Circuit Training 94: Mae Martin is Mixing it Up

Rejoice! Mae Martin is writing songs again - or at least she will be in Edinburgh this August, during her latest round of work-in-progress shows. The admirably confessional Canadian mixes it up at the Fringe these days - a proper show one year, a WIP the next - which seems to be working out. Last year's full show, Us, was packed-out, critically-acclaimed, and reaches the Soho Theatre in late May. She'll be recording an album there too.

Many of us will always picture Mae wielding an acoustic guitar, but dropping the music clearly hasn't done any harm. Us has also now inspired a forthcoming four-part Radio 4 series, Mae Martin's Guide To 21st Century Sexuality, which is fairly self-explanatory. Her views on sexuality have garnered some pretty intense reactions from audiences, over the years, as she admits below.

Before those shows, she's hosting Late Night Laughs at the Royal Albert Hall's Elgar Rooms on 29th April, with compatriot Phil Nichol. Meanwhile, Circuit Training took her back to late August, 2015.

So, I saw your show in Edinburgh, and in the queue Tom Conti came up, asked me how the free shows worked, then wandered off to the back. I can't believe I didn't let him cut in...

Yeah, he was my grandmother's client, for decades: he was an agent. I was so chuffed that he came but it was nerve-wracking. He was sat right at the front so I had to force myself to never look at him.

Who else have you had in front rows?

A couple of my grandmother's friends, clients and things, Tom Stoppard came once - but he luckily sat in the back. It really throws me, but I love it.

So the Soho run is the same show as in Edinburgh?

It's changed a little bit. I'm gonna record it as an album at the Soho, then I'm doing it as a Radio 4 series, kind of, all chopped up and mixed around. It's been my favourite show to do, for sure.

Is this your first radio show?

Yeah, Radio 4's been really supportive. I did have a contract there as an in-house writer, in the radio comedy department for about six months, and that was amazing, met lots of people. It seems like there's been a big influx of fresh faces on Radio 4; I loved Liam Williams' series, and John Kearns'.

It's the only thing that my parents recognise when I try to explain what I'm doing with my life. "Ah, Radio 4, we know that."

How will that series work?

It's recorded live in the Radio Theatre, with a big audience; it's mostly stand-up but I'm trying to get them to let me do some audience chat, get people in the audience to confess things, some pre-recorded stuff too. So yeah, four episodes about sexuality in the 21st century, we're reworking it now.
But that radio theatre is so intimidating, it's where they recorded all the best things and it's still exactly as it was. I get a real buzz when I'm there.

Speaking of nice places, you're playing the Albert Hall again soon...

The key is, when you tell your parents about it, you don't specify which room you're doing. The Elgar Rooms are nice, there's a little bar, there's cabaret-style seating. The one I did before, they lead you through this labyrinth of corridors, I passed all the Cirque de Soleil performers coming off stage, they'd just finished flipping each other in the air and were all sweaty, these tiny little magic circus people.

And last time I was there I could hear this little orchestra playing, Ennio Morricone soundtracks, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - just cool stuff going on. I like the way they work the gigs, its two acts and one compere so each act does about half an hour, which is nice, you get a good chunk.

Do you play lots of regular shows, as well as these posh places, or are you busy TV writing and stuff?

I'm doing gigs four or five nights a week, the alternative circuit. But I'm often surprised, small town club gigs, I've had pretty much positive experiences, it's good to know your material is accessible for everyone.

It was interesting on your last album, hearing you talk about dating boys - did you get any hassle from the LGBT community about that?

Well there's a pretty strong 'B' in LGBT, so I feel included in that lot...

That's a point.

But yeah I've had a couple of interesting... like at Pride festivals I've had some women booing me when I mention dating men.

Proper booing or jokey booing?

I had some women walk out of my Edinburgh show because it wasn't what they'd come to see I guess, and I totally get that. Which underlines my overall message, that I just don't know who benefits from having really rigid labels around sexuality.

I think a lot of those labels have been applied externally, or maybe come up from oppression, as a means of asserting visibility, which is still so important. But I don't worry about it so much, you can't please everyone. The flak that I've had, that handful of incidents from the LGBT community has been so minor compared to the heckling I've had from heterosexual people when I mention dating women. The most important thing is to be honest, I think

There was an interesting reaction when Olly Murs said 'I'm 20% gay' recently, which was quite a specific number I suppose...

Ha, yeah, but even something like that is helpful. I was watching David Bowie accepting an award in the 70s, and he came out and said "good evening ladies and gentlemen - and everyone else," and I thought god, that was progressive for then.
There was a lot of androgyny in the 70s, more fluid sexuality, a lot of bisexuality, and we've kind of gone backwards since then. But I think there's going to be a move away from labelling sexuality, there's already been tons of surveys where young people are not identifying as gay or straight, it's an exciting time, but it can't happen fast enough for me.

It depends where you are though I suppose.

We have problems, but they're incomparable to elsewhere. It seems kind of naïve to be talking about breaking down labelling when it's still such a present fight, saying 'there's no such thing as gay and straight' when there are gay communities really fighting for survival in most countries in the world, fighting to be able to say 'I'm gay.' I worry about how it comes across to say 'we shouldn't say if we're gay or straight' - there's still a massive need for visibility.

Your family crop up in this show a fair bit - have they seen it?

No they haven't seen it, it's too weird. Even though I'm very myself on stage, it's always weird having people who know you really well see you. No, they're terrified by the whole thing.

That bit in the new show about your brother and your dad...

Yeah, my brother did see that - he came to a show in Toronto, and before the show I thought 'I need to brief him.' So I told him what to expect, and he went 'oh god, I don't know whether to come any more' - but he was an infant at the time! I should have told him before he left the house.

It's helpful you being in a different country...

Yeah, exactly! And I use people's full names a lot, like Katie Anderson my camp counsellor. So it's nice, the anonymity of being overseas - especially because the stuff on iPlayer, you can't stream it from other countries.

That's one of your signature bits, asking the audience if they know them.

Yeah I've tried changing names before, for TV, and it loses its vitality for me. No-one else would be able to tell but I know it's not their real name. And also I just know people with funny names

I always want to believe that everything a comic says is true, if they're presenting it that way.

That's a very optimistic point of view! But I'd say my stuff is 90% true. I don't know if that's a testament to my lack of writing ability.

You dropped out of school early - did you ever suffer a bit of an inferiority complex? Alternative comics tend to be Uni types.

I was elated about dropping out for the first four or five years after high school, because I knew what I wanted to do, and I just couldn't bear learning about Pythagoras and stuff when I knew it wasn't what I wanted to be learning. But I definitely have moments of panic. I have no qualif [that's another signature Martin bit - the unique abbreviashe], other than comedy.

I often think of doing a BA in history or something, for fun, but I read a lot. I did a diploma in Shiatsu Massage Therapy when I was 20, so that must have been a moment of panic, for sure, because it cost me $6000 and I've never done it since.

Crikey. You'll have to do a show about it, to justify the outlay.

It's just so bleak. It was two years, Monday to Friday, nine to five. I don't know what possessed me.

When did you come to the UK?

In September it'll be six years. My dad's British, and I had a passport - a lot of my friends from Canada were going to the States, but I had some family here, and I was dating someone in Canada who was doing a masters here, so we moved together. Then she finished the degree and was like 'peace out' and went back to Canada. But I loved it here and stayed.

I probably heard your songs first - where've they gone?

Yeah, I'm bringing them back! In Edinburgh. I'm just learning the piano, so I'm bringing my piano and guitar up and I'm just gonna see what happens. I just got really into stand-up, the space between the songs got longer and longer, the chat, until that's all it was. But I think in Edinburgh this year it'll be fun to improvise some songs and see what comes out. I do miss it.

And - Si - I went to a psychic, in Toronto, it was like 11pm, I walked in off the street and as soon as I sat down she said "you need to bring music back into your life, you used to be a musician, and you need to bring that back into whatever your career is." So I've got to trust her. And she said I'd meet someone called Alex who would change my life. So if you know anyone called Alex, send them my way.

The songs are a great way to get heard by more people too - I've definitely put a few of yours on compilation CDs. So would you want to get to that touring level of recognition?

I'd love to - it'd be a pretty nice feeling to have a little theatre full. It's focussing, working out what you really want to do. I write on other people's things, on sketch shows, and I'd love to write more for TV, but I feel the pressure to focus on exactly what it is I want to do.

I'm not 20 anymore, so I probably need to excel at one thing, rather than trying to do everything. I do voiceovers, writing, stand-up, I'm pitching stuff for TV. It's kind of necessary, to stay alive, but I don't think I'll ever stop doing stand-up, it's definitely my biggest joy in life.

So you've got the Soho Theatre in late May, then the radio show records in mid-June - that's an exciting few weeks.

Yeah, it's so good to be busy. The minute you're not, that's when you start thinking about going to university.

Mae Martin is hosting Late Night Laughs at the Royal Albert Hall's Elgar Rooms on April 29th royalalberthall.com - and performs 'Us' at the Soho Theatre on the 31st May to 4th June. sohotheatre.com