Demetri Martin: Live (At the Time)

DEMETRI MARTIN: LIVE (AT THE TIME)

I have a confession to make. I didn't exactly watch this special ON Netflix, as apparently I thought I had a PS3 to use it on, but I had forgotten it can't connect to Truman internet wirelessly, and I had forgotten my ethernet cable at home back in Illinois. I also did not have enough time to contact someone in my class or anyone in my dorm to and ask to use theirs, so I ended having to watch this online on a streaming site. I know, I feel very bad, but it's STILL a Netflix premiere special, so that must count. Hopefully.
For those who are unaware, Demetri Martin is stand-up comedian, director, actor, artist, musician, and writer. He is most well known for his show that aired on Comedy Central from 2009-2010 show, Important Things with Demetri Martin. He is also the voice of Ice Bear from the currently running Cartoon Network show, We Bare Bears. He also directed and starred in two little unknown films, Taking Woodstock in 2009 and very recently in Dean, which came out just last year. However, we're here to talk about his special and also his comedy. HOWEVER however, describing his brand of humor is not exactly an easy thing to do. If you've never seen comedians like Mitch Hedberg or Steven Wright or Emo Phillips, you may not get what he's going for. So, I'll have to put down a few quotes to give an idea of his kind of comedy, like "I was on the street. This guy waved to me, and he came up to me and said, 'I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else.' And I said, 'I am,'" and "If I ever saw an amputee getting hanged, I'd probably just start calling out letters."
Now that that's out of the way, let's discuss the special and my feelings towards it. As the special begins and the intro is gotten out of the way, he makes the first joke, which is basically how people use Jumbotrons at ball games to propose to people, and then suggests they can also be used to break up with someone. Weak start, but it gets progressively better as it goes on. Scratch that, it gets better on the second joke, where he says his favorite sign that he's ever seen is Bridge May Be Icy, "because it's so honest, you know? It's like...'Bridge...maybe? I don't know. I'm a sign. I don't have conscious mind.' " Also, one sign he doesn't like is Please Use Other Door. "You're a fucking door. You don't get to take a break." Both of these got me laughing like an idiot, and I knew this would be a grand time. He goes more into the door bit and gets more hilarious, but I do not want to go into too much detail and spoil the bit. The same goes for most of the jokes in his special because it's much funnier when he delivers them and when they are not expected.
However, one of my favorite jokes is when he considers if cremating a dead body is "all or nothing" and if you can make requests. "He wants to be cremated from the waist down. 'Anything else?' Uh, yeah. Open casket. Wants his torso at the one end, then the ashes. And they lead to a lamp. And, uh, he's dressed as a genie." Another one of my favorite jokes is one involving the French, but I dare not spoil it and ruin the punchline. After a while, nearing the end of the special, he begins playing the guitar and harmonica instead of singing a song like Bo Burham (who is somewhat similar to Demetri in comedic fashion), he goes on essential a "lightning round" of quips, one after the other, ending with another one of my favorite jokes, which I also do not want to spoil (partly because I find it would be awkward to type out, but mainly because of the punchline). Overall, I got what I expected from a comedian like Demetri Martin and I loved almost every minute of the special, and it serves as a great reminder of why he is one of my favorite comedians and why that brand of humor is one of my favorite kinds of humor.

Dave Chappelle

As I begrudgingly opened Netflix on my laptop, the very first program that caught my attention was Dave Chappelle. The iconic scarlet letters declaring that firstly, the program was a Netflix original, and secondly, that it was the Dave Chappelle made my heart jump with excitement.

Dave Chappelle is a comedian who was very active and popular in the early 2000’s. He had his own show that broadcasted on Comedy Central titled Chappelle’s Show. This show in particular  was responsible for bringing my family together in front of the television screen and unifying us in boisterous laughter. At the time that this show was most most influential in my life, I was a child, and of course I couldn’t understand exactly why the R-rated jokes were so funny, but it felt good to have something to bond over with my family. Considering the rich history that I have with Chappelle’s content, it may be obvious as to why I was so ecstatic to view this spectacle. I clicked on the rectangular box wielding Chappelle’s goofy likeness with high hopes, high expectations, and high spirits in remembrance of my childhood.

The initial ten minutes of Dave Chappelle found me in constant laughter. Even my roommate had to inquire about my hilarity. After those first ten minutes concluded, I was tired. I have no other word for it. I was just tired. For ten minutes, I’d felt nostalgic and full of pride for this comedian that I had once watched, and then I was ready to move on with my life. However, fifty minutes remained in the program, and I had planned on viewing it in full.

So I watched the rest of it. I quickly noted Chappelle’s tendency to gravitate towards controversial topics such as the case of Orenthal James Simpson, Bill Cosby, the LGBTQ+ community, abortion, and racial profiling, amongst other things. While I did expect for him to cover some topics, such as living in America as a black person or his wacky encounters with other celebrities, I wasn’t expecting his coverage of some of the more controversial topics. Once that initial haze of excitement fell off, I took note of a plethora of things wrong with the performance - his habit of subtly stroking his stomach, his tendency to laugh at his own jokes, hitting the microphone against his body, and what appeared to be a desperate attempt to be as controversial as possible.

Controversy is definitely acceptable, and the ability to hear and discuss differing opinions is necessary for survival. That being said, his opinions alone were not what had me checking the remaining runtime every fifteen minutes. I suppose it was the memory of his sketch comedy show. Though I knew that this program in particular was solely stand-up comedy, I still fondly remembered Chappelle’s Show and the manner in which it alternated between stand-up comedy and very memorable sketch comedies.

Watching this program was just a reminder for me that things and people change, and though you may desire for someone or something to remain the way it is memorialized in your mind, it probably isn’t going to happen. Perhaps, if I went into viewing the program separated from my memories, I would have enjoyed it for a lot longer than ten minutes. Regardless of how I felt while viewing it, I find myself happy that I watched it at all. While I don’t foresee my family and I viewing Dave Chappelle together with split sides, I still value the positive emotions that the performance gave to me.