Wild, crazy and shy

In a sense, this book is not an autobiography but a biography, because I am writing about someone I used to know.

Steve Martin, Born Standing Up

How did a shy guy become the world's most popular "wild and crazy guy," while remaining an introvert? Steven Martin tells us in his remarkable memoir Born Standing Up (2007).

Martin got his start when Disneyland opened in Anaheim, just a bicycle ride from his home. He started working there as a 10-year-old, passing out brochures. Already fascinated by magic, he hung out in the magic shops in the park and eventually got a job at one of them, demonstrating tricks and learning the comic patter.

He traces the real start to his show business career to the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott's Berry Farm, where as a teenager he performed regularly in a variety of acts for park visitors, including solo performances incorporating magic, banjo picking and comedy, most of the latter borrowed from others. Then came the long, lonely road of trying to make it as a standup comic traveling across the country from one small club to another, sometimes performing for, quite literally, an empty house.

Success came gradually, thanks to television appearances and a comedy record. He says it took years for Johnny Carson to get his act, scheduling him only when his show had a guest host. Martin clicked with Carson about the same time he clicked with everyone else, and almost overnight he was performing to crowds of thousands of people. Martin calls this success "the loneliest period of my life." It was a life lived mostly on stage and in hotel rooms, his sudden fame making it impossible for him to walk down the street or eat in a restaurant.

Martin tells about his appearances on Saturday Night Live and the beginning of his movie career, both of which multiplied his income, fame and loneliness. He quit stand-up after a performance in Atlantic City. "I  went to my dressing room, opened my travel-weary black prop case, and stowed away my magic act, thinking that one day I would open it and look at it sentimentally, which for no particular reason, I haven't."

Yet Martin does get sentimental about the Bird Cage Theatre, which he returned to refresh the memories it holds, and about his family. He says he never felt loved by his father and never got close to his older sister, yet once his days on the road ended he was able to connect meaningfully with both of them.

Martin, the author of several books, is a terrific writer. His memoir moves along spritely, full of humor and grace. And lots of photos.