CJ's review
Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
by Steve Martin
I just finished reading this and was totally enlightened about comedy. I always thought that comedians were inately funny and now I see that it a very thoughtful process and in Steve Martin's case involving a very smart, creative process. Besides this, having lived in Orange County for many years, it was fun to revisit many of the locations he mentions.
CJ's review
Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin
CJ's review
rating:
bookshelves:
2008-books
recommended 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 often wondered what it's like to essentially create your own job out of nothing. Martin didn't want a new routine to flop, so he would break it down into tiny pieces and begin by putting the tiniest piece into his act. If it worked, he would add another piece. If it continued to work, it continued to grow; if not, he dropped it. This is such a common sense approach to creating an act. I guess I assumed that many comedians worked more like Robin Williams does - movement and zaniness until you dr...more
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 often wondered what it's like to essentially create your own job out of nothing. Martin didn't want a new routine to flop, so he would break it down into tiny pieces and begin by putting the tiniest piece into his act. If it worked, he would add another piece. If it continued to work, it continued to grow; if not, he dropped it. This is such a common sense approach to creating an act. I guess I assumed that many comedians worked more like Robin Williams does - movement and zaniness until you dr...more
I just finished reading this and was totally enlightened about comedy. I always thought that comedians were inately funny and now I see that it a very thoughtful process and in Steve Martin's case involving a very smart, creative process. Besides this, having lived in Orange County for many years, it was fun to revisit many of the locations he mentions.