“I’m doing a lot of writing, I’m pitching a lot of stuff, just trucking along, just trying not to get a day job. I’m trying so hard not to get a day job.”
Introducing Mae Martin, a Canadian born, Britain based standup comedian who’s been working the UK standup circuit for several years. Nominated for two Canadian comedy awards, winner of ‘Best International Performer’ at Brighton Fringe festival, and a recent appearance on Russell Howard’s Good News, Mae is looking forward to a bright future in British comedy. Laughing Stock caught up with her.
“I dropped out of school when I was about 15, and started doing comedy professionally. I’m not really qualified to do anything else so it’d better work out” says Martin. “It was kind of like a liberal utopia that I grew up in. I didn’t realise at the time but looking back, I was just so lucky, my parents were so liberal and cool.”
Martin moved over to England because of family and a surprising appreciation for English weather. “My dad’s English, so I had a passport, which helped. And a lot of people in Toronto were moving to New York and then a couple of them were moving here.” says Martin. “I love it here, I love the food, I love the pie, I love the lack of sunlight; I thought, get me some of that.”
Martin performs traditional standup, interspersed with comedic musical songs she plays accompanied by her guitar. “I do a mix of songs and standup. Recently I’ve been really enjoying doing just standup. My new shows are a lot about being a teenager and the drama of being a teenage girl and how much I miss that intensity” says Martin. When asked about her guitar playing, she admits it’s not something she pursues. “I sort of plateaued skillswise when I was about 14, and I haven’t learned any new chords in a long time. I love doing music, I get pretty emotional and play pretty deep songs in my room sometimes”she said.
Martin has performed all over the UK, from Brighton to Liverpool to Edinburgh. “Anytime you go to a small town or something, I get a bit nervous to do gay stuff or political stuff but I find more and more if you give people the benefit of the doubt I’m always pleasantly surprised. I think I’ve been really lucky, I don’t think I’ve ever been heckled.”
Martin spent a large part of her life honing her comedic talent in her home country of Canada. “In Canada people never heckle, they just are so silent and polite and they just clap politely. And in England people are way more vocal, they might say something and contribute, but I’ve never had anyone shout anything mean at me.”
So what is the future for Mae Martin? “My dream is that I could write for television and write for radio, and then have the luxury of taking my time to- every year or 2 years- craft a new hour of standup, tour it and do a DVD of it and stuff. I don’t think I ever want to give up doing live stuff, that feedback is really addictive and it’s amazing.”
Check out Martin’s live schedule at ‘maemartin.ca’
