"Born Standing Up"

Steve Martin's chronicle of his rise as a stand-up comedian almost never rose to any comedic heights -- and in retrospect I was very naive in expecting such. His stories took place much more off/back stage than on.

There was exhilaration as he honed his act to precision - "Some nights I felt that it wasn’t the line that got the laugh, but the tip of my finger." His decision to go into movies: "the travel was exhausting me, and I swooned at the idea that instead of my going to every town to perform my act, a movie would go while I stayed home."