I did stand-up comedy for eighteen years. Ten of those years were spent learning, four years were spent refining, and four were spent in wild success. – Steve Martin
An insightful way to look at it. I’m a few chapters in and the book is fantastic so far.
Another smasher from page 125 of my edition:
There is a belief that one appearance on The Tonight Show made you a star. But here are the facts. The first time you do the show, nothing. The second time you do the show, nothing. The sixth time you do the show, someone might come to you and say, “Hi, I think we met at Harry’s Christmas Party.” The tench time you do the show, you could conceivably be remembered as being seen somewhere on television. The twelfth time you do the show, you might hear, “Oh, I know you. You’re that guy.”
There is a strikingly similar advertising quote about how much repetition with which an ad must be seen before a customer will remember you. Guess I can’t be surprised it applies to TV appearances, too.