Demetri Martin

Demetri Martin (born May 25, 1973 in New York City, New York) is an Emmy Award–nominated and Perrier comedy award–winning American comedian, actor, artist, musician, writer, and humorist. Martin is best known for his work as a standup and prop comedian, and as a contributor on The Daily Show. Currently, he is hosting his own show on Comedy Central entitled Important Things with Demetri Martin.

In 2001, Martin caught his first big break in stand-up comedy when he appeared on Comedy Central's stand-up showcase Premium Blend. At the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe he won the Perrier award with his show If I....[4] The show was turned into a British television special in 2004. From 2003 to 2004, Martin wrote for Late Night with Conan O'Brien.[5] In 2004, Martin had his own Comedy Central Presents stand-up special. His special was divided into three parts. In the first, he performed in traditional stand-up comedy fashion. In the second segment, he used humorous drawings as visual aids, which would serve either as the punchline or a background. During the third segment, he played a guitar and put on a pseudo-play where he would strum his guitar while talking; some of his comedian friends dressed as fairies and dragons acted according to the story he was telling, detailing the magical land where the jokes he told came from. Martin's mother and grandmother also appeared.

Since late 2005, he has been credited as a contributor on The Daily Show, on which he has appeared as the named "Senior Youth Correspondent" and on which he hosts a segment called "Trendspotting". He has used this segment to talk about so-called hip trends among youth such as hookahs, wine, guerilla marketing and Xbox 360. A piece about social networking featured his profile on MySpace.[6] On March 22, 2007, Demetri made another appearance on The Daily Show, talking about the Viacom lawsuit against Google and YouTube.

He has recorded a comedy CD/DVD titled These Are Jokes, which was released on September 26, 2006. This album also features Saturday Night Live member and personal friend Will Forte on the track "Personal Information Waltz".

He has cited comedian Steven Wright as an important influence. Both use deadpan one-liners in their acts.[7]

Martin returned to The Daily Show on March 22, 2007, as the new Youth Correspondent, calling his segment "Professional Important News with Demetri Martin". He recently starred in a Fountains of Wayne music video for "Someone to Love" as Seth Shapiro, a character in the song.[8] He also starred in the video for the new Travis single "Selfish Jean", in which he wears multiple t-shirts with lyrics written on them.[9]

On September 2, 2007, Martin appeared on the season finale of the HBO series Flight of the Conchords. He appeared as a keytar player named Demetri.[10]

He also had a small part in the movie "The Rocker" starring Rainn Wilson. Martin played the part of the photographer when the band in the movie was making their first music video.

Martin starred in the Ang Lee film Taking Woodstock, which premiered at the 2009 Cannes Festival. In the film Martin plays Elliot Tiber, a closeted gay artist who has given up his ambitions in the city to move upstate and help his old-world Jewish family run their Catskills motel. The film is based on the book written by Tiber.

(From Wikipedia)