Reddit reviews Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life

Just a reminder that Steve Martin literally wrote the book about performing comedy in front of a live audience.

Born Standing Up by Steve Martin. That book reminded me of Bossypants.

I have a lot of thoughts about it, but there's nothing I can say quickly. There are some great books by much smarter people than me on the /r/comedywriting reading list:

• Jokes: Philosophical Thoughts on Joking Matters - Ted Cohen
  
• Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life - Steve Martin
  
• The Comic Toolbox: How To Be Funny Even if You're Not - John Vorhaus
  
• And Here's the Kicker: Conversations with 21 Top Humor Writers on their Craft - Mike Sacks
  
  There's also /r/standup. Doing standup has greatly informed my writing. I highly recommend it for anyone who thinks they're funny.

So far:

1. Odd Type Writers: From Joyce and Dickens to Wharton and Welty, the Obsessive Habits and Quirky Techniques of Great Authors by Celia Blue Johnson
   
2. Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin
   
3. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
   
4. The Stuff of Though: Language as a Window into Human Nature by Steven Pinker
   
5. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
   
   I believe that's it, currently I'm reading All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy as well as Alphabet Juice by Roy Blount Jr.

It only touches on SNL a little bit but Steve Martin's Born Standing Up is a great book.

>Jubal Early version

Oh, how fun it is now to share some Firefly references. He was quite the character.

>retraced the steps

Now, it seems like if you'd retraced all the steps, you'd have the ladder up and down which they were taken. ; )

A coworker having borrowed it makes sense, although it would have created fewer loose ends to have asked you or let you know. Given the option of asking and possibly hearing a no versus grabbing for a sure acquisition and possibly later chastisement, some choose the latter.

Is the mine shop pretty tidy as far as the idea that there's a place for everything and everything in its place? I've always liked the idea of tool outlines on mounting walls. : )

Did you enjoy your lunch with Sam? : ) Maybe he has your ladder. : )

I liked Cruel Shoes a lot. Born Standing Up was pretty enlightening about life as a comic and Martin himself.

I read a short biography he did. Born standing up Which was very entertaining. It was one of those books that i couldn't put down.

Steve Martin's book is great.

Also, buy (or borrow) live comedy albums. Listening will make you focus on the timing and anatomy of a joke. See if your favorites have comedy albums you can get ahold of. I personally think Bill Cosby's "Himself" (check your library) and Mitch Hedberg's "Mitch All Together" are great.

Listen to a lot of different people just to get a frame of reference and history, but don't try to imitate anyone. Hear a bunch of voices to know what's been done and how, but don't let it keep you from finding your own voice.

https://www.amazon.com/Born-Standing-Up-Comics-Life/dp/1416553657

You can read about those days.

Both Steve and Martin Short are highly intellectual and represent the kind of individuals Stern would like to align himself with.

Stern too is highly intellectual and over the last decade has attempted to master disciplines in chess, photography, painting and guitar.

This is a very admirable quality and something I am certain he has in common with the aforementioned.

I also question if he might have over-researched his subject based upon knowledge available in the 1970s.

The ability to interview well is enhanced when the interviewer is knowledgable about its subject.

Steve wrote a wonderful memoir and had Stern read it he might realize that there is so much more about the man than what occurred 40 years ago.

Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
by Steve Martin
Link: http://amzn.com/1416553657