I’ve been a fan of Steve Martin’s work ever since he was writing for the Smothers Brothers and appearing occasionally on their TV show, which was more years ago than I like to think about. BORN STANDING UP, his new memoir about his childhood and his years as a stand-up comic, is well-written and entertaining, as you’d expect. It’s not a particularly funny book, however, which is not a knock against it. And there are certainly a few laughs when Martin talks about particular bits or routines from his act. What really surprised me was how much of it I remembered. I must have seen him a lot on TV. I enjoyed the book, which ends with him giving up stand-up comedy in 1981 as his movie career was beginning. If he ever feels like writing another memoir about everything that happened after that, I’m sure I’ll probably read it.
4 comments:
My favorite routine of his is when he pulls a large number of objects out of his pants through the zipper, including a ringing telephone and a martini. And his best movie has to be The Jerk.
When my wife and I were first going together, this would be in the mid to late 70s, we went to see a Martin Mull concert. This was before Mull became an actor; he was doing stand-up. His opening act was someone we'd never heard of before, also named martin, Steve Martin.
I think at the time I found his routine more weird than funny but it's one of those things you tuck away in your memory, we saw Steve Martin before he became "STEVE MARTIN!"
I'll suggest my favorite of his films is PENNIES FROM HEAVEN, though LEAP OF FAITH has its points.
Martin talks about opening for Martin Mull in the book. Must've been a pretty good show.
I've liked just about all of his movies, even DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID.
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