Comedian speaks to college media about Saturday’s Comedy Central premiere
He’s a sketch artist, an actor and a musician — and he tells jokes, too.
Stand-up comedian Demetri Martin’s new television special, “Demetri Martin. Standup Comedian,” premieres Saturday night on Comedy Central. The funnyman participated in a conference call with college media earlier this week to discuss his life before comedy and his upcoming projects.
Martin did not always want to be a stand-up comedian. He received a degree in history from Yale University and briefly attended law school, something he had wanted to do since seventh grade, but he was not happy there.
“In law school, I was feeling dread,” Martin said.
While law school may not have been the right path for the comedian, Martin said he is glad he had a chance to be a regular guy.
“I’m grateful that I had a life before doing stand-up,” he said.
While Martin was in law school, he served as an intern in the White House during Bill Clinton’s presidency in 1996. Despite his early interest in politics, Martin does not like to mix his humor with current events.
“I find it kind of disillusioning and overwhelming,” he said. “I like writing stuff about dogs and chairs and trees — things that aren’t going away anytime soon.”
Martin described his new comedy special as “a big bunch of jokes.” For past filmed shows, the comedian brought special guests along, but “Demetri Martin. Standup Comedian” is simpler. Martin does incorporate some drawings and a little guitar playing, but it’s a less flashy and more understated show.
“I tried to simplify it and focus mostly on the jokes,” he said.
In addition to stand-up, Martin worked as a writer on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” contributed to “The Daily Show” and hosted his own variety show called “Important Things with Demetri Martin,” which ran for two seasons. While Martin has had a few roles in movies, he wants to branch out and stop playing versions of himself.
“I’d rather be some villain or something like a psycho in some show,” he said.
The comedian has written a pilot for an animated show for Fox, which would feature him as the lead voice, and has a few independent film projects in the works.
Martin is known for bringing drawing and music into his stand-up act, but he has had no formal training in either art form.
“Nobody in my family plays instruments. Nobody really draws,” he said.
Martin does not know how to write or read music, and his love for doodling grew from childhood.
“I’m drawing as well as I did when I was 12,” Martin said.
Although he brings other elements to the stage, Martin is still focused on making audiences laugh.
“I’m a joke-teller mostly,” he said. “I just try to make stuff that’s simple ... but hopefully they’re surprising and interesting.”
Martin’s new special airs at 10 p.m. Saturday on Comedy Central. A DVD and album version of the performance hit stores Oct. 2.
To learn more about the comedian, visit demetrimartin.com or follow him on Twitter at @DemetriMartin.
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