Television series
Important Things with Demetri Martin
- Absurdist comedy
- Strange
- Dip in and out
A sketch and variety show where comedian Demetri Martin riffs on life's absurd concerns through stand-up, animation, props, and music. It's surreal without being impenetrable, smart without performing intelligence, and genuinely interested in the stupid-profound gap between what matters and what we think matters. For people who like their comedy weird but recognizable.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy whimsical, idea-driven sketch comedy where a deadpan host builds jokes out of props, doodles, music and odd little theories, the way a clever friend rambles at 1am.
Skip it if you want a tight narrative or sharp stand-up punch lines, since this is looser, more meandering and often drifts into quiet, offbeat tangents rather than hitting every laugh.
What it asks of you: Each episode runs about half an hour across seventeen short installments, so it rewards patience with digressions and asks you to go along with its wandering, playful logic.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Aziz Ansari: Dangerously Delicious2012
Stand-up filmed like a comedy special but structured as interconnected observations about modern life. Ansari's conversational style and willingness to follow tangents mirrors Martin's stream-of-consciousness approach without the props.
But If you want traditional joke-heavy stand-up, this is more interested in ideas and riffing than punchlines. Some segments meander before landing.
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!2007
Absurdist sketch comedy that plays with format and presentation. Uses animation, props, and performance art alongside traditional sketches. Shares Martin's interest in making you uncomfortable while you laugh.
But The humor is deliberately bad in places—intentionally awful infomercials and deliberately bad music. Not for people who need comedy to be slick or polished.
Strangers with Candy1999
Amy Sedaris plays a 47-year-old ex-con returning to high school. It's sketch-adjacent with recurring characters and a deadpan sensibility. Treats absurdity as completely normal, much like Martin's matter-of-fact delivery of strange ideas.
But The mockery of after-school specials and educational TV might feel dated if you're not familiar with what it's parodying. The humor can be slow-burn.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Important Things with Demetri Martin
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
F for Fake1973
Both use comedy and presentation as philosophy. Martin asks 'what is coolness?' through props and animation; Welles asks 'what is truth?' through cinema itself.
Orson Welles's essay-film about fraud, forgery, and perception. It's structured like a magician's trick and keeps revealing the assumptions you're making about what you're watching. Shares Martin's interest in how attention and form shape meaning.
But It's from 1973 and moves at its own pace. If you want a documentary or a story, this is neither—it's pure formal play, which some find pretentious.
More like this (6)
30 Rock2006
Fast-paced sketch comedy show about making a sketch comedy show. Tina Fey and team pack multiple jokes and weird bits into each scene. The self-aware structure and willingness to try anything for a laugh shares Martin's sensibility.
But Tries so hard to cram in jokes that some don't land. Seven seasons is a commitment and the show declines noticeably toward the end.
Onion News Network2011
Fake news show from The Onion's writers. Each episode is built on one absurd premise taken completely seriously. It's observational comedy about how we process information, done with Martin's deadpan precision.
But Some segments are stronger than others, and the format's novelty wears thin by season two. Also only two seasons total.
The Eric Andre Show2012
Late-night talk show as surreal performance art. Andre disrupts every convention of the format. Shares Martin's interest in using medium itself as the joke and making the audience complicit in weirdness.
But It's deliberately antagonistic and chaotic. If you want coherence or plot, you'll be frustrated. Some humor relies on watching people squirm.
Jon Benjamin Has a Van2011
Jon Benjamin drives around interviewing comedians and people, mostly letting the awkwardness and tangents be the comedy. Low-budget and conversational, it trusts silence and strangeness in ways most comedy won't.
But The concept is thin and carries the whole show. Very uneven—some episodes are transcendent, others drag. Only two seasons before cancellation.
The Mighty Boosh2004
Both shows use low-budget constraint as a feature, not a bug. They revel in absurdist set decoration, recurring nonsense, and the idea that comedy can be a complete world rather than jokes told at you.
British comedy series set in a zoo with two host characters and a parade of surreal recurring characters and musical numbers. It builds an entire world out of visual gags, non-sequiturs, and willingness to pause for pure weirdness.
But Very British, very weird, and the humor is often delivered flat. If you need setup-punchline structure, this is the opposite. Also requires patience with bad wigs and camp.
Nathan for You2013
Martin's show asks 'what if we took a stupid idea seriously and explored it fully?' Nathan for You is the same impulse but in the real world. Both find comedy in commitment to the absurd and the gap between concept and reality.
Nathan Fielding approaches struggling businesses with absurd consulting schemes that shouldn't work but often do. It's comedic performance art that explores failure, awkwardness, and how concepts become reality through commitment.
But Often deeply uncomfortable—it traffics in secondhand embarrassment. The humor depends on watching real people's bafflement and discomfort. Some find it cruel.
People
Production
- Demetri MartinExecutive Producer
- Jon StewartExecutive Producer