Post by funnybones on Jul 18, 2014 15:26:32 GMT
Born Standing Up is one of the handful of books that every stand-up comedian loves. Steve Martin was the first comic to be rockstar huge and he did it by developing an act that was completely different than anything anyone else was doing at the time.
I have read this book six times over the last five years, and each time it reads like a slightly different story. Probably because I am a slightly different reader.
I am always comforted to recall how Mr. Martin spent his first 10 years bombing miserably. How he was on the verge of quitting. How his vision of Funny was not in fashion but he stuck with it and eventually his version of funny became the fashion.
It always makes me think of the local scene where I live. So many comics all sound like clones. Like little Judy Carter spawns. They get some laughs at open mics, but they will not be remembered 10 year from now. There is so little innovation. So little risk-taking. So rare is the comedian who slaps me in the face with a completely original world-view.
I think if a young Steve Martin was still in his first few years in my local scene he would be considered one of the worst comedians in town. Nobody would get him. Other comedians would collectivity laugh AT him and heckle him: HE is not on the bandwagon, What the fuck is that guy doing? ( Probably most of the clone-comics don't even realize how cloney they are). But in the end all the haters and scene-comics would fade away and young Mr. Martin would be vindicated through hard work and an original vision of comedy.
Thats what this book does for me. It makes me look at the odd, strange, ill-fitting young comics who perform to dead silence week after week and makes me wonder who among them will stick with it and stick to their vision and work hard and eventually redefine what it means to be the funniest person on the planet.
Oh and I'm pretty sure that super-original voice will not be seen on Last Comic Standing.
The end of the book, where Mr. Martin talks about getting burnt-out is also very instructive. He says he didn't realize that in the end when he was playing stadiums to rowdy crowds his job had changed. He was still trying to be a comedian, but since everyone already knew all his material, his job should have been to be a party cheerleader. If he would have realized that at the time, he says, he might have enjoyed the fame al little bit more.
I have read this book six times over the last five years, and each time it reads like a slightly different story. Probably because I am a slightly different reader.
I am always comforted to recall how Mr. Martin spent his first 10 years bombing miserably. How he was on the verge of quitting. How his vision of Funny was not in fashion but he stuck with it and eventually his version of funny became the fashion.
It always makes me think of the local scene where I live. So many comics all sound like clones. Like little Judy Carter spawns. They get some laughs at open mics, but they will not be remembered 10 year from now. There is so little innovation. So little risk-taking. So rare is the comedian who slaps me in the face with a completely original world-view.
I think if a young Steve Martin was still in his first few years in my local scene he would be considered one of the worst comedians in town. Nobody would get him. Other comedians would collectivity laugh AT him and heckle him: HE is not on the bandwagon, What the fuck is that guy doing? ( Probably most of the clone-comics don't even realize how cloney they are). But in the end all the haters and scene-comics would fade away and young Mr. Martin would be vindicated through hard work and an original vision of comedy.
Thats what this book does for me. It makes me look at the odd, strange, ill-fitting young comics who perform to dead silence week after week and makes me wonder who among them will stick with it and stick to their vision and work hard and eventually redefine what it means to be the funniest person on the planet.
Oh and I'm pretty sure that super-original voice will not be seen on Last Comic Standing.
The end of the book, where Mr. Martin talks about getting burnt-out is also very instructive. He says he didn't realize that in the end when he was playing stadiums to rowdy crowds his job had changed. He was still trying to be a comedian, but since everyone already knew all his material, his job should have been to be a party cheerleader. If he would have realized that at the time, he says, he might have enjoyed the fame al little bit more.