Born Standing Up by Steve Martin

Release date/ Length: 4 CDs

Synopsis (from Amazon.com):  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 Reiner, Johnny Carson. He writes about fear, anxiety and loneliness. And he writes about how he figured out what worked on stage.

Review: My husband and I decided to listen to this on our way to the cabin and both of us enjoyed it.  While I enjoy Steve Martin well enough as a comedian, I am quite fascinated by him as a person.  I think we probably learned about his memoir when he was interviewed some time on Letterman — honestly, I can’t remember, but whenever I’ve heard him interviewed, I’ve been struck not only by his intelligence, but even more so by how very seriously he takes comedy (I also love his banjo playing, too!).

The memoir is just the right length, by the way.  Martin begins at the beginning of his life — with his parents and his childhood in Texas, but moves at a nice pace to the bits we are most interested in — his career.  Of note, his father had desired a career in show business but was never able to fulfill this dream and resented his son until just before he died.  However, unlike so many memoirs I’ve read lately, Martin does not seem bitter.  Whether this is because he and his father came to peace with one another at the end or simply Martin’s remarkable ability to be self-reflective, I was grateful to not have to slog through years of recriminations and bitterness.

Instead of focusing on any perceived shortcomings in his childhood, Martin spends most of his memoir on his passion: comedy.  Martin’s goal was to create a wholly original form of comedy — not simply original jokes, but a form of comedy never witnessed before.  He experimented with taking the punchline out of jokes, with changing the timing around to the point that there was no “timing.”  He would invite the audience to leave the theatre at the end of his show and simply improvise as they wandered the streets.  His “wild and crazy” guy persona evolved through a series of very serious, cerebral decisions meant to break new ground in audience expectations and genre limitations.

What struck me about his journey is just how hard he worked at comedy.  His success was the product of decades of work — long days of 4 or 5 sets — deliberately testing and discarding new material — the sacrifices he made in every other area of his life in order to achieve his dreams.  He truly is a living example of one of my favorite quotes:  “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.”  When the opportunity presented itself, Martin had 20 years of preparation.  Then, when he reached the pinnacle of success, he quickly found that his act was not as well-suited for audiences in the tens of thousands, nor was his personality comfortable with the loss of privacy and desperate loneliness that fame brings.  So, he turned to movies and was delighted to find just how much he enjoyed the process.

So, after reading 3 memoirs within 2 weeks of each other…  Steve Martin’s was my favorite!  I loved witnessing the journey of a master at his craft, breaking new ground in a genre we all know so well.  And was so relieved that he did not feel a victim of his childhood, parenting, or any other perceived ills in his life.  Although I had little in common with Martin on the surface, I hope I share his ability to take responsibility for his own life and his dedication to his craft. 

This is my first attempt at rating what I’ve read, so out of 5 bookmarks, I would award this one a 4! 

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