Born standing up
by Steve Martin · first published 2007
78% recommend22% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Well-written memoir tracing Steve Martin's years of experimenting, refining his odd comedy style, and failing before success. Suits comedy fans and anyone curious how creative work gets built over time.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The author shares the stories of his years in stand-up comedy in a humorous memoir that recalls a first job selling guidebooks at Disneyland, his early magic and comedy act, his years of honing his craft, and the sacrifice, discipline, and originality it took to take him to the top.
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What Hacker News says
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The one that stands out to me the most because it's so quirky is Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman. And in second place I'd have to suggest Born Standing Up by Steve Martin.
on “Ask HN: What is the best autobiography you have read?” ↗I highly recommend Born Standing Up by Steve Martin if you're at all into comedy. One of the more enjoyable books I read recently. I'd say it was entirely unrelated to Hacker News, but pmarca did paraphrase it in his talk at SuS.
on “Ask HN: What are some good biographies to read?” ↗On a related note, if you find this line of thought interesting, you'd probably enjoy Steve Martin's Born Standing Up. It's a beautifully written memoir in which he tells the story of how he became one of the most successful stand-up comedians ever. I'm not much of a reader, but for what it's worth, it's probably the…
on “Outrageous success - genius or hard work ? Malcolm Gladwell analyses.” ↗…Ed Catmull -- Creativity, Inc. Read this for work. Enjoyable but ehh. Peter Tompkins -- The Secret Life of Plants (unfinished). I tried but couldn't get past the rampant bad science. Steve Martin -- Born Standing Up. This was a fun profile of a comic that I appreciate; if you're already a fan it's worthwhile, otherwise skip it. Derek Sivers -- Anything You Want. You can blow through this in a day and you should.…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗Born Standing Up by Steve Martin, wry observations on growing up to become really really creative. It makes me less sad that I left magic tricks behind me.
on “Ask YC: Read any good books lately?” ↗…http://www.amazon.com/dp/0679757473 "Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer" by Lynne Cox Her story is all about single focus on doing what you want to do. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013L8AQQ "Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life" by Steve Martin http://www.amazon.com/dp/1416553657
on “Ask HN: What literature do you read?” ↗The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life - Mark Manson Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) by Richard Feynman Born Standing Up by Steve Martin
on “Ask HN: What books have most influenced the way you see the world?” ↗The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo Born Standing Up (Steve Martin's autobiography)
on “Ask HN: Biographies recommendations – both Westerner and Non-westerner” ↗Here are some that I've enjoyed reading: Steve Martin - Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life Kevin Mitnick - Ghost In The Wires Kenneth Roman - The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising Walter Isaacson - Steve Jobs Alan Deutschman - The…
on “Ask HN: Biographies recommendations – both Westerner and Non-westerner” ↗Born Standing Up by Steve Martin is really a great read -- much of the short book focuses on the weird process of experimenting and refining as he developed a new style of comedy (at the time).
on “Ask HN: What is the best autobiography you have read?” ↗Steve Martin's biography "Born Standing Up" is all about his life before he became a sensation. It's not engineering, but it details a lot of failures.
on “Let there be more biographies of failures” ↗Strong second for Born Standing Up, just in case anyone was on the fence. Steve Martin is a delight. (Get the paperback if you can, the edition I have is the most well-weighted and well-proportioned high-quality paperback I think I own.…
on “Books I Loved Reading in 2024” ↗Steve Martin - "Born Standing Up" is a nice one.
on “Ask HN: Favorite audio book for long drives?” ↗The really interesting thing to me is how much work it took him to earn his success. In his book "Born Standing Up" he goes more into his adolescence, where he learned stagecraft, acting, and improvisation. Then as a comedian, years of refining his odd formula until he became great at it.
on “Being Funny: How Steve Martin got his act together” ↗…the rules of what is good stand up comedy which is probably why studying comedy using "via negativa" or any other logical approach may not work. Steve Martin touched upon this a little bit in his book "Born Standing Up" and there is a mention of his Philosophy background on his wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Martin#Early_life_and_ed...
on “Alan Moore: Every aspiring writer should read terrible books (2022) [video]” ↗