Born Standing Up by Steve Martin

Born Standing Up
by Steve Martin [Biography Martin]

The book ranges from his youth working at Disneyland — handing out guidebooks, working in a joke shop, putting on magic shows, — then on to acting in shows at Knott's Berry Farm. During these years he also branched out, performing at a variety of clubs integrating comedy and magic. Once he got the hang of it he was hired and wrote jokes for the Smothers Brother Show and also the Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. After performing many times for Johnny Carson he was hired to host Saturday Night Live where he was famous for being a Wild and Crazy Guy — among other things. Once that started he realized that he was getting too famous and began feeling isolated — he couldn?t go anywhere without being recognized and when he couldn't take it anymore, he quit standup completely. He got closer with his parents who health was quickly declining and began working on movies because they were less stressful. It's an excellent read, less than 200 pages, so it goes by quickly. It also has a lot of cool photos of Steve through the years. You learn a lot about his personal life which I don't want to spoil for you but I would highly recommend it. -- recommended by Carrie K. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Ten, Make that Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make that Ten, also by Steve Martin, which is a collection of his Tweets and some of those written by his followers.]

[Also available in book-on-cd format.]

[ official Steve Martin web site ]

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