Awards

• Commended for Listen Up (Author-Read) 2007
• Short-listed for Grammy Awards (Spoken Word) (Spoken Word Album) 2008

Overview

Steve Martin has been an international star for over thirty years. Here, for the first time, he looks back to the beginning of his career and charmingly evokes the young man he once was. Born in Texas but raised in California, Steve was seduced early by the comedy shows that played on the radio when the family travelled back and forth to visit relatives. When Disneyland opened just a couple of miles away from home, an enchanted Steve was given his first chance to learn magic and entertain an audience. He describes how he noted the reaction to each joke in a ledger - 'big laugh' or 'quiet' - and assiduously studied the acts of colleagues, stealing jokes when needed. With superb detail, Steve recreates the world of small, dark clubs and the fear and exhilaration of standing in the spotlight. While a philosophy student at UCLA, he worked hard at local clubs honing his comedy and slowly attracting a following until he was picked up to write for TV. From here on, Steve Martin became an acclaimed comedian, packing out venues nationwide. One night, however, he noticed empty seats and realised he had 'reached the top of the rollercoaster'.Born Standing Up is a funny and riveting chronicle of how Steve Martin became the comedy genius we now know and is also a fascinating portrait of an era.

Full Product Details

9780743569729

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Reviews

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

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

A charming memoir tracking what the great comic characterizes as his war years. Despite gaining renown as one of Saturday Night Live's wild and crazy guys, Martin (The Pleasure of My Company: A Novella, 2004, etc.) didn't set out in search of celebrity. From his boyhood forays onstage in the '50s through the late '70s, when he somewhat unwittingly became a huge star, he sought, above all, comic originality. Foregoing the common compromise made by young comedians that trades fresh and authentic hilarity for fame, Martin became famous on his own terms. During one period of his stand-up career, he purposefully developed an act entirely devoid of jokes, and he always approached his material with dedication and diligence. Martin offers an eloquent and exacting account of his fumbling early shticks, illuminating the type of humor, and humorists, that interested him the most. He set an unspoken deadline for himself - age 30 - by which to have found success or to throw in the towel, but then abandoned it as that age came and went and he was still toiling on the road. After gigs on television shows like The Smothers Brothers and The Tonight Show, Martin's popularity steadily increased. Some of the funniest material here is delivered in an offhand manner, often in the form of photo captions or narrative asides. Martin also offers an emotional - but not overly nostalgic - account of his relationship with his father, who was a distant and disapproving figure until the end of his life, when he and his son reconciled. In all of his relationships, whether familial or romantic, Martin approaches his subjects with generosity, warmth and integrity.Heartfelt and very, very funny. (Kirkus Reviews)

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

....

Author Information

Steve Martin was born in Texas in 1945. Famed for his stand up comedy and performances in hit comedy films, he is also a writer, producer, musician and composer.

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