Turncoat Politics

Steve Martin: nothing funny about Born Standing Up

I don’t mean that in a bad way, actually.  I mean it in a really great way.  I was expecting a travelogue of sorts and memories of killing it on stage high on drugs and still dripping with the scent of last night’s groupie sex session.  Instead it was a story about an under-talented, uncool, awkward kid who found his ax early in life and did everything he could along the way to grind it to the sharpness of a sushi chef’s blade.  From pushing programs as a kid at Disneyland to following around performers and salesmen to learn how they perfected delivery, to hustling performances with no more than empty glasses as the patrons, it is an amazing story where the moments of success are not stumbled upon in a right-place-at-the-right-time way, but crafted through dedication and hard work.  It is a great buy, read, or listen, depending on how digital you are these days.

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