Important Things with Demetri Martin - Season One

Dropping out a year before graduating from the NYU School of Law where he had a full scholarship, Demetri Martin ventured into comedy and the world is a better place for it. His sense of humor combines intelligence and absurdity in vein similar to the work of comedian Steven Wright and Far Side cartoonist Gary Larson. Martin performed stand-up in clubs and worked as a writer for Late Night with Conan O’Brien during the 2003-2004 season. In 2005, he first appeared as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Stewart’s production company produces the Comedy Central series Important Things with Demetri Martin.

Similar in format to Dave Chappelle’s famous television series on the same channel, “Important Things” finds Martin performing live in front of a studio audience, sometimes with the help of visual aids as has become his signature, and in filmed sketches. The material for each of Season One’s seven episodes revolves around one word or idea. The episodes are titles accordingly: “Timing,” “Power,” “Brains,” “Chairs,” “Safety,” “Coolness,” and “Games.”

The show has recurring characters (Martin as the “What” Slam Poet Champion, the inventor DaMici, and the philopsher Demetrocles) and bits (“Fairly Important Fairy Tales” presents variations on familiar stories and “DADZ” finds two new dads adjusting to their roles). Martin is joined in many of the sketches by producer/writer H. Jon Benjamin whose voice and delivery are so perfect he doesn’t even need to be telling jokes to make me laugh. Many will recognize him as the voice of Ben from Dr. Katz Professional Therapist and Coach John McGuirk from Home Movies. Guest stars this season include David Cross, John Oliver, and Amanda Peet.

Some of the linking scenes look to be shot on 16mm and then blown up. The grainy footage gives the show a low budget, independent film look, and brings to mind The Kids in the Hall. The DVD is uncensored, but it doesn’t make that completely clear unless you read the small print on the back of the case. When Martin dropped the f-word, it caught me off guard.

The DVD comes with Bonus Things. There are deleted sketches and outtakes, pre-production notes, commentaries on four episodes and one deleted sketch with Martin and two writers who provide great insight into the making-of the episodes.

Important Things With Demetri Martin has been picked up for a second season to air in 2010, and from the number of laughs the series offers, it’s easy to understand why. If you think comedy is important, rent this DVD.

A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!

If someone has been naughty, A Colbert Christmas makes a great replacement if you can’t get your hands on any coal.

There is trouble right from the get-go. Once the DVD is in the player, the marketing weasels at Comedy Central in their infinite dumbness force the viewer to have to get through four raunchy minutes of advertising before a menu appears. At least, you can fast-forward past it. No doubt unsuspecting parents will be pleased with Cartman’s cursing and Ms. Garrison’s lesbian sex.

A Colbert Christmas spoofs celebrity Christmas specials from television’s past, filled with music and hosted by the likes of Andy Williams and Bing Crosby. Unfortunately, the creative team didn’t stop at parody and created their very own dreadful holiday show that is very short on laughs. The special’s premise finds Stephen Colbert unable to get to his New York studio to tape a Christmas special with Elvis Costello because he is trapped in his mountain cabin due to a bear outside.

Colbert is in luck, though, because guest stars pass through his cabin. Toby Keith performs a song about winning the War on Christmas. Willie Nelson appears as the fourth wise man in Colbert’s manger decoration bearing marijuana for Baby Jesus. Jon Stewart stops by trying to convince Colbert to celebrate Hanukkah. John Legend sings about the glory of nutmeg. Feist shows up as the angel on the Christmas tree and informs Colbert about his wait until the next representative can handle his prayer. The songs have occasional amusing lyrics, but barely created smiles where Colbert and his program usually deliver laughs.

The best parts were everyone singing Costello’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” and the appearance of Santa Claus, which are linked to each other (Who knew Santa could handle a knife so well?), but they come at the end of the show after having to suffer so much mediocre material. Bah, humbug.

The Special Features include a video Yule log of burning books, Stephen’s 25-Day Advent Calendar, Shocking Alternate Endings (three of them), and a bonus song: “Cold, Cold Christmas.”

Steven Wright: I Still Have A Pony

Steven Wright came on to the comedy scene in the ‘80s. What made him stand out from the crowd was his deadpan delivery, a voice that conjured up Buster Keaton’s persona, and his unique perspective of the world, which had similarities to another artist that broke out in the ‘80s, Gary Larsen of The Far Side.

2007’s I Still Have A Pony is the follow-up to his 1985 comedy album I Have A Pony. Most of the material appeared previously on his Comedy Central special, Steven Wright: When the Leaves Blow Away, which was recorded in May 2006 at The Historic Elgin Theatre in Toronto, Canada. The remaining material was recorded at the same month Winter Garden Theatre Centre.

Wright’s stand-up style is reminiscent of George Carlin. He plays with language (A friend of mine is on the Ouija Board of Directors), the absurdities of our culture (I bought a new camera. It’s very advanced. You don’t even need it), and can be just plain silly (One of my grandfathers died when he was a little boy). He can switch from the philosophical (I’m wondering how my life would have been different had I been born one day earlier. Then I’m thinking maybe it wouldn’t have been different other than I would have asked that question yesterday) to the profane (In high school, I went out with two different girls. One was like the girl next door if you lived next door to a whorehouse), yet they all sound natural coming from him

He delivers quick one-liners (I think it’s wrong that only one company makes the game Monopoly), tells surreal stories, like the time he walked through an airport after forgetting to take off his seatbelt, and performs songs. Out of the three on this album, the best is the “Friends of Mine Song,” which ranks alongside classics Bruce McCullough’s “Dave” and The Nails’ “88 Lines” as funny songs about people. Wright’s song tells stories about friends who died, like Dennis who “was killed breaking a wishbone/ Nobody knows if it was an accident or suicide/ They don’t know what he was wishing for.”

The common denominator in Steven Wright’s comedy is that he generates a lot of laughter. Fans of Wright will enjoy this CD as will those discovering him for the first time.