Number One Is Walking: My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions

William James said, “A sense of humor is just common sense dancing.” And anyone who has seen Steve Martin become a “wild and crazy guy” knows that he definitely has a sense of humor . . . I mean common sense. Thank you, Mr. Martin, for providing comedy’s healing perspective throughout so many stand-ups, books, plays and television programs.

But wait, there’s more! Number One is Walking is Martin’s account of an abundance of very funny moments in the movie-making world. Recalling being “Number One” and what happened on the sets of his movies often took me from a smile to an outright, out loud laugh. He is world-famous and #1 for millions, but he also has the humility to admit that on a film set with Meryl Streep and show more Alec Baldwin, he became “Number Three walking.”

The set-up is that Martin is talking either to Penny, the dog, or his friend Harry Bliss, The New Yorker cartoonist who contributes over half of the contents of this book. Bliss creates single panel or strips in the style of his Bliss comics in newspapers, but these contain Martin’s reminiscences. The second half of the book contains Bliss’s Other Diversions, many more of Bliss’s own hilarious cartoons. Bliss and Martin previously created A Wealth of Pigeons, which I plan to read soon.

I don’t necessarily care that Steve Martin knows Paul McCartney, Diane Keaton, Harrison Ford and probably all the other stellar entertainers in the world. I just enjoyed reading the Academy, Emmy and Grammy award winner explain what happened when he was around them. He’s just too witty and charming for his own good, you know?

I received an advance copy of this book from Celadon Books. This is an honest review. show less

4.5⭐

Number One is Walking: My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions marks the second collaboration (the first being A Wealth of Pigeons : A Cartoon Collection ) between the inimitable Steve Martin and renowned The New Yorker illustrator Harry Bliss.

In the first segment of the of the book Martin takes us through his career as a standup comic and his Hollywood career sharing anecdotes from his personal experiences, some behind the scenes stories about some of his movies and his interactions with his co-stars and other celebrities including Paul McCartney and the late Robin Williams. The stories are shared in cartoon format with Harry Bliss’s brilliant illustrations bringing Martin’s memories to life. Martin also shares some show more hilarious exchanges between himself and his collaborator, with both himself and Harry Bliss appearing as cartoon versions of themselves along with Harry Bliss's pet dog Penny who is absolutely adorable. The latter half of the book features The New Yorker style cartoons illustrated by Harry Bliss in varying themes that are thoroughly entertaining. While I am a huge fan of Harry Bliss and The New Yorker cartoons and truly enjoyed those featured in this book, I absolutely loved Steve Martin’s humorous take on his career and wished that the memoir segment would have been longer than it was.

Overall, this is an entertaining read and a perfect pick-me-up between more serious reads or for just when you need a laugh. I loved getting to know more about Steve Martin and his movies in such a unique format. I’m eager to see what this duo comes up with next! show less

Enjoyable, and maybe the right length for a celebrity biography. I didn't realize that it was a cartoon book, and initially I was disappointed. But, as I got into it, I enjoyed the format more than I expected.

Just be aware that only about one-third of the book focuses on Steve Martin. The last two-thirds are the "Other Diversions" referenced in the title. I wasn't too excited by them, but there are some good chuckles there.

For fans of Steve Martin or Harry Bliss or their previous work "A Wealth of Pigeons" and probably no one else. But if you fall into any/all of those categories, this is a treat. The first half of the book is filled with beautifully illustrated glimpses into Martin's career in movies. The second half is more of the same that you got from "Pigeons," mostly single frame cartoons sprung from the ironic and absurd mind of Martin. Although I will admit I was a little disappointed when I got to the second half of the book and found the format change. Reading the title of the book, I didn't realize that "Other Diversions" meant they didn't have enough Hollywood insider stories to fill up 250 pages, so they fleshed it out with more cartoons. Not show more that I'm complaining. All of them were great and some of them were brilliant. The bit about the dark underbelly of cartooning was especially good. Just sad that the better part of the book (imo) ended so soon. show less

I ask you: who doesn't love Steve Martin? Doing stand-up comedy, making you laugh or cry in a movie, clap in rhythm when he plays that banjo, making you stop and think when he writes something serious . . . and now this! Wild and crazy, right?

Number One Is Walking is just a continuation of the perfection we have come to know and love from the amazing talent that is Steve Martin (and oh, wow, those illustrations!). I first discovered Steve Martin in the early, early, early days of cable TV – 2 shows a month, shown twice a night. A stand-up comedy bit that was so unique, so original and Steve, how can you be so ***** funny?? We watched it over and over and over and soon those lines became part of our everyday language (and that of our show more small children) and still are to this day. All the shows, movies, albums, books . . . couldn’t wait and loved them all. Had a teeny, tiny moment of fear when he went “serious” but that body of work has been just as engaging and entertaining and enlightening as the comedy.

He can sing, he can dance (well, happy feet), he can act, he can write, and boy can he play that banjo. Whatever he’s doing, it transports you out of your ordinary life to somewhere special, and that’s the point, isn’t it? Which brings me to this book. Stories, observations, facts, memories in his own words with drawings by the marvelous Harry Bliss that make you snap back for a second look. The book is funny and serious and poignant and the more you look at the drawings the more you see.

Thanks so much to Celadon Books for giving me an advance copy of Number One is Walking and thanks for making me a Celadon Reader. How did they know Steve Martin is Number One to me? This book will be a valued addition to my library. It just made me feel good to read it. I was not required to provide a review but I recommend this book without hesitation. I loved it and you will, too. All opinions are my own. show less

I picked this book up during my local Barnes & Noble's moving sale. I went on the last day, and there were several copies of this book present, more than any other of the remaining inventory. I should've taken that as a sign to skip it, but I'm a lifelong Steve Martin fan, so I couldn't resist.

This book is marketed as an illustrated memoir of Steve Martin's acting career. It doesn't come close to be worthy of being called a memoir. It is a collection of various anecdotes from a few selected films which were then boiled down to brief, one or two-page, illustrations. They leave you wondering, "And then what happened?" But rather than provide any sort of elaboration, the book moves on to the next anecdote.

And the anecdotes only make up show more one-third to two-fifths of the book—I was too annoyed to get any more precise than that as there are no page numbers, and that would require more math than this book was worth. The rest of the book is a collection of New Yorker cartoons that Martin collaborated with the illustrator, Harry Bliss, on. These were fine. They were cute, whimsical notes of satire, but printed one to a page (the back-side being left blank).

Despite this being illustrated, I was hoping for something more. Martin's memoir of his early years, Born Standing Up, was an excellent work detailing how he got his start in show business and ran through his early career as a stand-up comic, including why he gave it up. I was hoping that this would detail his career in film in the same way. It looks like we'll have to wait for that. show less

For the first third of the book, Steve Martin offers up some anecdotes from his movie career, mostly along the lines of famous-people-I-have-met or shallow chatter he might share on a late night talk show. The tone is mostly upbeat and positive, so it's a little shocking when his stories about Dana Delaney and Robin Williams take different tacks. Still, it's a pleasing breeze through a dozen of so of his major films.

The back end of the book is more like his first collaboration with Harry Bliss, A Wealth of Pigeons, a collection of single-panel New Yorker cartoon gags. Lightly amusing, gently zany.