brief memoir of his standup career, with some wise and some banal reflections on the whole showbiz schmeer, had one bit i really liked and I will type it out for you here. Steve is describing his very early act...more

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Todd rated it:

04/12/08

bookshelves: humor

Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: entertainers, comedy enthusiasts, and other old people

I purchased this book as part of a long-standing tradition of buying books for my mom about people she has expressed interest in. This one had been standing out to me on shelves in the months leading up to Christmas, so when the gift rush set in, Born Standing Up was a no-brainer.

As you know, the beauty of book giving is in trying the item out before you pass it along. Long story short, this led to a two day devouring of this book before seeing the family to exchange gifts. I could not put t...more

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Patrick rated it:

05/04/08

bookshelves: 2008

Read in May, 2008

I'm not the biggest Steve Martin fan, but I watched "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" a few months ago and my brother gave me his book "Cruel Shoes" in college, so I was interested to read his take on his stand-up years, which were a kind of anti-comedy that employed the banjo and purposely bad magic tricks. The book is only 200 pages, so it's concise and interesting thoughout. My favorite part was when he explained his theory of what he was trying to do:

"What if there w...more

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Colleen AF rated it:

01/20/08

bookshelves: autobiography, non-fiction-adult, read-2008

Read in January, 2008

I count my idols on one hand. When I was 18 I took a cross country road trip with my father during which we listened to Martin's LET'S GET SMALL on repeat for the entire length of New Mexico. The trip confirmed a few beliefs, yes my father was the greatest man on the planet, and yes Steve Martin was a close second. Martin's stand-up has still never been rivaled, a perfect blend of absurd with a straight face, as if his goal was to make the joke fly over the audience's heads. Many times there wer...more

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John rated it:

03/06/08

Read in March, 2008

recommends it for: comedy fans, experimental writers

Steve Martin proved that comedy could be experimental, avant-garde and, most importantly: funny. “Born Standing Up” is a memoir which chronicles Martin’s comedic journey from Minsk to Milan…errr, I mean from demonstrating tricks in Disneyland’s magic shop for a few curious kids to selling out arenas full of thousands of adoring fans. Martin details how he honed his absurdist routine over the years, eventually creating a sort of “anti-comedy” where the comedian’s persona is so co...more

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Kent rated it:

12/16/07

I like this book because it's about a person who struggled for years at something that didn't come naturally (making people laugh), but then, through analyzing and persevering over 15 years, mastered the art. Here's a good passage:
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What if there were no punch lines? ... Now that I assigned myself to an act without jokes, I gave myself a rule. Never let them know I was bombing: this is funny, you just haven't gotten it yet. If I wasn't offering punch lines, I'd never be standing ther...more

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Lydia rated it:

01/25/08

Read in January, 2008

Y'all. I love Steve Martin. I love his novellas. I love his plays. I love his early movies. I even continue to love him as he makes things like two Pink Panther movies. I mean, it's all well and good to be all, "Steve, dude, you've sold out!" but if I were offered that much money, I'd probably do the same thing. Even if I already had bundles of money. Because you have to keep your face out there. Even if it means selling your soul and sullying the career of Peter Seller...more

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Johnsergeant rated it:

01/16/08

bookshelves: audiblecom, audiobook

Read in January, 2008

Downloaded from Audible.com

Program Type: Audiobook; Unabridged
Narrator: Steve Martin
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio, 2007
Length: 4 hours and 3 min.

Publisher's Summary
In the mid-70s, 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 10 Martin started his career at Disneyland, selling...more

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C. rated it:

05/05/08

Read in May, 2008

A fast memoir of Steve Martin's career as a stand-up comedian, starting with a school play in the 1950s and ending in 1981, when he retired from stand-up as the most popular comedian at the time.

Martin has an amiable writing voice, and I found myself rooting for him throughout the story, even though I knew how it ended.

He spends a long time discussing his formative years; lingering on jobs at Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland, and his travels during the days of flower power, as he forms...more

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Amanda rated it:

03/15/08

Read in March, 2008

I have always been in love with Steve Martin since I was a little girl watching with my dad as he did his routine, wearing the arrow-through-the-head in his dapper white suit and sometimes playing the banjo. I watched the re-runs of SNL and some of my favorite sketches often included him as a guest host. My admiration for him deepened, though, when I saw his movie, L.A. Story, and began to understand there was a great deal to his work that I had at first thought was simple. This autobiography...more

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Johnriem rated it:

01/26/08

Read in January, 2007

my first audiobook, read by steve martin himself. i grew up a big fan of martin's comedy albums, particularly "let's get small." this book chronicles martin's stand-up years, beginning with his work as a kid at the magic shop in disneyland. the development of martin's act is fascinating, as is the behind the curtain view of the life of a comedian. martin saw his routine go from a small opening act to arenas with upwards of 60,000 people.

one of my favorite moments in the book is his d...more

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