Demetri Martin On Television
No, no, no... Demetri Martin does not have his own show. Nor did he ever have his own show. As far as I'm aware, there is no evidence that suggests he will ever have his own show or even want to have his own show. So then you may be wondering, why is there a television page on a Demetri Martin web site? Simple. Despite not having his own show, he has been involved in quite few other shows in some capacity. Here now is that capacity.
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
From 2003-2004, Demetri Martin was a writer for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He even appeared in a couple of skits or bits or whatever the cool kids call them these days. I don't remember them all, but I do recall him playing a wizard one time, and a tiny stunt man another time.
In addition to what he did as an employee of the show, he has also made numerous appearances as just a plain old stand up comedian guest for that night.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Demetri Martin has appeared on The Daily Show many times doing his very own segment, Trendspotting.
In these Trendspotting segments (the first of which aired on November 14, 2005), Demetri is in the studio to introduce/set up a pre-recorded bit that involves him making fun of one of today's hottest trends.
He's covered wine, myspace, Xbox 360, life coaching, and hookahs. Each bit starts with a short animation/theme song that I assume he created all by himself. All of these can be seen on Comedy Central's web site, right here.
In addition to Trendspotting, Demetri has appeared one other time during The Daily Show's race special.
He has never done stand up on The Daily Show.
Comedy Central
Currently, besides The Daily Show, Demetri Martin has appeared on Comedy Central twice. His first appearance was in 2001 when he did a 5 minute or so set on an episode of Premium Blend. The second (and more noticed time) was during his half hour special, Comedy Central Presents Demetri Martin.
In that special there were 4 segments. First he did plain old stand up. Then he brought out the "large pad" of "material enhancers." After that he played guitar and told jokes while pre-recorded music played along with it. And last he played some more guitar, but this time with the assistance of a whole crew of people including fellow comedians in costumes (Eugene Mirman, Leo Allen, etc.) as well as his mom and grandma.
He also has another Comedy Central special set to air sometime in the near future.
Last Call With Carson Daly
Another show Demetri Martin has been a guest on (doing stand up) is Last Call With Carson Daly. He's been on this show a bunch of times. I've actually seen all of these appearances, and, as far as I'm aware, he has never actually spoken once. Strange right? How can a stand up comedian perform without talking. And not just once either, a lot of times. Well, here's how...
- One time he played guitar while a recording of him telling jokes played in the background.
- One time he showed a bunch of drawings on a projector (without talking) while music again played in the background. There were no spoken words of any kind (recorded or live) during this set.
- Another time he brought his "large pad" of drawings. This time however there were descriptions and jokes to go along with them, only it wasn't Demetri who did the speaking. It was his two grandmas, who he actually brought out on stage with him.
- This other time he didn't even show up on stage until the end. Why? Because they played what looked to be a home-made animation of Demetri Martin doing standup. It was a recording of him telling jokes while an animated version of him "spoke" them. This animation also included drawings that assisted the jokes (AKA material enhancers.)
The Late Show with David Letterman
Demetri Martin has appeared as a guest on The Late Show with David Letterman one time, where he performed stand up.
The Late Late Show
I am somewhat sure he appeared on The Late Late Show just one time. It may have been twice, but my money is on once. During that appearance, Demetri performed stand up while playing a bunch of instruments (harmonica, foot drum, etc.) at the same time.
Television appearances outside of the US
In additional to his numerous television appearances in the United States, he has also graced the TV's of, um, other places. Being that I don't live in any of these other places, this area is a little sketchy for me. I do know he did stand up on Rove Live, which is an Australian talk show.
I also know he was on Channel 4 in the UK doing something with a show called Comedy Lab. As best as I can tell, he did not do any type of stand up. Instead, I'm pretty sure they aired his short film, 12:21. I've seen this short film (which was insanely hard to find), but I think this Channel 4 UK airing was the only time it has ever been shown on TV anywhere.