If Quinn C. Martin doesn’t seem like any standup comic you’ve seen, it’s because he isn’t. And it’s a fact he’s proud of. The Scarborough native, who’s a regular on Tuesday nights at Yuk Yuk’s comedy club downtown, has been performing for two and a half years, and wasn’t really influenced by other comedians simply because he never watched them.
“I don’t watch any comedy,” Martin explains. “I’ve seen snippets just from flicking channels, but I’ve actually never watched those who people call the greats. You know, the Pryors and the Carlins and Eddie Murphy. I’ve never seen any of their specials or anything of the sort. I just want my comedy to remain uninfluenced.”
Martin never set out to be a comedian, but his tremendous ability to make his peers laugh made it obvious that he had a talent that needed to be nurtured. It was one of Martin’s friends in a rock band who would be the catalyst that launched his career.
“One day he had this party and he said, ‘Quinn, you got to do standup,’ and I just came down and I did it. I probably did six or seven minutes that first time, but it was a blast. Then I just started writing and having a good time because I had fun.”
Being somewhat of a natural to the craft, Martin ran with it and has not looked back since. He has a solid work ethic, writing every day, expanding on the personal thoughts that he jots down as he experiences them. To Martin, standup comedy is more than just jokes, it’s a means of communicating and touching an audience. Making the audience think and look at the world in a different way is something that is important to him as a comedian-he understands the power of holding a microphone in front of an audience.
“I think comedy is one of the most incredible arts out there. Just like music, you say something while rhyming, you say something while joking, and you’re moving the world; you’re doing something completely different. I think it’s much unappreciated,” says the thoughtful comic.
Martin’s act spans a wide variety of topics, including jobs, race, women, relationships, and even television.
“I see this commercial with these two people running around, laughing and playing… it’s a herpes commercial! What’s everyone so happy about? You got herpes.”
Martin enjoys keeping an audience on their toes, anticipating what will be done next on stage, so consequently he tries to keep his material fresh. In his vault is about 45 minutes worth of solid original material-an amazing feat for a 22-year-old comedian.
Martin’s big dreams require such dedication-he hopes to one day have a comedy special of his own and maybe even win a Grammy. More than anything, though, for Martin “the ultimate goal is just not to be disappointed with myself.”
He hasn’t let himself or others down so far, and has in fact caught the eye of many people in the GTA. So much so that Martin was even able to score a gig to perform at an upcoming show with heavy metal band Anvil on October 29 in Toronto.
As Martin slows his car to drop me off after his regular gig at Withrow’s Pub in Scarborough, he tells me about an upcoming performance at Yuk Yuk’s where he’ll have the chance to get promoted and work as one of the opening acts for headliners on weekends. I wish him luck, and he thanks me but retorts, “I don’t believe in luck. Luck is only opportunity meets preparation.”
With that attitude, the future should be bright for this rising comic.
Martin got that promotion, and will be a regular at Yuk Yuk’s downtown comedy club (224 Richmond St. W.) on Friday and Saturday nights starting at the end of October. You can also catch his act at Withrow’s Pub (3351 Ellesmere Rd., 5 minutes from Scarborough campus, folks!) Monday nights at 9:30 p.m. (All ages are welcome for the show at the pub, but they do check ID at the bar.)
