‘Joke Machine’ bringing his game to Englert in I.C.

About a decade ago, it looked like Demetri Martin was going to be the next Steve Martin. Much like the comic-turned-auteur, Demetri Martin made the jump from comedy clubs to the big screen.

Demetri Martin starred in Ang Lee’s “Taking Woodstock” and was tabbed to co-star with Brad Pitt in “Moneyball.” His collection of comic musings, “This is a Book by Demetri Martin,” scored rave reviews.

However, Martin, a quirky but often hilarious Renaissance man of comedy, who delivers clever jokes, didn’t make the leap to Hollywood’s upper echelon.

The studio replaced Martin with Jonah Hill for “Moneyball,” and then Martin married and had two children, now ages 10 and 7.

“If I had been in ‘Moneyball,’ maybe I would have gotten more parts and more money, but I swing back and forth about what could have happened,” Martin said while calling from his Los Angeles home.

Subjects matter

“Anonymity is a power in this business. I’m famous-adjacent in show business. The average person may not know me, but fans recognize me and my work. I’m famous enough that I sell tickets and get to meet some of the people I really admire in this business. I don’t get invited to fancy parties or award shows, and I'm fine with that.”

The benefits — or lack of them — don't matter to Martin, who is a well-respected comic and continues to headline theaters. Perhaps he will get back to acting, but that’s not his priority.

“Getting acting work is appealing,” he said. “I enjoy it, but what I really think I’m about is telling a story, whether that’s in book form or with film. If I can be in the film, great, but if not, that’s fine, too.”

Martin has no regrets about working less and focusing on his children.

“It’s such a pleasure and a privilege to be a supporting character, which is what we are with our children,” he said. “We get to be the protagonist in our lives, but it’s just so wonderful being this supporting character seated in the front row watching them develop. I love speaking with them about what’s going on in their lives. I can give them advice and look back and tell them about how someone bullied me and how to deal with it.”

Unlike many comics, he seldom jokes about his children.

“I have a couple of specials coming up, and in one special I don’t mention my kids and in the other one, I do talk about them,” he said. “I’m not much of a storyteller. I like to tell jokes — discreet jokes. Kids don’t often fit with what I’m doing as a comic.”

When Martin performs Sunday at the Englert Theatre in Iowa City, the topics he bandies about will be relatively random.

“I’ll talk about animals and make observations,” he said. “I’ll tell shorter jokes and I’ll tell some stories about my kids this time out. I’ll talk about some dad stuff, but it will mostly be jokes.”

Background

The New Jersey native, now 50, grew up in the neighborhood where MTV’s “Jersey Shore” was shot.

“That show reminds me of high school,” he said. “I wasn’t part of that scene. I was on the math team. I wasn’t good on the Little League team. But when I got to New York, I connected with people.”

Martin quickly climbed the comic ladder. After interning at “The Daily Show,” he became a “Daily Show” correspondent. He followed that gig by hosting his own Comedy Central Show, “Important Things with Demetri Martin.”

It was always back to the stage for the inveterate stand-up.

“I have to tell jokes,” he said. “That's my passion.”

That sets Martin apart from the new wave of comics like Nate Bargatze, Bert Kreischer and Tom Segura, who are headlining arenas telling stories. That wildly successful trio primarily ignores the traditional setup followed by punch line.

“It’s a different skill set,” Martin said. “It’s also different in terms of laughs per minute with stories. It’s just so different.”

However, Martin impressed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland 15 years ago by telling stories, not jokes.

“I did stories in Edinburgh that were pretty personal,” he said. “The shows went over well, but after doing the stories 15 times, I had enough. I was sick of my stories. From a mental health perspective, it was too much me.

“Part of the reason I like doing jokes is that they’re separate from me. When I tell a story, it’s something that happened, and I don’t embellish. However, I see comics who do stories and I admire the way they do it by padding the story. It’s a real art form.”

Quiet riot

Martin, who delivers surreal humor a la one of his favorite humorists, Steven Wright, is an unusual stand-up. Martin is humble, has no problem giving up work if it means more time with his family, and is soft-spoken. He can crack up an audience, but his own laughs are quiet.

“I’m one of the worst members of an audience,” he said. “You don’t want to perform in front of a crowd of people that are like me. But I’m just pretty quiet and introverted. I don’t laugh loud. I don’t emote. That’s not my fault. That’s just the way I am.”

Martin doesn’t post on social media much, which makes him a Hollywood anomaly.

“When I grew up, we didn’t have technology and it just seemed anathema to self promote. It was much cooler to be quiet about what you were doing and just let your work speak for itself.”

In that regard, Martin did turn out like Steve Martin, who isn’t crazy about posting on social media, either.

“I’m just who I am,” Martin said. “I can’t be anybody else.”