{"product_id":"2940170770878","title":"Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe Emmy and Grammy Award-winner's candid, spectacularly amusing memoir of his years in stand-up\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In the mid-seventies, Steve Martin exploded onto the comedy scene. By 1978 he was the biggest concert draw in the history of stand-up. In 1981 he quit forever. \u003ci\u003eBorn Standing Up\u003c\/i\u003e is, in his own words, the story of \"why I did stand-up and why I walked away.\" \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e At age ten Martin started his career at Disneyland, selling guidebooks in the newly opened theme park. In the decade that followed, he worked in the Disney magic shop and the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott's Berry Farm, performing his first magic\/comedy act a dozen times a week. The story of these years, during which he practiced and honed his craft, is moving and revelatory. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Martin illuminates the sacrifice, discipline and originality that made him an icon and informs his work to this day. To be this good, to perform so frequently, was isolating and lonely. It took Martin decades to reconnect with his parents and sister, and he tells that story with great tenderness. Martin also paints a portrait of his times: the era of free love and protests against the war in Vietnam, the heady irreverence of \u003ci\u003eThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour\u003c\/i\u003e in the late sixties, and the transformative new voice of \u003ci\u003eSaturday Night Live\u003c\/i\u003e in the seventies.","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47115915329776,"sku":"2940170770878","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940170770878_p0.jpg?v=1763716901","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940170770878","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}