Demetri Martin - These Are Jokes - 2006

Demetri Martin - 01 - The Start
Demetri Martin - 02 - Some Jokes
Demetri Martin - 03 - The Remix
Demetri Martin - 04 - Other Jokes
Demetri Martin - 05 - Sames & Opposites
Demetri Martin - 06 - These Jokes
Demetri Martin - 07 - Personal Information Waltz
Demetri Martin - 08 - One Story
Demetri Martin - 09 - Some More Jokes
Demetri Martin - 10 - The Jokes With Guitar
Demetri Martin - 11 - The Grapes Song
Demetri Martin - 12 - The Wisdom Song
Demetri Martin - 13 - The Name Was Johnny
 
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Review	by David Jeffries

Taking Steven Wright's style of letting the absurdist one-liners fly, standup whiz kid Demetri Martin puts an indie spin on Wright's shtick and then breaks the act up with some weird, delicate songs featuring Glockenspiel, guitar, and synth. Mostly straight live standup with a couple studio concoctions tacked on the end, the audio portion of These Are Jokes is hilarious with Martin effortlessly delivering endless streams of strangeness and irreverence while occasionally referencing the recording of his debut CD to the audience with such giddy pride you just want to pinch his cheek. The way Martin sees it, life vests protect you from drowning, bulletproof vests protect you from getting shot, and sweater vests protect you from pretty girls. Swimming is interesting because "sometimes you do it for fun, while other times you do it to not die." The great song "Sames and Opposites" offers "A squirrel is the same as a can/When there's a B.B. gun in my hand" while Saturday Night Live cast member Will Forte shows up for some crazy scatting and ridiculous vocal vamping on "Personal Information Waltz." The studio tracks at the end are bizarre -- more Residents than They Might Be Giants bizarre -- and the bonus DVD features some freaky animation, along with a less satisfying set of standup from a less comfortable sounding Martin. Still, it's a bonus; and a bonus to a fantastic debut CD from the quirkier, smarter side of standup. 


Biography	by Stewart Mason

Demetri Martin is not your average standup comedian. In the style of contemporaries like Eugene Mirman and Zach Galifianakis, Martin stretches the boundaries of the form into something resembling a form of Borscht Belt performance art, as if Laurie Anderson's primary influences had been Steven Wright and Peter Sellers. Incorporating musical instruments, props, and video into his otherwise standard on-stage act, Martin's primary on-stage persona is that of a naïve youngster reminiscent of '80s cult comic Emo Phillips, but not nearly so deliberately annoying. Born in New York City in 1973 (although he looks about 19 with his trademark John Lennon circa Rubber Soul shaggy pudding bowl haircut) into a close-knit Greek Orthodox family, Martin graduated from Yale University but dropped out of law school at NYU to pursue comedy. After his 2003 one-man show If I... won an award at the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival, one of the world's best showcases for alternative comedians, Martin spent a period on the writing staff at Late Night with Conan O'Brien while preparing his first TV comedy special. That 2004 special, Comedy Central Presents: Demetri Martin, featured acting roles by Martin's mother and grandmother; his grandmother also plays a featured role in Martin's first CD and DVD, These Are Jokes, released in September 2006. Also in 2006, Martin scored a major TV gig on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, as part of the same infusion of fresh faces that included John Hodgman and Dave Gorman; Martin's role is that of the giddily clueless "trend reporter," a loving sendup of clichés about The Daily Show's average college-aged viewer.