My Favorite Martin

These are our questions for trendspotter/comedian Demetri Martin.

"I 'm like the underground viral Microsoft thing," is how Demetri Martin describes his webisodes, now plastered on Clearification.com, a site set up by the software giant to promote its new Windows Vista operating system. "I actually basically get to make short films and there's a little bit of product placement. Like there's this shot of like me sitting at a computer with the new operating system on it. Yeah, it's pretty subtle." The 33-year-old Toms River native, Yale graduate, NYU School of Law dropout, Late Night with Conan O'Brien alumnus, and resident trendspotter on The Daily Show insists he isn't becoming a corporate shill; rather, he sees the site as a way to spread his dry wit, one wry observation at a time.

City Paper: Is it funny that two correspondents from The Daily Show, you and John Hodgman, have gigs with computer giants?

Demetri Martin: Kind of. The funny thing was [Clearification.com] was made in March of last year. It actually predated [Hodgman's Mac ads]. The starting-the-ball-rolling kind of happened before, at least maybe. But also, it was simultaneous. Everybody thought that Microsoft was copying Apple, and we're like, "No..." It was funny though. But whatever, I'm friends with Hodgman.

CP: How do you feel about massive computer companies using comedians as pitchmen?

DM: I think it's cool. What I find nice so far is how they are hands-off in a lot of ways. I don't feel the heavy hand of the corporation. I feel like I do my individual thing and then show them and they say, "It looks great," and, "Shoot that." They might have a couple minor notes, but you know, I've written two pilots for NBC network television. I got way more notes from NBC than I have ever got from Microsoft.

CP: It must be tough, you know, being the hippest guy in the room as The Daily Show's trendspotter.

DM: Yes, that would be cool if I was the hippest guy on the show. I like the idea of being on that show. Especially since they let you try your own thing. When I first met with them, they said, "I like your sensibility. How will it fit into the show?" And they said, "We don't want you to change what you do, just think of something that works with the show."

CP: What has Stewart passed on to you?

DM: What I have learned from both him and Conan is there really is a creative level, and it takes time to reach that creative level. Also, that you can always cut things. I mean, I am already obsessed with making things as short as they can possibly be.

CP: Your jokes are quick. Is it hard to fill a set?

DM: Sometimes it will just come right out, and then other times, it takes time to work on it. I do other stuff like narratives and more stories. I try to bounce back and forth between styles, but this tour is mostly one-liners. Since I've been doing it for nine years, it is almost as if you get better at paying attention to things, and it will just come to you.

CP: Do you focus your humor on finding jokes in simple things?

DM: Yeah, but it's not just that. I try to write jokes and it helps me understand what I gravitate towards structurally. So much of [comedy] is really how you see things. When you are writing down a joke, it is almost as if it is the last part of the process — well, telling it is the last part. I mean, you pass something a hundred times and you never notice it. Then I look, and it's like, "Oh, there is a joke right there and I never realized it."

CP: When you were starting out, were there comics you aspired to be like?

DM: I liked Steven Wright when I was a kid, and Bill Lawrence. I also liked Bill Cosby when I was a kid, too. But I never thought I was going to be a comic. It just kind of dropped out of nowhere.

CP: Everyone knows about your Ivy League background. How about you paint a picture — Demetri Martin: The High School Years.

DM: Really into skateboarding, a nerd — I was on the math team. A lot of my friends said when they saw Rushmore, they were like, "Oh yeah..."

CP: Do you remember the first time you were in Philadelphia? How did we treat you?

DM: I just want to say thanks to Philadelphia. I liked it ever since I went there on a school trip and saw a lot of old things, like the bell and the other stuff. Yeah, and I liked a girl in my class when I went there and kept untying her shoes. Like, for whatever reason I was all nervous and kept on annoying her. Yeah, Philadelphia.

Demetri Martin will perform in support of his new These Are Jokes CD/DVD on Thu., Oct. 26, 8 p.m., $29.75, at the TLA, 334 South St., 215-922-1011.