Very Funny!

Comedians are the new Rock Stars: amiright? Speaking of which, I’m a huge fan of comedian Demetri Martin and his Comedy Central show, Important Things with Demetri Martin. When I heard that Demetri would be playing NYC’s Town Hall theater I knew I could not miss his show! Can I just say, I was not disappointed! Even before Demetri came out on the stage, an awesome mix of Beatles songs played over the PA at Town Hall to entertain the crowd of rabid Demetri fans and set the mood to expect an excellent show. Because, The Beatles, come on: Greatest Band Ever. Not to mention, but you can see I am about to, I had a great seat: just to the right of the stage, front row, on the aisle. Yes!

As a comedian who strikes a chord with almost everyone who has a sense of humor, Demetri Martin has a whimsically goofy outlook on the weirdness of everyday life, a deadpan delivery and a fondness for playing various musical instruments while delivering his ingenious one-liners. Demetri is thoroughly engaging and has a great flow from one bit to another; say, from explaining the enigmatic drawings on his Large Pad into playing the piano (he is quite good) while singing a list of things he’d rather do than wait in line to get into a nightclub, so he is consistently laugh-out-loud funny. He does maybe a half dozen bits that fans of the Comedy Central show will be familiar with, but I guess every comedian does that kind of thing.

You can’t expect the entire show to be made up of bits you’ve never heard before – but those in the audience without cable probably laughed even harder at those bits than the rest of us. He did a solid 90-minute set, then came back out and took questions from the audience, including performing a few requested favorite skits. He also told a few poignant personal stories; my favorites of which were his recounting of riding his skateboard to the home of a friend, through the nearly empty streets of NYC, on the day of the September 11th attacks, as well as his story about the time he met the late comedian Mitch Hedberg while working as a writer on Conan O’Brien. Demetri became less of a comedian at that point and more of a funny guy with good stories that we, the audience, were having a conversation with. At any rate, the audience at Town Hall on Friday just went insane for him, and the enthusiastic vibe added to the fun. As a side note, he is also really, really cute!

Over all, Demetri Martin at Town Hall was a fun night and a great entertainment value for a rather reasonably priced ticket. The only bummer of the evening was when Demetri revealed that his beyond-hilarious Comedy Central show would not be returning for a third season. That sucks so hard. Hopefully, season one and two of Important Things will be available on DVD soon. In the meantime, go see him perform if he comes to a town near you. Demetri Martin!