Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
    Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
    Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
    Audiobook4 hours

    Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life

    Written by Steve Martin

    Narrated by Steve Martin

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    The riveting, mega-bestselling, beloved and highly acclaimed memoir of a man, a vocation, and an era named one of the ten best nonfiction titles of the year by Time and Entertainment Weekly.

    In the mid-seventies, Steve Martin exploded onto the comedy scene. By 1978 he was the biggest concert draw in the history of stand-up. In 1981 he quit forever. This book is, in his own words, the story of “why I did stand-up and why I walked away.”

    Emmy and Grammy Award–winner, author of the acclaimed New York Times bestsellers Shopgirl and The Pleasure of My Company, and a regular contributor to The New Yorker, Martin has always been a writer. His memoir of his years in stand-up is candid, spectacularly amusing, and beautifully written.

    At age ten Martin started his career at Disneyland, selling guidebooks in the newly opened theme park. In the decade that followed, he worked in the Disney magic shop and the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott’s Berry Farm, performing his first magic/comedy act a dozen times a week. The story of these years, during which he practiced and honed his craft, is moving and revelatory. The dedication to excellence and innovation is formed at an astonishingly early age and never wavers or wanes.

    Martin illuminates the sacrifice, discipline, and originality that made him an icon and informs his work to this day. To be this good, to perform so frequently, was isolating and lonely. It took Martin decades to reconnect with his parents and sister, and he tells that story with great tenderness. Martin also paints a portrait of his times—the era of free love and protests against the war in Vietnam, the heady irreverence of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in the late sixties, and the transformative new voice of Saturday Night Live in the seventies.

    Throughout the text, Martin has placed photographs, many never seen before. Born Standing Up is a superb testament to the sheer tenacity, focus, and daring of one of the greatest and most iconoclastic comedians of all time.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateNov 20, 2007
    ISBN9780743569736
    Author

    Steve Martin

    Steve Martin is one of today's most talented performers. He has had huge success as a film actor, with such credits as Cheaper by the Dozen, Father of the Bride, Roxanne, Parenthood, L.A. Story, and many others. He has won Emmys for his television writing and two Grammys for his comedy albums. In addition to his bestselling novel The Pleasure of My Company and a collection of comic pieces, Pure Drivel, he has also written a play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile. He lives in Los Angeles.

    More audiobooks from Steve Martin

    Related to Born Standing Up

    Related audiobooks

    Entertainers and the Rich & Famous For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Storyteller By Dave Grohl – A Foo Fighter Pulls His Punches

      Oct 17, 2021

      If you are curious about Dave Grohl, drummer from “tragic grunge poster boys” Nirvana, whose Nevermind album has just turned 30, The Storyteller might not be the memoir for you. The band’s legacy remains overshadowed by the 1994 suicide of singer and

      3 min read

    • Article

      Madly, Deeply: The Alan Rickman Diaries Review – Great Actor, Keen Shopper, Sharp Wit

      Oct 16, 2022

      Alan Rickman’s voice was a purr, but it masked sharp claws. This was evident in the memorable baddies he played and now you can hear it in the feline prose of these selected diaries. “John Major said, ‘You have given us so much enjoyment.’ ‘I wish I

      3 min read

    • Article

      Last Orders

      Jul 28, 2021

      Last Orders
      5 min read

    • Article

      Robin Ince Is On The Road

      May 29, 2023

      I was under my favourite railway arch turned bar when the ghost of a stand-up comedian came and tapped my skull. It was not Tommy Cooper or Little Tich, it was a ghost of me. I spent much of my working life defined as a stand-up comedian, though I al

      3 min read

    • Article

      A Need To Talk

      Jul 2, 2023

      A Need To Talk
      3 min read

    • Article

      Ignacio Lopez

      Oct 17, 2023

      What stand-up special or film made you fall in love with comedy and why? I love Peter Sellers and Eddie Murphy, and watched everything they made when I was growing up. I think I wore out my copies of The Pink Panther and Beverly Hills Cop films. It b

      2 min read

    • Article

      Ladies’ Night

      Aug 15, 2023

      Ladies’ Night
      5 min read

    • Article

      Life In The past Lane

      Aug 27, 2021

      Life In The past Lane
      5 min read

    • Article

      Kurt Vile

      Dec 8, 2023

      Kurt Vile
      6 min read

    • Article

      Elvis Costello: ‘The OBE Is Just Another Bauble In My China Cabinet’

      Jan 6, 2022

      Best gig ever: 3.30 in the morning, sun coming up, watching from the front as you played to an uninterested crowd at Oxford’s Trinity College May ball, 1981. You must have thought you’d sold your soul to the devil. kiwisimmo The fee was good and we n

      6 min read

    • Article

      Music

      Mar 4, 2024

      For about 20 years now, I’ve made a habit of going to gigs alone. Mainly out of necessity – such is the solitary, slightly strange life of the music reviewer (tiny fiddle). But increasingly, it’s something I do by choice. More and more so, it’s a rit

      3 min read

    • Article

      Duncan Hannah

      Sep 15, 2017

      Duncan Hannah
      25 min read

    • Article

      Diary of Remorse

      Sep 6, 2022

      I was plagued by remorse, but my remorse seemed inspired by insignificant dumb things—things not really worthy of bona fide remorse. That didn’t make it any less painful or plague-worthy, as I was still riddled with disgrace on a minute-by-minute bas

      20 min read

    • Article

      The Sad Boys of Sadcore

      Aug 9, 2018

      The Sad Boys of Sadcore
      8 min read

    • Article

      I REMEMBER… Barry Humphries

      Mar 15, 2022

      I REMEMBER… Barry Humphries
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Born Standing Up

    4/5

    1,507 ratings129 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Unexpectedly serious and sweet, then sad and then happy again. I really enjoyed listening to him tell the story of how he became the comedian we all know and love.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      One of my fave audiobooks listens, Steve is smart and funny and a very good writer.
    • 4/5
      I actually really enjoyed hearing the origins of Steve! I can relate to a lot of it as an actor. Don’t give up your dream
    • 4/5
      Always enjoy the books narrated by Steve. It’s like being in one of his shows.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed learning all about how Steve Martin rose to fame. And what a crazy ride it is. I'm glad it didn't kill him like so many others. He seems to have kept both his sanity and his humanity.
    • 4/5
      Short and to the point. Pretty interesting read overall. Good for any Steve Martin fan
    • 5/5
      I was surprised by the content. Honest and unassuming! A touching autobiography. Refreshing.
    • 5/5
      Great read. I couldn’t put it down. Thanks again Steve
    • 5/5
      Honest and unblinking look at one American kid’s amazing career.
    • 5/5
      I was a childhood fan of Steve Martin and this book is exactly what I needed to understand him. Highly recommend.
    • 5/5
      Absolutely great book of unique comic. Written perfectly, must read book for comics.
    • 5/5
      A fun recap of Steve Martin's start im comedy and movies and a brief recollection of his childehood. A fun read. Well written.
    • 5/5
      Thank you Steve Martin for being so real. We all know you are a Wild and Crazy Guy, but after reading this wonderful book, I realize you are a real person. Although you are a real funny person! Thank you for many many years of great work.
    • 4/5
      A fun and interesting read for anyone who is interested in stand-up comedy or just Steve Martin in general. It is a very quick read and I wouldn't have minded it to be a little longer.
    • 5/5
      Great listen…especially for Steve Martin fans. What a pleasure listening to Steve share the origin of his magic show skills, and the step by step work he did to develop his “new breed of comedy.” Bravo!! Throughout the book, he interweaves the story of his family and the end of life acceptance and love he received from his father. Very touching.
    • 5/5
      I hesitated on this book because I like to listen before going to sleep and when I can’t sleep. I thought a comedy book would keep me awake, but this is the from birth through fame story of Steve’s life, recited in an almost reluctant, deadpan delivery. Had no idea he struggled so long. Very interesting life.
    • 4/5
      Steve Martin's memoir of his stand-up career has the perfect balance of eloquence and simplicity of his novellas, short essays, and plays. He has a knack for making himself comprehensible, even somebody with whom one can identify, in spite of the fact that his readers must be nearly 100% lacking in life experiences that truly mirror his. (For that matter, has anybody really had a comparable career to Steve Martin's?) The revelations of where little nuggets of absurdity such as "happy feet" came from delight, and even reading brief snippets of his material will have you laughing out loud at them all over again.
    • 3/5
      This audiobook was so concise it felt more like a podcast interview than an actual autobiography. There were no deep life lessons imparted to the listener as one would expect from an autobiography; however, the entertaining and occasionally cringey stories about Steve's experiences in standup comedy are worth listening to.
    • 5/5
      Steve Martin was and is a hero of mine. Why would I say such a thing? Because I instantly “got” him from the first time I saw him. There’s a simplicity to his humor that’s utterly profound, and which points to things worth noticing in this world, like how silly and inconsequential so much of life’s supposed important things are. This book, narrated by Steve himself, was as sincere and profound as any of his other work. A wonderful story told with honesty and humility. I recommend it highly.
    • 4/5
      (Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)I hope this isn't too embarrassing a thing to admit, but when I was a kid I used to have Steve Martin's old comedy albums literally memorized; and I mean, literally, back in the late '70s and early '80s when he was at his commercial height, back when I was ten, eleven, twelve years old, I could literally relate entire routines of his to a public audience (and sometimes did), pause for pause and inflection for inflection. And now I look back, of course, and wonder what the childhood-me ever saw in Martin's edgy, countercultural performances; as can be expected from a '70s comedian, most of his work was about drugs and sex and other strictly adult topics, half the jokes zooming right over my head as a child even as I was able to perfectly recite them. I guess, then, that it was maybe the pure manic energy Martin brought to his performance, the traditional zaniness of it all, which I guess adults were enjoying for ironic reasons at the time but I loved just because it was silly -- a grown man wearing rabbit ears, a clown wearing a formal three-piece white suit. "Well, excuuuuuuuusssse meeeeee!!!!"So how interesting, then, to get to sit down and read Martin's memoirs on those years, Born Standing Up, decades after he quit stand-up for good, decades where he has been ambivalent and shy about his stand-up years in the first place, preferring to constantly delve forward with his traditional acting instead, as well as the more intellectual humor that has defined his later career as a novelist and playwright. Because as this tight, slim, plainly-spoken, always entertaining volume shows, it was in fact precisely the combination of his traditional showbiz childhood experiences and the countercultural excesses of the '60s that led to his act in the first place, not an affectation of any sort but merely the things that naturally interested him back then, the things that he naturally found funny; but by doing so, he in fact forged something entirely new, unique and unforgettable, leading to him at one point being the number-one live-entertainment draw in the entire United States, and this counting rock musicians as well.That's important to remember about Martin's early career, that he had the kinds of live-audience successes that sound surreal anymore in these "Laff Shack on every corner" days; at the height of his stand-up years, he was sometimes packing in 20,000 people a night or more, night after night and city after city, precisely because he did the kind of hybrid performance that no other comedian did, a wry sensibility attuned to the times combined with literal cornball routines and effects from the Catskills era. It'd be easy to believe, as many did, that Martin deliberately added these cornball details to his routine at a certain point during adulthood, precisely for the ironic enjoyment that jaded '70s audiences would get out of it; but as this book shows, these elements have actually been a consistent part of his public act since literally his teenage years, when he worked at the magic store inside of California's Disneyland during high school, wearing such things as arrows-through-the-head and Groucho Marx glasses unironically, trying to actually sell more of them at the store. Once he got into college, according to him, once he was in his twenties and starting to put together an adult touring club routine of his own, he simply left the magic-store accrouchements in, simply because he was 20 and a terrible comedian and needed stuff to fall back on; it was only as he started getting older, started embracing more of the countercultural things going on around him, that these details took on their ironic effect, by which time he was a good enough comedian to understand how to exploit them for that purpose.In fact, it's no surprise that no less than Jerry Seinfeld has called Born Standing Up "one of the best books about comedy and being a comedian ever written," because this is a very wonky, very process-obsessed memoir, a chance for Martin to literally record the steps that moved him from one moment to the next in his early career, to literally talk about the specific things he changed from step to step, the specific things he held onto. Because let's face it, there's actually a hugely fascinating milieu of significant events that was swarming around him during his youth; raised in southern California, actually a philosophy student at college while first pursuing a career as a comedian, Martin was lovers and roommates with all the various future legends of Hollywood, but also compatriots with student radicals, art historians, blacklisted Communist writers, and all kinds of other people who would have such a profound effect on his later, more mature career. (For those who don't know, in fact, on top of his performance career, he's currently also one of the most respected private collectors of 20th-century art in the entire country.) He was a writer on the old "Smothers Brothers Comedy Show," right at the height of its Nixon-hating, network-preempting controversy; he was brought into the now-classic "Saturday Night Live" right at its most daring start, one of the people who helped cement the show into what it now is. When the "Lenny Bruce Look" finally became the norm on comedy stages in the mid-'70s, he switched over to a short haircut and a three-piece suit, for no other reason than to be different; and then right at the height of his career, a moment when he was literally selling out basketball stadiums for weeks on end, he walked away from it all and never looked back.And that's maybe the biggest irony about Martin's early career, as so smartly but sometimes cynically detailed in Born Standing Up; that he had never meant to be a stand-up in the first place, had only done so because he literally had nothing else going on in his life at the time, and in fact couldn't wait to walk away from it all as soon as he could, perpetually embarrassed as he was over the entire stand-up industry in the first place. And in this I share a deep empathy with Martin, in that this is how I in general feel as well about my own youthful years in the slam-poetry community of the 1990s; how even something that brings a person quick fame and attention can ultimately be embarrassing to the person it's benefiting, how a person can be weirdly proud of what they themselves did within that medium but still deeply disappointed by the medium itself, by everyone else in it and what the general public thinks of it. As Martin explains throughout this memoir, he has always seen writing and intellectualism as much more worthy life pursuits than simply getting on a stage and making with the yuk-yuk, and in fact even needed to be convinced by friends to write the memoir in the first place; it's very telling, I think, that he actually had to hire a researcher to track down all the photos and documents seen throughout the manuscript, in that he had held on to barely any of this stuff himself.That's a fascinating thing about Martin, I think, that his career can be classified into such two clean and unrelated halves, not just the mediums he's worked in but even the type of humor he uses. He truly was a master of the stand-up format, which is why I have such immense respect for him for walking away from it all, the moment his fame got big enough that he had the actual opportunity to do so, to delve instead into traditional movies and traditional acting. But I have to say, I'm glad as well that he was eventually convinced to indeed write Born Standing Up -- it's a treasure trove of information for anyone who was old fan of his from those years, as well as any aspiring stage performer who wants to understand more about how one hones one's craft over time. It comes highly recommended today.Out of 10: 9.0
    • 3/5
      Comedian, Steve Martin, shares in this memoir the ups and downs of the eighteen years he did stand-up. He briefly tells of his childhood, then moves on to his teenage years when he worked at Disneyland in a magic shop demonstrating the products. Martin does not get too personal, one can tell from his story that he is a private person. What he does give though is a vivid portrayal of the entertainment scene during the seventies and late sixties. It is a brief book and I would have liked some more in depth details of his experiences but it does give one some insight into the personal man behind the 'wild and crazy guy'. Enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      Well written and enjoyable insight from a man who was working on comedy during a significant time of change.
    • 4/5
      This is a memoir of Steve Martin's career, chronicling his early life and beginnings in stand-up, right up until he made it big and moved to film. Hint: it took a lonnnng time. For example, he mentions how it's perceived that once a comic appears on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, then they've made it big. In his case it took over a dozen appearances on the program (mostly with guest hosts) before he got that ever-sought-for approval from Johnny himself.I had heard that Steve Martin was actually a pretty shy fellow, but I don't think I realized just how or how uncomfortable he really is with fame and attention. It sounds a bit ironic, considering his profession is so attention-grabbing, but it's true. He talks of jokes that worked and jokes that didn't (which still generally made me laugh). He includes his first jobs at DisneyLand, where he learn the art of perfuming magic, which he would later incorporate into is act.I listened to the audiobook, which Steve narrates, which always makes the story more immediate. Had there been any other reader, I would not have chosen the audiobook format. I listened as I walked and frequently giggled, which had to have confused anyone within earshot of me.I think anyone thinking going into stand-up should read this, not only for inspiration but to learn just how hard it is to really make it in that business. For those of us who do not wish to stand on a stage and tell jokes, it's still an excellent read, full of laughs and a few words of wisdom.
    • 5/5
      I feel like I’m too young to really appreciate this, a lot of the references to his work are beyond my knowledge base and therefore don’t hit the same note as intended. But it is interesting how fame really is a double edged sword… and that fans too often hit the fanatical levels and ruin what they enjoy.
    • 4/5
      Steve Martin comes across as a sophisticated, but goofy guy who just happens to be a genius at comedy. But in reading his memoir about the years leading up to and during his stand-up comedy career, that’s definitely not the way he sees himself.Martin comes from a humble mid-twentieth-century family. He got his first job at Disneyland at age 10 and rode his bicycle to and from work every day. While he was obsessed from a young age with show business, it didn’t really come naturally to him. He worked hard for the bits that were to later make him famous. He recounts his life while sharing the inspiration for some of his most famous gags.As his album title Comedy Isn’t Pretty asserts, his astronomical career was due to a mixed bag of luck, dogged hard work, and deep thought. The timing he’s so celebrated for was developed by study and laser focus.If you’re thinking of reading this book for non-stop laughter, you’d be better off buying one of his albums or watching his old SNL skits or movies. This book is about his actual experiences growing up, both the good and the bad.While the book is a quick and easy read, it leans more toward musings on what life is really all about in the end. For Martin, it seems to be about relationships and integrity. I’m a bigger fan for having read it.
    • 4/5
      I've been a fan of Steve Martin since I first saw him appear on the Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour. This book, copyright 2007, focuses on his time as a stand-up comedian, but there are chapters covering his childhood and the roots of his desire to perform, as well as concluding with him moving on to other ways of entertaining, starting with movies. The prose is straightforward, making for an easy, fast read, and I was fascinated by his journey to find his comedic voice, along with the insecurities he dealt with early in his career. Photos imbedded in the text are wonderful glimpses of how he became a "wild and crazy guy."
    • 3/5
      Not quite as good as I wanted it to be, but I learned a lot about a person I like, so that's cool.
    • 5/5
      This book is now 14 years old, and in that time Martin has added to an already incredible career. “Born Standing Up” gives fans a good chance to see Martin at his most honest, humble self. It’s been rumored for years that he is a shy person, and his book proves that. I happened to have listened to the Audible version of the book, one I checked out of the local library. Listening to Martin narrate his own memoir is an additional treat. My only regret about the book is that he didn’t spend more time talking about his film career, which has been as brilliant as his stand up and skit comedy career. The one miss of all the movies he made, I think, was “It’s Complicated,” the 2009 Alec Baldwin Meryl Streep comedy where Martin was completely miscast as Adam Schaffer, Streep’s character, Jane Adler’s architect, something I think most Steve Martin fans probably agree with. “Born Standing Up” was masterfully written, no surprise from one of the best writers in the entertainment world. It was entertaining and informative to read and listen to.
    • 5/5
      Man of many disciplines tells us about his start into comedy. Starting with magic and working at the magic shop in Disneyland and moving on from there he tells his story. From a distant and critical father to the heights of stardom his climb was not one of an overnight success but a slow methodical climb.
    • 4/5
      How did a shy guy become the world's most popular "wild and crazy guy," while remaining an introvert? Steven Martin tells us in his remarkable memoir “Born Standing Up” (2007).Martin got his start when Disneyland opened in Anaheim, just a bicycle ride from his home. He started working there as a 10-year-old, passing out brochures. Already fascinated by magic, he hung out in the magic shops in the park and eventually got a job at one of them, demonstrating tricks and learning the comic patter.He traces the real start to his show business career to the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott's Berry Farm, where as a teenager he performed regularly in a variety of acts for park visitors, including solo performances incorporating magic, banjo picking and comedy, most of the latter borrowed from others. Then came the long, lonely road of trying to make it as a standup comic traveling across the country from one small club to another, sometimes performing for, quite literally, an empty house.Success came gradually, thanks to television appearances and a comedy record. He says it took years for Johnny Carson to get his act, scheduling him only when his show had a guest host. Martin clicked with Carson about the same time he clicked with everyone else, and almost overnight he was performing to crowds of thousands of people. Martin calls this success "the loneliest period of my life." It was a life lived mostly on stage and in hotel rooms, his sudden fame making it impossible for him to walk down the street or eat in a restaurant.Martin tells about his appearances on “Saturday Night Live” and the beginning of his movie career, both of which multiplied his income, fame and loneliness. He quit stand-up after a performance in Atlantic City. "I went to my dressing room, opened my travel-weary black prop case, and stowed away my magic act, thinking that one day I would open it and look at it sentimentally, which for no particular reason, I haven't."Yet Martin does get sentimental about the Bird Cage Theatre, which he returned to refresh the memories it holds, and about his family. He says he never felt loved by his father and never got close to his older sister, yet once his days on the road ended he was able to connect meaningfully with both of them.Martin, the author of several books, is a terrific writer. His memoir moves along spritely, full of humor and grace. And lots of photos.