Mae Martin Is Standing Up For Mental Health In Her Revealing New Show

Canadian Mae Martin was a comedy prodigy, getting her first laughs on stage at the age of 13. She says that having been at it for over 15 years — more than half her lifetime — means she needs to go further and dig deeper to stay interested. This leads to shows as hilarious, honest and intensely intimate as her latest, Dope.

"I've been doing stand-up so long," Martin says. "And I still love it, but sometimes it doesn't give me an adrenaline rush. But this show is so new and fresh and I feel so strongly about it, so I look forward to doing it." Aside from two preview shows in Martin's adopted hometown of London, these Melbourne and Sydney dates are the very first performances of her new show.

Dope delves into drug addiction, teenage fanaticism, and adult relationships while making a larger point about the similarities between all three. Martin even explains some of the neurochemistry behind these phenomena, describing dopamine and what it does to our brains. "I have a very tenuous grasp on the science - like, I've watched a couple of TED Talks - but I try to get it in there."

Most of Martin's show is focussed on one specific brain which she's been trying to explain for decades: her own. "It's super personal," she says. "And it's definitely stuff I've wanted to talk about for ages but I haven't felt like I had the comedic chops to do dark stuff and feel confident that I can keep it funny and bring the audience out of the darkness again. When I was younger I was so afraid to be dark or sardonic. It's been fun to be a little more acidic."

Does publically sharing such private stories from her life feel therapeutic? "Yeah, like a worrying amount," she says. "It's so cathartic. It's also stuff that a lot of my friends don't even know, and stuff that I've kind of blocked out or kept from my parents. I wonder if that's a conversation that's around the corner."

Martin is keeping extremely busy, as she works on a BBC radio series, a sitcom, and a live DVD. Would she consider putting stand-up on the backburner to focus on her many other creative pursuits? "I don't think I would ever stop doing stand-up," she says. "I just have this itch. There's no better feeling. I'm sure there're lots of better feelings, but not for me anyway."

Despite the traumatic experiences explored in her show, Martin's life is in a far more stable place these days, which has both pros and cons for the comedian: "It's a very healthy place to be, I think. It's good to feel more in control of my ups and downs. But it's boring as fuck."