These Are Jokes

So the journey began with me wanting something light to lift the mood and kill a bit of time...

A few weeks ago, when trying to put together my Daniel Johnston DJ set, I had joined a thing called eMusic, for the specific reason of downloading the very hard to come by Dead Dogs Eyeball by Kathy McCarty, which they claimed to have available. I paid a £15 subscription for 125 downloads, thinking I would easily find some more interesting stuff - it seemed like a good deal. Only then, however, was I told that the UK doesn't have a download license for that album so I was out of luck! Indignant and quite disappointed I sent an angry e-mail asking for my money back. Later, by automated reply, I was told that no refunds could be given, but that they wished me well with my 125. Incredible service!

Days after I set about exploring the database, determined to find some rare and interesting things it might be hard to come by elsewhere. Which is good, because, generally, obscure, deleted or otherwise unwanted stuff seems to be the stock in trade for eMusic. Long hours (yes, hours) of blind alleys later I gave in and ended up going for some obvious choices not already in my collection: Thom Yorke's Eraser, some Isobel Campbell, the first and best Nouvelle Vague, Elbow's Cast of Thousands and the new Raconteurs album. Which left me with a feeling that at least I'd got something for my money, and I still had around 50 downloads left.

Coming back to the site yesterday, conscious of the fact that I had to spend my credits by the end of the day before my subscription expired, I went in search of content outside of the music categories, namely comedy and spoken word. Both sections were riddled with the same kinds of anomalies the music genre sections were - no Bill Hicks, no Eddie Izzard, but plenty of Saturday Night Live rejects I'd never heard of. Until one name rang a bell: Demetri Martin!

A quick google and I learn he has won the perrier award in Edinburgh recently (where was I that year?), and his face looks familiar somehow... Ah! He is being compared to Steven Wright for his dead pan one-liners. Cool, I'm sold.

An hour later and I am struggling desperately for breath and coughing up half a lung after laughing so much! Lines like: "I like to mix I can't believe it's not butter with butter to make I can believe some of it's butter" have left me a wreak. And if you're reading that now going "yeah, that's just OK" then it's proof that comedy is indeed in the way you tell 'em. Laconic and emo cool, his delivery is spot on - the pauses perfectly placed, the gaps for laughter superbly timed - the guy has just got it! And the great thing is that his material is 95% observational jokes, not long rambling monologues, so you can remember it easily afterwards. Later in the album he makes use of music to accompany his patter, a nice touch - only when he performs actual songs does his comedy waver. Bill Bailey and The Flight of the Conchords are experts at the comic tune, but Demetri should probably stick to the one-liners.

Second time around, even when I know what's coming, it's just as funny! I can't believe I've missed him completely at the fringe so far. I will definitely be looking out for him this August, but maybe as a Perrier winner already he feels he's been there and done that and won't be back for a while...? I might just have to go to New York and catch him there.

You can check him out on YouTube by clicking here. In the meantime remember, "saying I'm sorry and saying I apologise are the same thing, unless you're at a funeral". Heehee!