Demetri Martin is on fire. At 33 years old, Martin has a stunning r?sum? listing writing jobs for "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and performances on the "Late Show with David Letterman." He has even been ranked one of Entertainment Weekly's 25 Funniest People in America. His CD/DVD, "These Are Jokes," was released last week.
Martin is the king of interactive comedy. With a style similar to late comedian Mitch Hedberg, Martin's quick-witted, one-liner jokes are sure to please. The 13-track CD is jam-packed with hilarity and it's hard not to be amused.
Martin plays the guitar alongside his jokes. It seems out of place at first, but when given a chance the combination of music and comedy works well.
"When I found comedy it was the same fit [as music], but the nice thing about comedy is that it has a multifaceted quality," Martin said.
"Like music, music is this gigantic world. I don't know how I haven't gotten bored with it after nine years. It's that kind of feeling, you know? What would I do with my spare time? Well, the answer is just what I'm doing with my actual time," he said.
Martin began by attending Yale University and then continued to law school at New York University. After his second year, he dropped out to pursue comedy.
"Since seventh grade I have wanted to go to law school. I didn't think of doing anything else. And then two weeks into it I realized, uh-oh it's boring, and my law school was three blocks from two different comedy clubs so I thought that might be fun," Martin said.
On his DVD, Martin makes jokes out of some questions he's been asked. To answer the often-asked query about where he gets his material from, Martin picks up his guitar and sings of a land in the forest where magicians and butterflies give him his jokes.
Martin's DVD includes more than stand-up. There are introductions from Martin's grandmother, a selection of his drawings and a personal concert in which Martin plays the guitar, foot bells, keyboard and harmonica. Martin claims that they are "material enhancers" but his background music and non-existent vocals simply enhance the hilarity.
"When I'm not trying to impress anyone I can be a poet or a dancer or a writer. It's based on what I enjoy doing. I'm not really good at music or art but combining them made me learn faster, so once I got good enough that I could talk, it got more entertaining for me," Martin said. "I love one-liners but I don't want to do one-liners for an hour."
Those who explore Martin's animated portions and videos in the extras may be disappointed. Bonus content includes two-minute segments of earlier shows and some of his own drawings and cartoons, but these don't add much to the DVD.
Martin's ability to laugh at his own jokes is refreshing because it shows he really enjoys what he's doing and is not simply focused on pleasing his audience.
"Follow your heart," Martin said.
"Personally, as a nerd growing up I was trying to impress people and then you realize, wait, what's the point? Just do it for yourself," he said.
Martin is also in the process of writing scripts for two films and is interested in acting and directing. He begins his national tour on Oct. 5 and will be performing in Washington, D.C. at the Lisner Auditorium on Oct. 12.
