I would occasionally assist on a college stage production-never appearing in one-as a member of the crew. In the dream-like world of childhood memories, so often vague and imprecise, Disneyland remains for me not only vivid in memory, but vivid in fact.ĭuring the day, I attended Santa Ana Junior College, taking drama classes and pursuing an unexpected interest in English poetry from Donne to Eliot. The paint is fresh, and the only wear allowed is faux. Every nail and screw is the same, and Disneyland looks as new now as it did then. Even now when I visit Disneyland, I am steeped in melancholy, because a corporation has preserved my nostalgia impeccably. I remembered my youth, when every moment was crisply present, when heartbreak and joy replaced each other quickly, fully and without trauma. Looking at the counter where I pitched Svengali Decks and the Incredible Shrinking Die, I was awash with the recollection of indelible nights where the sky was blown open by fireworks and big band sounds drifted through trees strung with fairy lights. As I looked around the eerily familiar room another first came over me, a previously unknown emotion, one that was to have a curious force over me for the rest my life: the longing tug of nostalgia. Ten years later, after the Beatles, drugs, and Vietnam had changed the entire tenor of American life, I returned to the magic shop at Disneyland and stood as a stranger. Three Bonus Deleted Passages from Steve Martin's Born Standing Up Illustrated throughout with black and white photographs collected by Martin, this book is instantly compelling visually and a spectacularly good read. Though Martin is reticent about his personal life, he is also stunningly deft, and manages to give readers a feeling of intimacy and candor. This book is a memoir, but it is also an illuminating guidebook to stand-up from one of our two or three greatest comedians.
And he writes about how he figured out what worked on stage. He writes about fear, anxiety and loneliness. He writes about mentors, girlfriends, his complex relationship with his parents and sister, and about some of his great peers in comedy-Dan Ackroyd, Lorne Michaels, Carl Reiner, Johnny Carson. He writes about making the very tough decision to sacrifice everything not original in his act, and about lucking into a job writing for The Smothers Brothers Show. Obsession is a substitute for talent, he has said, and Steve Martin's focus and daring-his sheer tenacity-are truly stunning. By age 20, studying poetry and philosophy on the side, he was performing a dozen times a week, most often at the Disney rival, Knott's Berry Farm. In the decade that followed, he worked in Disney's magic shop, print shop, and theater, and developed his own magic/comedy act. At age 10, Steve Martin got a job selling guidebooks at the newly opened Disneyland.
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