Outside Reading 6

One night the guitar that was supposed to come down from the rafters during his King Tut routine did not come down. He went on without it but after the show he felt utter rage. Not because the guitar did not come down, because he felt that he was losing his touch with his comedic side. He continued to feel lonely, continued to be in bad health, and continued to hate the fame he had. After that show he decided to leave the stand up world and hopefully move into movies. He worked in films and enjoyed it but he still was not feeling better. Finally he decided to leave the show business temporarily. After being told by a friend (whose dad was killed in a car accident and mom committed suicide on Mother's Day)to reconcile with his family before it was too late, he reconnected with his family. He caught up with his sister who had been following his comedic career even though they barely spoke. His relationship with his father started to get better towards the end. They finally said "I love you" to each other and had a tearful good bye when his dad died in 1999. His mom also went into a state of decline after her husbands death. Steve would continue to visit her frequently and make up with her. After her death Steve would go back to show business and continue to make a name for himself. To sum up this book, I leave you with this quote from Steve Martin: "Well, we've had a good time tonight, considering we're all going to die someday."

Outside Reading 5

When Steve Martin was twenty seven, he decided that he would give himself three more years to finally make it as a stand up comic, or go back to college and find himself a real career. He decided to try and be the main eventer instead of the opening act. His first three shows he headlined had no ticket sales. Not a single ticket was sold. After appearing numerous times on the Johnny Carson show, he started to make a name for himself. He started appearing in sold out clubs that seated one thousand, to clubs that seated two thousand, to clubs that seated three thousand. After his first appearance on Saturday Night Live, he sold out a club that held six thousand seats. After this he continued touring. He started performing in stadiums seating twenty thousand plus. Even with all this success he started to feel isolated from real life. He once asked a girl out on a date, and during the dinner she started talking about her boyfriend. It turned out that the boyfriend knows that she was on the date and he thought that that was great. Steve lost touch with his family and only reconnected with them after he left the stand up world.

Outside Reading 4

Summarizing what happens in an autobiography is too tough. So instead I'm going to post some stories that are in the book that are entertaining. One of these stories is a story of a passionate night of love making. Remember this is the 60s and free love was the in thing to do. So after they got down to business, the girl asks if she can take Steve Martin's picture. This was early in his career and he was not famous at this time. Anyway he says yes and she goes to fetch her camera. As hes laying on the bed he sees a book lying next to the bed with a picture of Latino man shirtless. He picks it up and starts to flip through the book. The whole book is full of men, shirtless, sitting the same exact bed that he was sitting in. The girl returned to find an empty bed.

Another story is also a funny one. Steve was performing at a college filled with about two hundred students. When Steve finished his act, he could not leave the stage because the stage had no backstage or wings. As he started to pack his props, he noticed that none of audience members were leaving. He turned back to the crowd and said "Its over". Still no one left. He started to walk towards the exit that was on the oppisite side of the room and the audience continued following him because they thought that this was part of the act. Steve then led the audience to a unfilled pool and told the crowd to get in where he then tried to swim across them.

vocab

aspersions- An unfavorable or damaging remark; slander
disputatious- fond of or given to disputation; argumentative; contentious:
dissolute- indifferent to moral restraints; given to immoral or improper conduct; licentious; dissipated.
distend-to expand by stretching, as something hollow or elastic: Habitual overeating had distended his stomach. to spread in all directions; expand; swell: The sea distended about them.
dour- extremely serious and stern; forbidding
folly- the state or quality of being foolish; lack of understanding or sense.
frank- direct and unreserved in speech; straightforward; sincere
iniquity- gross injustice or wickedness.
obfuscate- to confuse, bewilder, or stupefy.
patsy- a person who is easily swindled, deceived, coerced, persuaded, etc.; sucker.
sanguine- cheerfully optimistic, hopeful, or confident
self-effacing- the act or fact of keeping oneself in the background, as in humility
stolid- not easily stirred or moved mentally; unemotional; impassive.
tenacity- persistent determination
tractable- easily managed or controlled; docile; yielding
unabashed- Not disconcerted or embarrassed; poised.
wry- produced by a distortion or lopsidedness of the facial features
morals- of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical
ethics- a system of moral principles
peevishness- cross, querulous, or fretful, as from vexation or discontent

yup

Name: Hr:

Accountability Sheet


Directions: Please list everything you feel you contributed to this project. Be specific.































Your group members need to sign and date your sheet in the area below. In signing, they are agreeing that you did in fact complete these tasks.

Outside Reading 3

The next chapter deals with his realization that he truly wants to be a stand up comic. Everyday before his gig he would walk by many other more famous clubs where many other comic became noticed such as the Smothers Brothers, the Kingston Trio, and Lenny Bruce. He would finally come to the club he worked at, The Coffee and Confusion. He would always survey the audience and noted that there were only 15 people attending. His gig that night didn't go so well he thought. He played music and encouraged the audience to sing along, most didn't, he did a magic trick which had him stick his tongue through a napkin. Surprisingly he was asked to perform again next week as an opening act. Later he found out that he was only asked to perform was because the owner needed to hire a union worker. Steve had entered the musicians union because he thought it would look good, and because the musicians union was the cheapest to join. The opening act, as it turns out, was used to lure customers into the club. He would spend the most of the time talking to no one until someone finally comes in. After a week of this act he realized that his act was more of a parody of a stand up comedian, and with this realization he worked on more material with this in mind.

Outside Reading 2

"Born Standing Up" starts out with a Beforehand chapter. He briefly talks about his stand up career in general. He says he spent 18 years in stand up, ten years learning, 4 years refining, and 4 years making it big. He recalls that he never enjoyed actually doing his routine. He was always thinking about what and when to say next. He did enjoy the after show elation. He also says that being a stand up comedian is the ego's last stand. The 70's were his years, as he spent most of his stand up career in that time period. He has lots of memories of the time, but no actual memory of the actual performance. He says that all routines at every venue are the same; on stage, blinded by lights, and looking into darkness. He also explains that distractions really hurt a comic's performance. He explains that many times he had to worry about the sound system, ambient noise, hecklers, drunks, lighting, sudden clangs, latecomers, and loud talkers. He closes this chapter by saying that he considers this book more of a biography than a auto biography because he is writing about someone he use to know.

Outside Reading 1

So I'm 5 blogs behind. Well there's no time like the present to catch up. I am reading "Born Standing Up" by Steve Martin, his auto biography. I choose to read this book because I had no other choice. I wanted to read "The Way I Am" by Eminem, also his auto biography, but I couldn't find it. I saw "Born Standing Up" on the shelf, said 'Whatever' to myself and bought it. True story. Well I'm going to start reading now. I hope this is 200 words. If it isn't, well... just pretend it is...