because the man who won the award the year before. a hairy person called Daniel. was a bit huffy with everyone in sight and really wished he had never won the award in the first place. But that‘s another story . . .
And now. two years later. both Demetri and Tommy are back in lidinburgh to do some more shows. They are still really. really funny but one thing is bothering us . .
If they are so good at telling stories, why are they saying that they’re not storytellers any more?
Both of them come from a stout storytelling tradition. 'l‘iernan is lr'ish. for feck’s sake. and Martin studied law. 'l‘iernan‘s legendary NUS show revolved around two not-so-tall tales: his schooldays in .\'avan and the maltreatment he received and witnessed from brutal teachers and
the equally shoddy behaviour from a group of (‘atholic fundamentalists who accused him of
blasphemy for a routine he performed on mainstream Irish chat show. The Late Lute Show. His 2003 tour was called 7&'// My (1 Story. But when 'l‘iernan is asked about whether he would put 'stand-up‘ or ‘storyteller‘ on his passport. he is dismissive of such a banal notion.
‘lt‘s a definition that's kind of a misnomer and largely irrelevant.‘ he insists. ‘You can get stand- ups like Richard Pryor or' Lenny Bruce or Billy Connolly who are great storytellers. I suppose that storytelling is my style of stand-up.’ When playing in Montreal recently with his l.()().\'(' show (we'll come to the night alter night after night standing ovations in a minute). 'l‘ier'nan did notice a strict difference between the British/Irish comics and the [S ones. ‘An American comic’s material is so defined with all these one—liners and they can do the most amazing ten or IS-minute sets and really blow
you away. But soon it becomes a test of
endurance rather than a festival of wit.‘
Demetri Martin. then. is clearly something a bit different from his Stateside brethren. llis Perrier winning show of 2003 was based on childhood memories of sitting around avoiding girls and sports to plunge into a world of words and puzzles. while last year‘s Spiral Baum! concerned the rather unfortunate hell of being stuck deep into his own notepad. No. really. But
now. he is concentrating on the world of
straightforward. slap-bang. right—down-the—line
joke-telling. There's even a clue in the name of
his new show: These Are Jokes; "l‘his way my show can be a little bit looser so I can talk to the audience more and mess around a bit. lt‘ll potentially be more improvised. depending on how confident I am in the moment.’
What do they think of their fellow comedians?
Demetri: ‘We're like this retarded brotherhood and sisterhood.
Tommy: ‘We‘re like renegade monks. like David Carradine in Kung I-‘u. But with a drink problem.’
Seems insane to ask, but have they ever had any really bad Edinburgh experiences? Oh yes. In his first year. Martin caught an old man (perhaps around the 80 mark) snoo/ittg noiselessly in the second row. Polite as ever. he made no mention of it at all. Last year. he had a similar problem with audience calm. ‘I did the show four or five times in New York and the crowd liked it and I thought: “Well. I have a good show." On the night of my first lidinburgh preview . . . everything that happened in my first year. I was shocked. So. i went back to my flat and opened
silence. Absolute silence. After
my notebook and I wrote: "(‘losing the show. because I . . . am . . . fucked." So. I changed 2() minutes of it and the second night was better and by the third I pretty rrruch had figured it otrt. i simply wasn't communicating the ideas well enough bel'or'ef
\Vith 'l’iernan. it’s not elderly members he should be fearful of. Quite the reverse. Two years ago. accompanying his l-‘ringe run. he put on a kids show. An absolute . . . unqualified . . . disaster" is his summation. lust of all. I hadn’t really indicated how old the kids should be. so we had these attention delicit three—year-olds in the same room as these bored senseless nine- year-olds. That combined with the fact that I thought I could bluff it onstage with a few ideas and esplore them because. you know. that‘s how it really works with kids. And the room we were in was huge. so it was like trying to entertain some kids and their parents who'd all been left behind overnight in this massive bus station. ()h (iod. I really died there. It was truly humbling.’ We’re all allowed a little setback now and again and when it comes down to it, people just love them. This is the standing ovation bit.
Aside from the glorious success in lidinburgh with their debut solo shows. the general corrserrsus is that both these comics simply rock. ()ltlid Dialili described 'l‘iernan as the ‘greatest
‘WE'RE LIKE THIS RETARDED BROTHERHOOD' DEMETRI MARTIN
stand—up in the world‘ and he was named as Fringe audiences‘ favourite via a text message poll in 2003. And in Montreal last month. he received seven straight nights of standing ovations. That kind of thing doesn’t really happen too often. Meanwhile. over in the States. Demetri Martin was voted the 2lst funniest person in America by lintw'luinmwit Weekly. ‘lt‘s hilarious. isn‘t it'.’ l‘ve even been introduced on stage like that and so. immediately. people are thinking that there are 2() people they‘d rather see.‘
And so. the story ends. We can’t promise that Tommy and Demetri will get married in a big ceremony with white horses and acres of confetti. but now that they're back. audiences will live happily ever after.
Tommy Tiernan, Assembly Hall, 226 2428, 18-27 Aug, 9.05pm, £13-£14 (£12-£13); 28 Aug, 9.30pm, £14 (£13); Demetri Martin, George Square Theatre, 662 8740, 19-28 Aug, 9pm, £11-£13 (MO-£12). Previews 17&18 Aug, £6.
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