Demetri Martin

Demetri Evan Martin (born May 25, 1973) is an American comedian, actor, artist, musician, writer, and humorist. He is best known for his work as a stand-up comedian, being a contributor on The Daily Show, and his Comedy Central show Important Things with Demetri Martin.

Early life

Martin was born in New York City, New York to a Greek American family.^[1] He is the son of Lillian and Greek Orthodox priest Dean C. Martin.^[2][3] He grew up in Toms River, New Jersey, and has a younger brother named Spyro.^[4]

Martin graduated from Yale University in 1995. During his time there, he wrote a 224-word poem about alcoholism^[5][6] as a project for a fractal geometry class, which became a well known palindromic poem. He was also a member of the Anti-Gravity Society, whose members juggle objects on Sunday evenings on Yale's Old Campus.^[7]

Although Martin was accepted into Harvard Law School, he went to New York University School of Law after he received a full scholarship.^[8] Martin withdrew from law school before the start of his final year, opting to pursue comedy over finishing his Juris Doctor.^[9][10]

Career

In 2001, Martin caught his first big break in stand-up comedy when he appeared on Comedy Central's stand-up showcase Premium Blend. At the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe he won the Perrier award with his show If I....^[11] The show was turned into a BBC television special in 2004. From 2003 to 2004, Martin wrote for Late Night with Conan O'Brien.^[12] In 2004, Martin had his own Comedy Central Presents stand-up special. His special was divided into three parts. In the first, he performed in traditional stand-up comedy fashion. In the second segment, he used humorous drawings as visual aids, which would serve either as the punchline or a background. During the third segment, he played a guitar and put on a pseudo-play where he would strum his guitar while alternating between playing harmonica and talking; some of his comedian friends dressed as fairies and dragons acted according to the story he was telling, detailing the magical land from where his jokes came. Martin's mother and grandmother also appeared.

Starting in late 2005, he was credited as a contributor on The Daily Show, on which he appeared as the named "Senior Youth Correspondent" and hosted a segment called "Trendspotting". He used this segment to talk about so-called hip trends among youth such as hookahs, wine, guerilla marketing and Xbox 360. A piece about social networking featured his profile on MySpace.^[13] On March 22, 2007, Martin made another appearance on The Daily Show, talking about the Viacom lawsuit against Google and YouTube. He is no longer a Daily Show contributor as of 2014.^[14]

He has recorded a comedy album titled These Are Jokes, which was released on September 26, 2006. This album also features Saturday Night Live member Will Forte and stand-up comedian Leo Allen. Martin returned to The Daily Show on March 22, 2006, as the new Youth Correspondent, calling his segment "Professional Important News with Demetri Martin". In 2007, he starred in a Fountains of Wayne music video for "Someone to Love" as Seth Shapiro, a character in the song. He also starred in the video for the Travis single "Selfish Jean", in which he wears multiple T-shirts with lyrics written on them. On September 2, 2007, Martin appeared on the season finale of the HBO series Flight of the Conchords. He appeared as a keytar player named Demetri.^[15] He also had a part in the movie The Rocker (2008) starring Rainn Wilson. Martin played the part of the videographer when the band in the movie was making their first music video.

In 2009, he hosted and starred in his own television show called Important Things With Demetri Martin on Comedy Central. Later in June, it was announced his show had been renewed for a second season.^[16] The second season premiered, again on Comedy Central, on February 4, 2010. Martin has stated that Important Things will not return for a third season. Prior to completing work on his second season, Martin starred in the comedy-drama film Taking Woodstock (2009), directed by Ang Lee, which premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. In the film Martin plays Elliot Tiber, a closeted gay artist who has given up his ambitions in the city to move upstate and help his old-world Jewish family run their Catskill Mountains motel. The film is based on the book written by Tiber. On April 25, 2011, Martin released his first book, titled This Is a Book. Martin played a small role in the 2011 film Contagion.

Martin sold his movie concept Will to DreamWorks, and is expected to play a key supporting role.^[17] He will play the lead in the film Moon People, a pitch that he sold to Columbia Pictures. He also signed a blind script deal with CBS in October 2010 to produce, write, and star in his own television series.^[18] After CBS was shown the pilot for the series, they decided not to air it.^[19] On October 2, 2012, Martin released his second comedy album entitled Demetri Martin. Standup Comedian.^[20][21]

Martin also voices Ice Bear in the Cartoon Network series We Bare Bears. Martin will make his directorial debut in the film Dean, which he also wrote, edited, and stars in.^[22]

Comedic style

Martin is known for being an unconventional stand-up comic. He uses one-liners and drawings on a "large pad", as well as accompanying his jokes with music on either guitar, harmonica, piano, keyboard, glockenspiel, toy bells, ukulele, or tambourine, sometimes all at once.^[23] He has cited comedian Steven Wright as an important influence (both use deadpan one-liners in their acts). Martin plays instruments on stage and has music playing in the background of his performances as a way of preventing any editing of his performances to better fit for television.^[24]

Personal life

According to a July 2011 interview on the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, Martin had a short-lived marriage with a woman named Jen, whom he knew from high school. They began dating after high school, and got married when he was at NYU Law School and she was attending NYU Medical School.^[8] This relationship was further analyzed in his one-man show Spiral Bound.

On June 1, 2012, Martin married his long-time girlfriend Rachael Beame in Santa Monica, California. He had moved to Santa Monica in 2009.^[25][26]

Discography

• Invite Them Up (2005)
• These Are Jokes (2006)
• Demetri Martin. Person. (2007)
• Important Things with Demetri Martin (2009–2010)
• Standup Comedian. (2012)
• Live (At the Time) (2015)

Filmography

Bibliography

• This Is a Book, April 2011, ISBN 978-0446539708.
• Point Your Face At This, March 2013

Awards and nominations

References

External links

General

• Official website
• Demetri Martin at the Internet Movie Database

Interviews

• Interview from November, 2006, in Onion AV Club
• Interview from October 2006, in The DePaulia
• Interview by Brian M. Palmer
• MP3 Audio Interview on The Sound of Young America public radio show and podcast
• Interview Believer Mag