Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up
February 28, 2008 · Print This Article
It’s the book report 2 months in the making. Is Steve Martin’s comedy autobiography really the greatest comedy book ever, or is it just hype?
Other topics include Brian tooting his own horn, exercising your comedy muscle, comics continue to share the love, the best waste of a day ever, and cracking jokes at school without getting expelled. Rednecks fuck their sisters!
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com and give us a call on 206-203-4692
Just a note on “Born Standing Up”: You can get the unabridged audiobook read by Steve Martin as a download from Audible.com or on CD from places like Amazon.com. Not sure if Brian mentioned that, since I’m posting without listening all the way through the podcast.
Hey Brian,
Can you put up the link to buy the History of the Joke special?
Thanks
Thanks, Brian, for the spotlight. I’m honored. I have to make a confession, though. That snippet is from a feature spot I did with Drew Hastings, and the room was near capacity. So even the couple moments where it sounds like I’m doing well, I’m not.
I was reading punchline today and i saw an article about something called “comedy trafic school”. apparently its a class a traffic instructor can take and make the classes fun. my question is are there other classes for other professions so you can be funnier. you know like lawyers, firefighters, undertakers, do they have specilty comey classes? anybody know.
You know im just now learning about this robert schimal guy, and he’s hilarious.
Brian: I read recently - I think at Shecky - that somewhere in Vegas someone is starting up a comedy night where the audience is encouraged to heckle. What’s the deal with that?
Patrick: Schimmel is a class act and very cool. Don’t miss a chance to see him. The cancer slide show he does may be the best closing 5 minutes I’ve ever seen.
Hey there guys:
I listened to the audio book version of Born Standing Up and I highly recommend it. It is read by Steve Martin and is delivered in a somewhat deadpan manner, but there are certain asides delivered that may not come across the same when read.
I loved the audiobook. I’m in my early 40s and grew up in a small town without cable, so we didn’t get the Tonight Show or Saturday Night Live, but Martin was such a star that you knew who he was without seeing much of him and before his movies came out.
I read a few performer’s autobiographies and in a lot of them I dread the early chapter about growing up and can’t wait for them to get to part where they are getting into performing. This book was the rare example where I was as interested in the early chapters as the later ones. Part of it is that he had an interesting childhood (I can only imagine how great it was to hop on your bike to ride to your summer job at the newly opened Disneyland) and it also had an impact on the development of his act.
I found the business side of stand up interesting as well. One thing that I think it encourage was the freedom for Martin to experiment with his act and come up with his original take on things. It is strange to have a comedian open for a folk duo, so you might as well make it really strange.
The one thing about today’s scene is that there is a fair amount of sameness to everything. You don’t have the Steve Martins or Andy Kauffman’s breaking through and becoming breakout hits. Even if you look at the popular comedy acts from the 60s there were different styles; there were the guys who did monologues like Bob Newhart or Shelley Berman that were almost like scetch comedy, you had story tellers like Bill Cosby, there were a lot of comedy duos, it wasn’t all guys in front of bricks talking about what happened to them yesterday at the ATM machine.
Martin really takes you inside his creative process and after I finished the book I re-watched the SNL disc featuring him and watching the stand up portions is really interesting when you are more familiar with his concepts on comedy.
I haven’t heard that Dan and when I find out where it is I’m going to burn the club down. It would be fine, except you know these dolts are going to think heckling is ok at every club.
A club where the hecklers are seemingly as important than the acts has already been done - at least in the UK. A colourful and now deceased comedian called Malcolm Hardee ran 2 clubs in London called The Tunnel Club and Up The Creek where the same local audience turned up every week just to heckle the open spots like some weird spectator sport. Sounds awful, but there were 2 good things about this set-up -1: If you were an open spot and could survive 5 minutes without being booed off, you genuinely felt like a full-time pro afterwards. And 2: Some of the heckles were inspired and legendary.
One poor open-spot began his act with the set-up ” I used to be a schizophrenic…”
Before he could even start the punchline, someone in the audience shouted out ” WELL WHY DON’T YOU BOTH FUCK OFF THEN?!”
Oh dude, I thought that was actually just folk lore, I guess this must mean that there are actually a bunch of the comedian urban legends that are actually true. Or does it?!
shit, people are actually encourageing people to heckle, thats not good. ive only had to deal with hecklers a few times before and barely gotten past em. we dont need more of those drunken morons, we need to get rid of the ones we already have. god damn it.
Well, if the two clubs that were name checked are accurate, this would have been atleast 10-15 years ago. Remember, some of the British Alt comedians are now grand parents, maybe even great grand parents.
Now I can’t find the article about the “heckle club.” If I find it again, I’ll post it.
Robert Schimmel has a new book out, “Cancer on $5 a Day (Chemo not included).” Find it at Amazon.
And my vote for comics to spotlight: Danny Bevins. His CD, “A Different Kind of Bad,” is awesome. Smart, edgy, political with no pretentiousness whatsoever.
Oh you all probably know this already but george carlin is doing a new special tonght, Saturday 1st, and its live on HBO. The live aspect is very interesting since i cant really remember ever seeing an actual live stand up event since all the stuff ive seen were usually reruns on comedy central. so this will be cool. also CARLIN=AWESOME
Oh, by the way, in reference to the circ discuss, I’m from New Zealand, not the U.K; I wish I was from there, that way I wouldn’t sound like a fucking Australian to, like, anyone from a country that actually gets Christmas in Winter. You Northern bastards.
“Oh dude, I thought that was actually just folk lore, I guess this must mean that there are actually a bunch of the comedian urban legends that are actually true. Or does it?!”
It seems to be a true story. Malcolm Hardee brought out an autobiography years back detailing all his naughty comedy adventures with the brilliant title of “I STOLE FREDDIE MERCURY’S BIRTHDAY CAKE”. (which he actually did.)
Fuck Lance Armstrong!!
Just watched the Carling special and thought it was miles better that his last one. I remember him admitting his was sick during the last special and its wasn’t his best performance.
What do think Brian? I know you’ve been pretty critical of his recent work. I also thin that he has been very hit and miss for about the last 10-1 5 years. This one definately had some good routines in it though. I saw him in around 98/99 in college and i thought it was a really good set then.
I just caught the last 10 minutes of Carlin’s special. It was pretty damn good though. His (as well as many others like Stanhope and other political ranters) material has become less funny though and just more poignant. It invokes more applause than laughter. I don’t know if one is better than the other but I feel a good balance is good.
Nonetheless, he’s a hero of mine. A very good, smart writer.
I’m gonna go with the group here. For me, this was the best Carlin special in at least 5 years. I’ve been feeling that for the past decade he’s been becoming more preachy and less funny, and the special he did last year touched on the “sad” category. But last night’s special was funny and he was back to the kind of performing that made him a legend. We’ll have Mike on soon to discuss. I’m interested in hearing his take.
yep carlin’s still got it at as far as im concerned. I think with this special carlin should be named the greatest comic who has ever lived. becuase he’s still doin his thing, he’s the only one of the older generation still constantly touring, and he’s like what 70 years old and still going and all the while people like george lopez are retiring at 55. he will always be my biggest influence and the kind of comic that comes around once in a lifetime. thank you HBO
I wouldn’t mind checking out that Carlin special myself, he didn’t really become well known this side of the pond but I was aware of his “usage of fuck” and “seven things you can’t say on television” sketches. I had also seen the first episode of SNL. I just read the chapter on him in “Comedy at the Edge” and he seems to be somebody worth checking out. Does anyone have any suggestions of which one of his CDs to pick up first?
Whilst talking about comedy legends, we are commemorating the 10th anniversary of the death of one of Ireland’s best comedy exports at the minute. I am talking of course of Dermot Morgan, who most people will probably remember as “Father Ted” anyone who has yet to see Father Ted, I’d recommend that you head straight to Amazon and order the boxset! It’s possibly one of the greatest sit-coms of all time.
Brian C: Occupation Foole is one of my favorites, along with Classic Gold. Those are from 30+ years ago but some of his most brilliant material in my opinion.
Would definitley like to check out the new Carlin special. I thought his last one Life Is Worth Losing was dire - too much misanthropic ranting and not enough comedy - he also seemed to fumble and stumble over his material a tad too much for comfort too.
Good to hear Carlin is back on form though.
if you had to start with carlin i recomend his records class clown or occupation fool. if you want to listen to something more recent i recomend back in town, its my personal favorite. check out the capital punishment bit.
I gotta go with Classic Gold as my favorite Carlin album, but there are probably 5-6 you can’t go wrong with.
hey brian, great show as always!
did you see saturday night live last night? weak episode, but it had an appearance of my favorite satire of a “smart new york comedian”, nicholas fehn.
you guys can check out the video here:
http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/03/02/saturday-night-live-ellen-page-wilco-videos/
(it’s midway down the page)
brian, as a guy who has spent a lot of time in new york, don’t you agree that this is so dead on as to be eerie? it reminds me of every bullshit open mic in the city…
(i’m curious if our friends from england have the same type of preening “smart” comedian sullying the open mics across the pond…)
wow. i dont know what to make of that, its either the smartest piece of writing ever or the more likely choice as the biggest turd on telivision to date. ive personally lost faith in SNL, Although i still respect its past, and the last episode i actually luaghed about was the one seth rogen hosted. Is it just me?
oh, one other SNL related topic. Is it really that hard to find somebody to play Obama in new york. I was reading Deadfrog.com the last few weeks and it said that talent coordinators from SNL were scouring everywhere for someone to play him. now i realize that Obama isnt really that funny…yet, but of the thousands of black comics out there they cant find one, not one person with a halfway decent impression. come on.
Jay Black- Are you reviewing next season’s LCS? I saw your posts while reading takes on this past seasons LCS, and then I noticed that you wrote about Ralph Harris saying support live comedy, and then plugging yourself, and then I was like oh, is this THE Jay Black from BTB? Why yes it is. And then I was like oh cool, and thought I would ask. And yeah… lolz
So, then, is that adage about comedians who are smart act dumb and the ones that are dumb act smart, actually containing a it of truth?
nic — that adage is a pretty good one. i’d extend it from “stand-up comedy” to “most walks of life.”
mike — i’m not sure if AOL is going to ask me to review this season or not. i told them that i most certainly do _not_ want to watch it this year (watching every single episode of that train wreck of aborted angel fetuses almost broke me), but i’m a team player. and, by team player, i mean i’m unwilling to stand up to my editors and will do whatever they tell me
as themshow gets closer to air, i’m sure that we’ll be having a discussion about it.
if any of you are interested in my last comic standing coverage (or any of the columns i’ve written for aol), you can find them here:
http://www.tvsquad.com/bloggers/jay-black
patrick — i actually like armisen’s take on obama. if not for any other reason than because it appears to be a full on black-face revival and _no one seems upset about it._ this means that we’ve either progressed so far as a society that the idea of a putting black face on a performer isn’t seen as a racial attack so much as a realistic attempt at getting an actor to look more like the person he’s portraying OR it means that no one is watching saturday night live.
probably the latter
“(i’m curious if our friends from england have the same type of preening “smart” comedian sullying the open mics across the pond…)”
There’s definitely a level of that 0ver here with certain acts, Jay.
I was a bit baffled by the SNL spoof at first, mainly because I was distracted how much the SNL guy eerily physically resembled our very own TV chef Jamie Oliver.
But you don’t see that kind of comedian on the UK stand-up circuit so much - they’re too busy appearing on TV! One of the hottest comics in the UK right now is a guy called Russell Brand . His material can be funny sometimes, but he’s more famous for his rockstar looks , bohemian lifestyle, and his serial-shagging of hot chicks like Kate Moss.
But a major part of his live act involves flicking through the local newspaper of the town he’s appearing in and riffing on the headlines. Check out this clip of him in action - he’s not a million miles away fron the SNL parody character.
[url]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=I7TT67JRQZo[/url]
“(i’m curious if our friends from england have the same type of preening “smart” comedian sullying the open mics across the pond…)”
There’s definitely a level of that 0ver here with certain acts, Jay.
I was a bit baffled by the SNL spoof at first, mainly because I was distracted how much the SNL guy eerily physically resembled our very own TV chef Jamie Oliver.
But you don’t see that kind of comedian on the UK stand-up circuit so much - they’re too busy appearing on TV! One of the hottest comics in the UK right now is a guy called Russell Brand . His material can be funny sometimes, but he’s more famous for his rockstar looks , bohemian lifestyle, and his serial-shagging of hot chicks like Kate Moss.
A major part of his live act involves flicking through the local newspaper of the town he’s appearing in and riffing on the headlines. Check out this clip of him in action - he’s not a million miles away fron the SNL parody character.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=I7TT67JRQZo
.
I think they did a good job getting Armissen to look the part of Obama. I can understand how people bring up the blackface argument, but I dont see it like that with his Obama portrayal. Darrell Hammond does a hillarious Jesse Jackson impression in black makeup and Frank Caliendo does a decent Charles Barkeley too. No race issues brought up there, that I’m aware of.
I think the blackface argument would be more substantive if Armissen was doing something completely egregious like a heavy ghetto accent or something while portraying Obama.
But I think the more important issue to look at here is the simple fact that there is clearly a decline of talent among SNL cast members in recent years. Like when I saw Armissen do Obama, the first thing I thought was “ok, he’s playing this role b/c they didnt have anyone else to do it.”
Another substantive issue to look at is the simple fact that SNL has very little people of color on their show. I think Kenan Thompson is the only one, whose crackerjack resume includes the Fat Albert movie and a string of stinkers on Nickelodeon.
Armissen might have had the look and gestures down, but you could easily tell he didnt know how to do his voice. Which is why the writers probably kept his speaking lines to a minimum.
I think the best person to play Barack Obama, tho I highly doubt NBC would be able to land him, would be Phil Lamarr, the ex Mad TV cast member. Some of you might remember him from the guy John Travolta accidentally shot in the car in Pulp Fiction. I dont know why I think he’d be the best person to play him, he just gives me the vibe that he could pull it off.
The last time I paid much attention to SNL was the Hartmann/Farley era. SNL Update hasn’t been that entertaining since Dennis Miller, imo. One thing I’ve never understood is why they don’t try to make it look like an actual newscast, complete with silly headline ticker - more like what they now do at The Onion. The tone of SNL in general, and Update in particular, has become too self-aware - “We know it’s just a skit and we’re letting you know we know.” It’s almost a parody of itself at times. I hate that.
Hey all,
1) Aman and all- Phil Lamaar for all you gamers is also the guy who voices Vamp from the Metal Gear Solid series….also starring Lori Alan of Family Guy fame…..I’m such a geek.
2) FOR ALL MY FELLOW BRITS: esp. those from London.
Rick Shaprio will be in the Soho Theatre from the 6th March to 20th.
If you haven’t seen him go do it!!!…I saw him at the Edinburgh Fringe where a fight nearly broke out after the show!! Awesome US comic. I’m sure people can vouch!
Nick
http://www.sohotheatre.com/pl1430.html
i think i might have been a little understood, it’s not that i think blackface is offensive, in fact nowadays it’s mocking what it origanally stood for. but i think my want for a new black SNL player stems from the fact that i think that its time for a new cast overhual. only a few castmembers really make me luagh(Bill Hader, Darrel Hamond, Amy Poehler, and Andy Samberg) and i would really like to witness a really good couple of seasons of SNL at its finest. Some of my earliest comedic influences were on SNL,(Belushi, Farley, Rock, Murrey, Ferrel, ect.). and from the looks of things Obama could really possibly be the next president. And Comedecally they need to be ready.
Wait….isnt this a stand up forum? Why am I taliking about this?….BILL HICKS FOREVER!!!!
Hi folks,
Great variety of topics on the boards this week.
On the Steve Martin book, my only complaint was that it wasn’t long enough. I loved all of it and would loved to have had more.
I agree with Kevin in Calgary, I tend to dread the early years in any biography as well, but Steve Martin’s was so well written. I’ll definitely have to check out the Audio Book.
On a new thread: Brian, you mentioned the importance of hanging out with comedians, maybe buying them a beer or two after the show and learning more. I’m encouraging fans to start something that’s based on the joke: a guy walks up to a girl and says can I buy you a drink. She says no, but can I have the money?
Instead of buying a struggling comic a beer, give them the 5 bucks and chat. (Or a beer + $5!) Believe me, if you’ve driven 4 1/2 hours to perform a 20 minute set for $50, $5 more would greatly appreciated! Namely, because while the beer is great, you can’t get buy a Burger King combo after the show with the empty.
Cheers.
Don in Nova Scotia
“A major part of his live act involves flicking through the local newspaper of the town he’s appearing in and riffing on the headlines.”
Wow. Mort Sahl, anyone? Apparently if all you want is your fifteen minutes of fame just steal a 50 year old routine from a comedian from another continent and you’re in! I guess they’re not entirely the same, but I think the device is a little hacky now. Sahl flipped through the paper looking for targets of political satire and actually had some wit, this guy just seems like a douche.
Excellent show this week ( or last week now…..playing catch up )
Haven’t got Steve Martins book yet, but certainly will soon ( but not sure if the link at the start follows thru to Amazon UK )
Looking forward to the new look website
Quick question to you guys in the US…….a lot of what i hear Brian talk about when recommending Stand up is CD’s ……. is that the way most of your comics bring out their Stand up??
I ask because i have a fair few CD’s…..even more Casettes but mainly Videos and DVDs because thats how the stand up is usually released……and then the same thing is released on CD, thus not making worth buying.
From what i’ve seen there is very little released on Audio alone here in the UK
When I get comedy DVDs I usually rip the audio to my iPod and listen to them as I walk home from work. Usually I prefer it that way, but you come across the odd visual gag! There is about 10 minutes at the start of a Jimmy Carr DVD that to this day I don’t know what was going on to make the audience laugh. I was beginnning to think that I had screwed up when ripping the DVD, and recorded only the audience reaction and not the comedian. I could just watch the DVD to find out, but I prefer to live in ignorance.
As a humourous aside to this story, a few years ago in Dublin a local radio station was running a Dublin’s Funniest Comedian competition. Who won? A mime artist!
A mime? You mean they actually excist. wow. any way CJack, as far as CD’s go ithink here in the u.s. they allow a comedian larger exposure than a telivision special. as far as i know here theyre two seperate beasts.
“Sahl flipped through the paper looking for targets of political satire and actually had some wit, this guy just seems like a douche.”
Whats’s even worse is Russell Brand is so self-obsessed, a lot of the newspaper stories he chooses to discuss are tabloid gossip revelations about his own sex life. The guy can be very funny sometimes, but his narcissism and ego make Donald Trump look like Forest Gump.
I personally am a cd when it comes to comedy. Most major artists who turn a tv special into an album will release it on both. The reason I prefer cd’s is the reason Brian C gave, I love to listen to then on the road, airplane, etc. For some reason when I buy a dvd, comedy or otherwise, I pretty much watch it once and never pick it up again. How’s that for living in a wasteful capitalist society!
I concur with Brian
Yeah in the Uk, theres no culture of releasing CDs, even with the top comics…it’s all around CDs.
Steve Hughes (who is an aussie working in UK) is one of the only ones I’ve seen do this.
It’s weird…
so it seems comedy central is going to be doing another roast, this time its willie nelson. so theyll probably be bringing out lampenelli, oswalt, colin quin or something to rast him. and probably throw in some redneck guys for good measure. As of right now im not very excited.
Thanks for the answers guys, especially ripping the DVD audio, i’ll look into how to do that, fab idea…………..especially when there DVDs i haven’t even watched……….
OK I love the roasts but I bet everyone on this board has already written the jokes for Willie’s in their head….
‘Willie is so old the first joint he ever smoked was the first joint EVER smoked.’
‘Wille has avoided more taxes than a millionaire under the Bush regime.’
Hey, maybe I should hired!
BTW, was reading a good article by Dylan Gadino on Punchline where I think he does a readlly good job defending him. I still hate the asshole but nice one Dylan…..you should get him back on the show B-mo I enjoyed your interviews.
http://punchlinemagazine.com/blog/?p=727#comments
CDs have one major advantage over ripping DVD audio, when you rip the DVD audio you end up with one extra long track containing the whole show. CDs split the show into easily manageable tracks. At first I used a programme that split the 1 file into more manageable five minute tracks, I did this when I got the Adam Hills Live in the Suburbs DVD. On numerous occasions since, I have had the iPod on random, and was enjoying a good Adam Hills bit when just before the punchline the track ends. Grrr.
So CDs are the way forward I think!
I agree CD’s are better espicially for Ripping but as i previously said we don’t get a lot of CD’s for stand up in the UK, but being able to rip the DVDs i’ve already got to audio is something i’ll give a try…….once i find the right sofeware to purchase
Adam hills DVD….didn’t know he had one…..ill look for that ta
It was never released in this hemisphere, you may have to get it imported from Oz. The DVD claims to be Region 4 only, but will work in my Region 2 DVD player. I love when DVDs do that.
Speaking of Hillsy, any chance of playing a bit of Adam Hills in “All request March” Brian?