“Born Standing Up” by Steve Martin

I still remember the first time I saw Steve Martin in a movie. It was The Three Amigos, which my parents had rented from the video store for us to watch. I am certain most of the jokes went over my head. (I don’t think I “got” Martin Short’s joke in it about mail/male planes until maybe a decade later — I guess I was just too pure, or something). But I remember their hilarious faces. These guys didn’t need to say anything to make me laugh. Years later, scenes from such classics as Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Roxanne can still make me convulse in stitches — even just a line. (“Those aren’t pillows!!”)

Born Standing Up is Steve Martin’s 2007 autobiography tracing how he got his start in stand-up comedy and how he left it in the early 80s, decades later. Beginning with stories from childhood, which included a difficult relationship with his father, studies in philosophy in college, and a fascinating range of talents, Martin’s memoir artfully depicts not only his life but the unique eras he lived through. From his early days as a guidebook salesperson at the brand-new Disneyland theme park (where he worked at the tender — and illegal? — age of 10) to his days writing with Bob “Super Dave” Einstein on the edgy Smothers Brothers TV show, Martin’s life narrates some of the most interesting moments from American popular history. It’s an amazing close-up lens through which to watch the development of what Jesse David Fox has recently described as the dominant force that “conquered culture”: namely, comedy.

One of the most interesting parts in the book was Martin’s discussion of his meteoric rise to fame over the course of the latter half of the seventies and into the early eighties. It is easy to forget now, almost fifty years later, how ubiquitous he was at the time, appearing regularly on The Tonight Show and SNL, and drawing crowds numbering tens of thousands. This fame ultimately comes at a cost, however.

I read this book right after finishing Bob Odenkirk’s autobiography, Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama.

Unlike that book, which includes a lot of comedic passages, Martin’s book is less explicitly funny. The one exception is his regular interweaving of old jokes from his routines. They hold up and inspired me to pull out two old vinyl recordings we have of his standup. It was a different time for jokes in many ways, and, while listening to the records, I don’t always “get” what the audience on the recordings is laughing at. But a lot of the jokes still 100% kill.

The book interestingly does not spend much time discussing Martin’s movie career. (It seems that Martin recently released an illustrated memoir focusing on stories from this later part of his life.) As its title implies, this book’s focus is on the “stand(ing) up” years in Martin’s career. For this reason, I found his discussions of craft especially fascinating. His approach to comedy and entertainment is carefully dissected, and his description of how he worked to improve his sets and to anticipate his audiences is inspiring. Martin is well known, beyond his comedic work, for his thoughtful and erudite novels and plays. This reflective approach is evident throughout.

I listened to this book in the audiobook format, as read by the author. It would be difficult to hear the book read by anyone other than Steve Martin, and his delivery of old jokes in particular is always bang on. As he did with his stand-up and continues to do in his performances, Martin’s great talent is making an audience feel like it is in on the joke.

Highly recommend.