This is a Comedian

Demetri Martin’s brainy success is a revenge of the nerd

By Paul Rogers

Though best known as a mop-haired hipster comedian, Demetri Martin has the air (and résumé) of an ultra-intelligent man who could turn his hand to many things.

For starters, Martin’s stand-up act includes not only wry and witty wordplay, but also his playing multiple musical instruments and even sketching on a giant paper tablet. And he’s not just a performer, but also a world-class comedy writer (for the likes of Late Night with Conan O’Brien), and now an author (of This Is a Book, published in April). He’s a contributor to the über-popular Daily Show, and had his own Comedy Central sketch series (Important Things with Demetri Martin).

Oh, and there’s more. The 38-year-old Martin—the son of a Greek Orthodox priest—received a full scholarship to the New York University School of Law, and was an intern in the Clinton White House (stop snickering).

“I dropped out of law school because I wanted to find a job that I could look forward to doing each day. So far, comedy is that,” mulls Martin. “Someday, when it’s not that anymore, I will walk away from it to the next thing. Hopefully if won’t be a long walk to whatever that next thing is. I doubt that it will be law, though. That’s too long a walk.”

So Martin is very much a comedian by choice. He didn’t even perform stand-up until he was 24, and never had to endure the lonely life of the struggling touring comic. Following his big break on Comedy Central’s Premium Blend stand-up showcase in 2001, he won a prestigious Perrier Comedy Award at Scotland’s 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe for his show If I (which was turned into a British television special). In no time he was writing for O’Brien and had landed his own Comedy Central Presents stand-up special.

It’s material like this that has moved Martin’s career along so fast: “I was on the street. This guy waved to me, and he came up to me and said, ‘I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else.’ And I said, ‘I am.’” He refers to his style as “nerd humor.”

And while Martin doesn’t really delve into the canna-comedy style of, say, Doug Benson, he did share a few thoughts about medical marijuana.

“My thoughts are that it is a viable option for a lot of people,” he says. “I don’t know a lot about it as a political or legal or economic issue, but it seems like it really helps some people.”

And it’s not like he’s never delivered a pot punch line. “I think I’ve told two jokes about marijuana in my career so far. I don’t think about marijuana a lot, so I guess that makes sense.”

Martin’s currently promoting This Is a Book—a self-illustrated collection of his comic musings on current social trends; painfully awkward situations; and our common craving for acceptance and recognition. In the meantime, Martin, who moved from his native East Coast to Santa Monica two years ago, is continuing with what he does best.

“I used to go for walks and sit in cafes in New York when I wanted to come up with jokes,” he concludes. “Now I go for walks and sit in cafes near the beach when I want to come up with jokes. So, more jokes about sand.”

demetrimartin.com.

The Best Medicine

While Demetri Martin doesn’t dig into cannabis for his shtick, there is no shortage of comics who turn to marijuana for inspiration. King among them is Doug Benson (he describes himself as a “multi-tasking pot smoker”), largely known for his documentary Super High Me (in which he partakes of marijuana for 30 days) and the traveling comedy show The Marijuana-Logues. Ah . . . the power of laughter.