In the late 1970's, Steve Martin's career as a stand-up comic was at a climax. With legendary appearances on Saturday Night Live, two platinum comedy albums, and ubiquitous catch-phrases (Well, excuuuuusee me!), this gray-haired, white-suited comedian burst seemingly out of nowhere, straight to the top. But Steve Martin was no overnight sensation. He had spent the prior decade and a half tirelessly learning, honing, and refining the character and the act that in the late 1970's would be indelibly imprinted on the frontal lobes of a nation. Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life is all about what went before stardom; it's about Steve Martin's fifteen year slog through the trenches of stand-up comedy.
The young Steve Martin's career began when in 1955 at the age of ten he landed a job selling guidebooks at the new and nearby Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California. Over time he would move on to demonstrating rope tricks and at the age of fifteen to magic tricks and joke-telling for the patrons of Merlin's Magic Shop, where Leo Behnke, his boss, taught him not only magic, but a code of practice and discipline to which Martin would adhere over the next couple of decades. Many of the seeds of Steve Martin's later persona would be sown at Merlin's where manipulating playing cards for eight to twelve hours daily taught him to appreciate "the pleasure and subtlety of physical expression... the potency of movement."
The young Steve Martin's career began when in 1955 at the age of ten he landed a job selling guidebooks at the new and nearby Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California. Over time he would move on to demonstrating rope tricks and at the age of fifteen to magic tricks and joke-telling for the patrons of Merlin's Magic Shop, where Leo Behnke, his boss, taught him not only magic, but a code of practice and discipline to which Martin would adhere over the next couple of decades. Many of the seeds of Steve Martin's later persona would be sown at Merlin's where manipulating playing cards for eight to twelve hours daily taught him to appreciate "the pleasure and subtlety of physical expression... the potency of movement."
However the most notable lesson of Steve Martin's Disneyland career came from former vaudevillian, Dave Steward, who instilled in the aspiring performer the notion that laughter need not be punchline-dependent, but could rather be "created out of absence." A startlingly new concept, this was one that was further nurtured by Martin's exposure to the comedy of Lenny Bruce and Tom Lehrer, cutting-edge comedians at that time.
Steve Martin also credits his on and off again study of philosophy and psychology for his unique approach to comedy. He recalls reading a treatise in a college psych class that outlined the idea of comic tension being released by a punchline. In a comedic epiphany, Martin reasoned that he could create more tension and thus a stronger release if he were to eschew the punchline concept altogether and allow the audience a more organic choice as to where the tension should break. He envisioned an act without jokes, in which he never overtly prompted the audience to laugh but let the tension build and build, and then crest like a wave, a powerful, side-splitting wave.
In Born Standing Up, Steve Martin chronicles his slow and oftentimes painful passage from small theaters and coffee shops to giant arenas. He is generous with providing insight into his personal life during those years. Along the way we meet a succession of love interests, and we get a glimpse into Martin's struggles with an emotionally unavailable father. But the main thrust of Martin's autobiography is the evolution of comedy, his own.
Steve Martin also credits his on and off again study of philosophy and psychology for his unique approach to comedy. He recalls reading a treatise in a college psych class that outlined the idea of comic tension being released by a punchline. In a comedic epiphany, Martin reasoned that he could create more tension and thus a stronger release if he were to eschew the punchline concept altogether and allow the audience a more organic choice as to where the tension should break. He envisioned an act without jokes, in which he never overtly prompted the audience to laugh but let the tension build and build, and then crest like a wave, a powerful, side-splitting wave.
In Born Standing Up, Steve Martin chronicles his slow and oftentimes painful passage from small theaters and coffee shops to giant arenas. He is generous with providing insight into his personal life during those years. Along the way we meet a succession of love interests, and we get a glimpse into Martin's struggles with an emotionally unavailable father. But the main thrust of Martin's autobiography is the evolution of comedy, his own.
It was his infiltration into the world of television that eventually got Steve Martin noticed. In the late 60's he became a writer and sometimes performer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, for which he won an Emmy. This led to numerous appearances on daytime talk shows which in turn led to work on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. It was in 1974, during his sixteenth Tonight Show appearance, that Martin experienced a major breakthrough:
"For my first show back, I chose to do a bit I had developed years earlier at the Ice House. I speed-talked a Vegas nightclub act in two minutes. Appearing on the show was Sammy Davis, Jr., who, while still performing energetically, had also become a historic showbiz figure. I was whizzing along, singing a four-second version of "Ebb Tide," then saying at lightning speed, "Frank Sinatra personal friend of mine Sammy Davis Jr. personal friend of mine Steve Martin I'm a personal friend of mine too and now a little dancin'!" I started a wild flail, which I must say was pretty funny, when a showbiz miracle occurred. The camera cut away to a dimly lit Johnny, precisely as he whirled up from his chair, doubling over with laughter. Suddenly, subliminally, I was endorsed. At the end of the act, Sammy came over and hugged me. I felt like I hadn't been hugged since I was born."
"For my first show back, I chose to do a bit I had developed years earlier at the Ice House. I speed-talked a Vegas nightclub act in two minutes. Appearing on the show was Sammy Davis, Jr., who, while still performing energetically, had also become a historic showbiz figure. I was whizzing along, singing a four-second version of "Ebb Tide," then saying at lightning speed, "Frank Sinatra personal friend of mine Sammy Davis Jr. personal friend of mine Steve Martin I'm a personal friend of mine too and now a little dancin'!" I started a wild flail, which I must say was pretty funny, when a showbiz miracle occurred. The camera cut away to a dimly lit Johnny, precisely as he whirled up from his chair, doubling over with laughter. Suddenly, subliminally, I was endorsed. At the end of the act, Sammy came over and hugged me. I felt like I hadn't been hugged since I was born."
The rest is history. Martin's work on Saturday Night Live, which included his Czechoslovakian Brothers act with Dan Ackroyd (We are two wild and crazy guys!), became the stuff of comedic legend, as did his live show, which was used to create his two best-selling albums, Let's Get Small and Wild and Crazy Guy. I was a teenager when Steve Martin's stand-up career hit its peak, and I can easily recall many of the routines that we all listened to, memorized, and repeated during Martin's glory years.
In 1981, after writing and starring in The Jerk (1979) to great success, Steve Martin quit stand-up entirely to continue working in film and theater. He has since written and performed in films too numerous to list here. He's written plays, essays, and two novels, Shopgirl and The Pleasure of My Company. Born Standing Up is not about that work. It's about how a little boy from Garden Grove, California grew up to make us all laugh.
In 1981, after writing and starring in The Jerk (1979) to great success, Steve Martin quit stand-up entirely to continue working in film and theater. He has since written and performed in films too numerous to list here. He's written plays, essays, and two novels, Shopgirl and The Pleasure of My Company. Born Standing Up is not about that work. It's about how a little boy from Garden Grove, California grew up to make us all laugh.
