Comedian Mae Martin on their move into music — and dealing with onstage nerves all over again
"My great fear is that it'll feel like I'm trying to be a rock star," the Canadian comedian tells Q 's Tom Power in an interview. "But it felt like it sounded like me and like an extension of my other work, and so maybe people would be more receptive to it."
You might know Martin for their hit stand-up special SAP, their semi-autobiographical comedy series Feel Good, or their popular Handsome podcast, which they co-host with comedians Tig Notaro and Fortune Feimster. But when it comes to performing music, Martin says their success as a comedian wasn't enough to ease their onstage nerves.
WATCH | Mae Martin's full interview with Tom Power:
"I thought that all those years of stand-up would translate to feeling super chill and confident, because I don't get that stage fright anymore, but it really has not been the case," they say. "I was quivering, shaking."
The very first time Martin performed music for an audience was at Largo at the Coronet, a Los Angeles club known for its live music and comedy shows.
"I do a monthly show there and I would always have musical guests," Martin says. "And so I would play a cover, and that was the first time I played music in front of people. I loved the energetic shift with the audience, like you could suddenly hear a pin drop. And it was terrifying because I'm so used to breaking that tension with the punchline, you know?"
My muscle memory is like, if no one's laughing, I'm bombing. - Mae Martin
While Martin thinks all creativity comes from the same muscle, they say performing feels really different between music and comedy. In particular, when you're used to getting laughs on stage and feeding off the adrenaline of the crowd, it can feel alarming to be met with a silent, attentive audience.
"With comedy you can bail halfway through a joke if it's not working," Martin says. "My muscle memory is like, if no one's laughing, I'm bombing. So if I'm playing a song and people are just silent and paying attention, I'm like, oh God."
The other big difference is that earnest songwriting requires a lot more vulnerability than comedy.
"With stand-up, you have to be so careful not to be too earnest or you could be described as being preachy with your message," Martin explains. "With music, yeah, people are up for that vulnerability and they're open to it. There are some things and ideas and thoughts that we have that aren't easily packaged into a set-up in a punchline structure … so it's great to be able to explore them with that amazing veil of metaphor and poetry and stuff. It's great."
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