Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life

Review: Born Standing Up: A Comic's LifeI grew up watching Steve Martin on Saturday Night Live before they shortened it to just SNL and I even remember him performing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson Show. I'll even admit to owning the LP A Wild and Crazy Guy. I was a kid back when he was making it big, and as a kid, I liked his outlandish comedy. So when I saw this book, I bit.I have to say as an adult, I don't find Steve Martin's stand-up as enjoyable as I once did, but I do love the writer he became after his stand-up success. Previously to reading this memoir, I read An Object of Beauty, and loved it! I feel the same about his movies. The earlier stuff doesn't mesh with the person I am now, but his more recent movies like Shopgirl, I loved.Again, I'll admit, I'm a sucker for pop-culture from the 70s and 80s, the eras I grew up, and this book, like a another book I read a few months ago, Mary, Lou, Rhoda, and Ted, [Check out my Review on Amazon or Goodreads] brought back memories of another time and place when I was much younger and more carefree, so in my opinion, if you don't bring this kind of connection to the table this book might not be for you, I, however, enjoyed the ride.Steve Martin by his own admission is a bit stand-offish, and his standoffishness comes across in his memoir. If you are looking for The Glass Castle like revelations shared by memoir writer Jeannette Walls this is not the memoir for you. I know Steve Martin thinks he wrote a memoir, but he really didn't reveal the nitty-gritty stuff of memoir writing. What he wrote is an inside look at how he became successful, which is really interesting. Again, I caution the reader, if you are looking for him to let lose a lot of dirt on the cast of SNL forget it. The snarkiest he gets is an anecdote he shares about meeting Dan Aykroyd:"In Lorne's office later that day, the leather clad Danny Aykroyd told me he had been up all night riding his motorcycle, and when it had stalled at four A.M., he had thumbed a ride. When the car got up to speed, the driver pushed him out of the moving vehicle, and he rolled onto the rainy streets of Manhattan. I pictured Danny bouncing down the wet pavement and then said the only thing that came to mind. I asked him if h wanted to go to Saks and shop for clothes. He said, as friendly as he could, 'Uh, man, that's not my thing,' We liked each other, but we were different."-Born Standing Up: A Comic's LifeIf you are looking for him to bad mouth anyone famous forget it-it's not happening. He mentions some big names, but nothing of substance is shared. Yes, he walked away from stand-up and you do know why, but he doesn't really share,-like therapy kind of sharing-how he felt about this decision, which is what most readers want in a memoir.So what is this book? Well, if you are looking for a book that shows how hard it is to make comedy work, and how hard it is to make it in comedy then BINGO this is the book for you. Simply said, in a one sentence summary: Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life is a book about dedication to ones craft at the expense of isolating oneself from the world.I had the impression that Martin enjoyed researching the book more than writing it. Why? Because he stated, "As much as I enjoyed the writing of this book, researching it was a new thrill for me. Finding s photo that confirmed a dim recollection of days gone by hooked me on the detective work, and the legwork-marching form my desk back and forth to the archival boxes-gave me something to do besides type, think, worry, and cry." Martin was methodical in his casting about for old artifacts from his early career. He states in his acknowledgments, "This book has allowed me to contact old friends and dig through their memories and memorabilia. All contacts have been pleasant and some quite moving. The arrival of a package of photos or copies of letters offered by a friend was like having an archaeological dig brought to my own home." He enlisted archival type help twenty years prior to writing the book and later he added to his collection when he retrieved age-worn boxes of memorabilia his mother had saved and found, "...inside sedimentary layers of collected junk, ephemera, snapshots, and yellowed newspaper clippings. Like a geologist, I [Martin] was sometimes able to date items by their position in the stack." The research he expended on creating the book was that the final product appeared-to someone outside looking in-to be a cathartic or shall we say therapeutic experience for Martin, and what the reader receives in return is the closest look inside the mind of an extremely talented man he will allow you.I'll be honest, I didn't know what to expect with this book, so before laying down real money for it, I sampled the beginning using the Amazon sampling feature. I liked what I read and ended up purchasing Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life. I mention this because using this feature, if you read with a Kindle, is such a good method to experiment with books you might not try otherwise. The sample is free, and it usually gives you enough to really let you know if you will like the book or not. I did the same thing with the other book I mentioned earlier in this review, Mary, Lou, Rhoda, and Ted, and ended up purchasing both. If you hadn't thought of sampling before buying give it a try.If you have never seen Steve Martin's early stuff, or you've forgotten his brand of early comedy, checkout YouTube for archived comedy sketches. If you want to know how he came up with each of his signature bits for his act, read the book. Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life

I wasn't sure what I was expecting of this book, but I was very pleasantly pleased by it. Steve Martin talks candidly about his feelings. He talks about growing up with a stem father and disjointed family structure. He tells of the struggle to achieve what he was born to do - comedy. He talks about the isolation of stardom, and how it took its toll. After reading this, I find I'd really like to sit with Steve and chat more about life.

Interesting deep dive in to how the young Steve Martin became the comedic sensation STEVE MARTIN during the 1970's.A great part of this book is Martin's brutal honesty about his mouth to success. The first jobs, taking retail work at Disney World to be in a magic shop and his early stand up outings performing before small crowds were key in his discovering what worked and what he needed to do to form his own on-stage persona.He had a lot of self-doubt and a lot of gutting it out before he started to find success. The book stops after he reaches his pinnacle as a stand-up. The film and writer Martin are obviously for later recollections.I liked the inside view of what made Steve Martin tick and his frank discussions of his slow and persistent learning of his craft.

Great to read of Martins progress and process, his honesty and life experience reminds me of how I watched him become his best self!

Steve Martin is an excellent writer. I could hardly put the book down. I Loved it. I brought back so many memories since we are from the same generation.

Having idolized Steve Martin since I was 14, this book reminds me of a time in my life. Buying "Let's Get Small " upon its release, sitting in my basement listening to it over and over, memorizing it word for word. I did not realize he stopped performing stand-up in 1981. He was THE comic. This book shares his wants, insecurities, hopes, dreams, and his drive to do his act his way, and learn from success, an d failure. He continued to shine in movies, talk show appearances, and now the phenomenal "Only Murders in the Building." Have always thought he was brilliant, and now I am sure he is.

Book as described, great shape, all good!

Steve gives a good account of his life, funny in places and touching at times. He's open about his family through good and bad times.It would have been nice to hear more about all the films he made.I guess this was more about standup.It's what it says on the tin.All the best, Steve

I got this after a friend recommended to me. Now I was not a big fan of Steve Martin but I am interested in comedy and comedy writing. After I finished the book which was a very enjoyable read I had a new appreciation for Martin and think this is a great insight on comedy and stand up. It is not a big book so wont take long to read but dont let that stop you.

I first heard Steve Martins stand up about twenty years ago and I loved it straight away. Off beat and very funny. the story behind it is fascinating and enlightening. I found it very hard to put down this book and have raved about it to interested parties. If you like steve martin buy it, if you're interested in comedy its also well worth a read for the approaches to the sketches. Great read!

I read this book as it oddly appeared in a list of "100 books you must read before you die" in The Observer and this guy has always made me smile.It's a good read, no doubt, but no idea what it was doing in that list.If you are interested in what a stand-up comedian had to go through to "make it" back in the 50-70s then it's for you.

He comes across as quite a shy man with a good few insecurities. The book gives a good feel for the dogged work that goes on during the road to success. Incredible to find out that even when he was on some of the top talk shows he still had some trouble getting big gigs. He certainly is NOT full of himself. Its a good read if a tad light. But what are you expecting - its about comedy not the meaning of life. EXCUUUSE ME.