Born Standing Up
A Comic's Life
Steve Martin
This memoir tells the story of Steve Martin's rise to fame as a stand-up comedian in the mid-seventies, ultimately becoming the biggest concert draw in history by 1978. It's a candid and spectacularly amusing account of the sacrifices, discipline, and originality that made Martin an icon, informed by his experiences at Disneyland, the Bird Cage Theatre and Knott's Berry Farm. He also provides a portrait of the era of free love and protests against the Vietnam War, and the transformative new voice of Saturday Night Live in the seventies. Completing the memoir are photographs never seen before. Born Standing Up is a superb testament to one of the greatest and most iconoclastic comedians of all time.
Publish Date
2007-11-20T00:00:00.000Z
2007-11-20T00:00:00.000Z
Goodreads Rating
3.88
ISBN
8601404507823
Categories
Recommendations
8
Recommendations
On a big road trip, I read it out loud to my wife, she read it out loud to me. Then we got the audio book and we listened to Steve Martin read it. – source
2018-03-20T03:57:39.000Z
@Daniellejd13 Born standing up by Steve Martin or when you are engulfed in flames by David sedaris – source2020-02-11T06:15:11.000Z
So the number one piece of advice that I have ever read and that I tell people on these kind of topics is always from the comedian Steve Martin, who I think is an absolute genius, wrote a great book on the start of his career, which obviously was very successful. The book is called “Born standing up”, it's a short little book and it describes how he became Steve Martin. And the part of the book is, he says what is the key to success? The key to success is be so good they can't ignore you. – source2021-04-11T16:49:01.000Z
@msuster I seem to remember hearing like three different people mention the book. Like Seinfeld, Letterman, Chappelle, etc. It had a profound effect on me. So great. Must read. – source2021-04-11T16:47:33.000Z
@bgurley lol. I grew up listening to those records. Did you read his autobiography “Born Standing Up?” Such a great book – source2019-09-29T16:28:06.000Z
@CaitlinPacific @stevemartin Best book on stand up ever. Plus: delicious shade thrown on the late John Frankenheimer. – source2020-02-11T06:15:11.000Z
I love any book where someone took their passion, documented it, and shared it with us. That’s when you can see the subleties, the hard work, the luck, the talent, the skill, all come together to form a champion. – source