Important Things with Demetri Martin - Season 2

And here's the other show that I fear has told its last joke. The second season was barely distinguishable from the first, featuring the same formula of stand up, brief and unique transitional material, and a smattering of inconsistent but occasionally brilliant sketches. Fewer recognizable celebrities than last time, although H. Jon Benjamin was again basically guaranteed to appear in every episode. It wasn't completely stagnant though, with a new way to introduce the week's topic reminiscent of an old kid's science show or something, and more repeated in-studio segments than reused characters in the sketches. It's really hard to say too much about ten half hours of comedy that definitely feels like mostly the work of a single pretty funny guy, humorous though it may be. Some of the better bits were an emergency on an airplane where people have to keep taking other people's places that comes full circle in an amazing way, a fake documentary about the other Civil War between East and West, and Bruce the Funny Dog, who just doesn't know when comedy is appropriate. I'd like for the show to continue, though I won't be heartbroken if it doesn't.

Important Things with Demetri Martin - Season 1

For a while I wasn't sure if they were just taking a break from new episodes or if the first season was over. Apparently it's over. There's only seven episodes, but they show a lot of promise for a pretty enjoyable series with a nice mix of stand up and sketch comedy. Demetri Martin is one of my favorite current comedians, and he uses the show as a nice outlet for his material. I've definitely seen some of the jokes before, some of which are a bit of a stretch to fit the given theme, but it's not the sort of stand up that gets old quickly.

Each episode focuses on one important thing, like chairs or the concept of power. He bounces back and forth between telling jokes to a live audience, often accompanied by his trademark large notepad or a guitar, and pre-filmed segments featuring some funny cameos by guys like H. Jon Benjamin who's done a voice on practically every Adult Swim show and John Oliver from The Daily Show. The longer parts are often transitioned between with shorter bits, some of which are crudely animated. It's not really typical skit material, as Demetri spoofs on famous historical figures and philosophers as often as anything else. Not every sketch is a winner, but enough of them work that if you've ever enjoyed his comedy, the show is worth checking out.