Born Standing Up - Steve Martin

I enjoyed Steve Martin's Book, Born Standing Up.  It chronicles his life from birth through the years he spent doing stand up comedy.  Stand up comedy was a lonely life for Steve and he dropped out of it when he reached its peak.  He didn't like doing comedy for stadiums.  It lacked the intimacy of smaller clubs.

The roots of his comedy came from his work selling items at a magic store.  His love of banjo music and time spent on the road learning what worked in front of audiences.  After 10 years on the road he nearly quit.  He had a similar rock bottom experience as did Dick Van Dyke.

Steve actually found that doing movies was much more enjoyable.  He enjoyed working with Carl Reiner and liked the friendships that developed on the set.  It was much better than being with a Roadie and travelling from one college campus to another as he did one night gigs across America.

Steve talks about an early Monday night stand up gig in San Francisco - 5 min.

The book, Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life is available from Amazon.com