MR.MARTIN

Steve Martin has just released a book entitled....

"Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life."

Apparently the memoir is focused on his childhood and what drove him to the comedic life. I say apparently because I have not read it. The review of the book by Erika Schickel in this morning's LA TIMES caught my attention and after reading the review I can safely say....



IF YOU WEREN'T THERE YOU REALLY HAVE NO IDEA.


And I'm not referring to his childhood but instead to the time period between 1971 and 1976 and more specifically to a time period in 1973 when he appeared at the Boarding House in San Francisco.


I have a slight time frame problem with things that happened between 1971 and 1976...so I think the Boarding House experience took place in 1973 but it might have been 1974.


It was at least three years before he appeared on Saturday Night Live, which in turn was two years before "The Jerk" was released.


The reviewer uses the terms AUDIODIDACTICISM and DISCIPLINE as the keys to his success.


Before I scurry off to the dictionary I would like to interject a slightly less intellectual opinion regarding his humor.


IT WAS F..KING FUNNY.

And I just looked up the word AUDIODIDACTICISM and it isn't in my New World Dictionary and that just means Mr. Martin is still creating cutting edge material....even if it's only through a reviewer.

I always attributed musical acts as being responsible for helping to qualm a rather pissed off American public between 1969 and 1973. There were quite a few reasons at the time to be angry and those of us who experienced it... can fully attest to that statement.

Those of you who are too young to have seen it in person, can only read about it, or see films about it...or listen to friends and family who will actually talk about it.

I have noticed, over the years, a huge amount of denial from people who lived through that time period and I don't really object to their ignoring reactions because... sometimes...somethings... are just better left in the storage area of the garage in
our minds.

BUT sometimes it is very important to visit that area and pull out the elements and the AUDIODIDACTICISMS that moved us in certain directions and caused us to either be relaxed.....
or at the very least caused us to accept the ramifications of our actions and thoughts....and get on with our lives.

As I said before I always attributed musicians as being the ones who helped qualm the generation that was fighting against the Nixonian ideology. I now realize that perhaps one man, without music (even though he could play a bad ass banjo) might have been equally as responsible as any musical group.

STEVE MARTIN took the art of comedy to a different level during his Boarding House appearances in or around 1973 and 1974.

I've actually tried to do some historic research on the time frame and can't seem to pin it down.

Of course Mr. Martin knows the dates and times and perhaps in his new book he mentions the performances at the Boarding House....so maybe I will go out and buy it just to help sort out some fairly amazing hazy years of my life.

I didn't really settle down until 1977. And it's just a coincidence that my settling down coincided with Steve's release of the "Let's Get Small" comedy album...which propelled him to the next echelon of American Comedic Genius status.

When he performed at the Boarding House it transcended humor. His persona was so user friendly that nobody in the audience thought they were at a show.

We all thought we were at a permanent family outing and that it would never end.

THIS OBSERVATION IS SIMPLY BASED ON THE ACTUAL FACT THAT NO ONE WOULD LEAVE THE ROOM AT THE END OF HIS SHOW. THERE WERE ONLY 300 PEOPLE IN THE ROOM BUT THERE WAS NO WAY THE EVENING COULD END BECAUSE WE WEREN'T AT A SHOW......WE WERE AT HOME WITH A GUY WHO COULD NOT POSSIBLY.... NOT BE RELATED TO US.

STEVE MARTIN WAS A FAMILY MEMBER AND EVERYONE IN THAT AUDIENCE WAS SUDDENLY RELATED....

AND WE WEREN'T GOING HOME WITHOUT HIM.

The people who worked at the club couldn't get anybody to leave the room and after about ten minutes Mr. Martin came back and basically asked "what the hell were we doing?"

The collective answer from 300 people can be summarized with this statement.

"WE NOW LIVE WITH YOU AND WHERE EVER YOU GO....WE GO WITH YOU."

At that point I think he might have realized that the entire audience was on acid or a cult was forming...and the genius of his personality took over and he simply walked down into the audience and said....

"come on....let's go....time to leave....follow me....how are you....come on."

AND EVERYBODY FOLLOWED HIM OUTSIDE AND OVER THE NEXT 25 MINUTES HE SOMEHOW CONVINCED PEOPLE TO GO HOME....

IN THAT 25 MINUTES HE PROCEEDED TO INTERACT WITH PEOPLE DRIVING CARS ON BUSH STREET.

Being a good Scot-Irish party goer who never liked to leave parties until the very end....I was one of the very last people to give up the concept that Steve Martin was a member of my family.

If somebody had been there from the government that night they could have signed up 300 people to change their names to MARTIN.

Of course the celebrities in the crowd might have been immune to the AUDIODIDACTICISMS being performed by Mr. Martin, but I saw a few of them still standing around in the street.

They probably got to hang with him and were just waiting for the nut cases (yours truly) to get on the highway and out of Steve's bubble.

Now, it's important for you to know that I didn't get arrested for refusing to leave but that perhaps my lysergic level dropped and I simply accepted the reality that I wasn't a Martin by birth....and I went home....dazed and confused but exhilarated by what I had seen.

THAT PERFORMANCE WAS THE FIRST NIGHT OF HIS ENGAGEMENT.

I have no idea how many time Steve Martin performed at the Boarding House
except for the four nights in a row that I saw him.

EVERY NIGHT THAT WEEK I TOOK A FEW MORE PEOPLE TO SEE HIM AND EVERY NIGHT HE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AT THE END OF HIS SHOW.

NOBODY WANTED TO GO HOME AND EACH NIGHT HE HAD TO TAKE PEOPLE OUTSIDE AND PERFORM IN THE STREET....BEFORE WE WOULD LEAVE.

I THINK IF HE WERE TOO BE ASKED ABOUT THAT TIME PERIOD HE MIGHT GET A BIT SCARED BECAUSE HE HAD MENTAL AND PHYSICAL CONTROL OF 300 PEOPLE AND HE COULD HAVE TAKEN US TO JIM JONES'S HOUSE FOR KOOL AID.

OF COURSE THAT LAST STATEMENT IS A LITTLE OVER THE TOP BUT I'M TRYING TO IMPRESS UPON YOU THAT SOME PART OF ME UNDERSTANDS WHEN SOMEONE BECOMES A MEMBER OF A CULT OR A RELIGION.

Of course it's important to note that belonging to a Steve Martin led cult could prove to be one of the more entertaining things I could do.

SIGN ME FREAKIN UP!

I now can't think about that time period now without totally understanding that STEVE MARTIN calmed me down....not music.

STEVE MARTIN MADE ME LAUGH AT MYSELF

STEVE MARTIN MADE ME LAUGH AT NIXONIAN BULLS..T

STEVE MARTIN MADE ME GET OVER THE EVENTS OF 1963 IN DALLAS, 1968 IN MOBILE ALABAMA AND 1968 AT THE BILTMORE HOTEL

STEVE MARTIN was responsible for many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many people.......getting on with their lives.

I really appreciate that fact, but a small part of me wishes I was sitting in the Boarding House next to John Denver waiting for a guy in a white suit to rock my world....and to do it without music ( even though he could play a bad ass banjo)

Thanks Steve for the great AUDIODIDACTICISMS.......it's some of the best AUDIODIDACTICISMS that I have ever seen...... and as soon as I can find out what the hell it means....

I might even end up doing it myself.......


HELL....I MIGHT ALREADY BE DOING IT.

Go buy his book and give the dude a little more love.....and check out his web site at
www.stevemartin.com

Michael Timothy McAlevey