Maybe it was my fault for assuming a book written by a comedian, about his years as a stand-up comic, would be funny. In any case, it isn’t.
What it is is an autobiography of Steve Martin’s early life and career as he became a performer whose act evolved from magic to music to comedy. He tells us about his time working at DisneyLand in the magic shop; his experience writing for the Smothers Brothers TV show; and his appearances on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. All of this ended up molding his comedy act and making him (at the time) the best-selling stand-up comedian ever.
Of course, this is a book solely about that time in his life so once he decided to retire from stand-up in 1981, and focus solely on movies, the book ends. We get some mention of The Jerk and his hosting appearances on SNL but nothing on what made him a household name. It’s a bit disappointing.
The most interesting takeaway from this read was how Martin’s relationship with his family was close to non-existent. He had practically no contact with his parents or sister for upwards of 10 years. His father never respected what he did and always had negative comments about his work. It was impressive to see how that kind of home life is what initially drew him to extracurricular activities such as magic and comedy so he could spend more time outside of the house. And that it would pay off doubly when he became so extremely successful.
wahoo, you're reading again!
ReplyDelete