Mae Martin was born in Toronto on 2 May 1987,[2][3] the child of Canadian writer and teacher Wendy Martin[4] and English actor and musician-turned-food-writer James Chatto.[5][3][6] They were baptised in a village on the Greek island of Corfu, where their family lived for several years.[7]
James and Wendy were ex-hippies, and comedy fans.[6] The family home was filled with recordings of British and American comedy classics.[4]
At age 14, Martin started drinking and using illicit drugs.[4] At age 15, Martin dropped out of school to work full-time at the Second City comedy club. At 16, their parents kicked them out of the house,[10] and they stayed with comedian friends in their 20s and 30s. Abusive relationships were normalised in the night-time scene: Martin says that, "If you put a teenage girl in any industry like that, there's going to be people taking advantage."[4] Martin eventually went to rehabilitation.[11]
Martin attended an all-girls school[12] in Toronto. Martin saw their first comedy show at age 11, began booking gigs as part of the comedy troupe The Young and the Useless at age 13, and dropped out of school to pursue comedy full time at 15.[6]
Career
Martin's career started in Canada at age 13, as part of the three-person comedy troupe The Young and the Useless.[6][13] They worked The Second City comedy club, both in the box office and as a stand-up comedian.[4]
At the age of 16, Martin was the youngest-ever nominee for the Tim Sims Encouragement Fund Award.[14] Martin's work in Canada includes writing for the sketch comedy series Baroness von Sketch Show,[15] for which they are a two-time Canadian Screen Award winner for Best Writing in a Variety or Sketch Comedy Series.[16]
In 2011, Martin moved to London to enter the British comedy scene.[17] Their 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival show, titled Mae Martin: Us,[18] led to[11] the BBC Radio 4 series Mae Martin's Guide to 21st Century Sexuality.[19] Martin has appeared on the British television and radio programme The Now Show,[20] and has co-hosted GrownUpLand.[21]
In 2017, they debuted Dope, a show about addiction in all forms, at Edinburgh, which was shortlisted for the Edinburgh Comedy award.[22] The show refers to both recreational drugs as well as to dopamine, the brain chemical associated with compulsive behaviour, and drew on the work of Dr Gabor Maté, among other researchers.[10]Dope was modified into a half-hour Netflix comedy special, released in January 2019 as part of the Comedians of the World collection.[23]
In 2019, Martin released the YA bookCan Everyone Please Calm Down? A Guide to 21st Century Sexuality.[24]
Martin co-created, wrote, and starred in the 2020 Channel 4 comedy series Feel Good alongside long-time collaborator Joe Hampson.[25][26] The second season was released in 2021.[27][28] The show tackles relationships, queerness, addiction, and privilege.[4]Lucy Mangan of the Guardian praised the series as "immaculately written" and "properly funny" in her review.[28]
In 2024, Martin hosted an episode of CBC's The Nature of Things (in association with Kensington Communications and Gay Agenda) called "Fluid: Life Beyond the Binary". In the one-hour documentary, Martin explores the science behind sexual and gender fluidity, speaking with gender non-conforming youth and other experts.[32][33][34]
^Sarrubba, Stefania (1 June 2023). "Taskmaster finds its season 15 champion in bizarre finale". Digital Spy. Retrieved 8 June 2023. Tonight's (June 1) final episode saw the coveted golden head going to Mae Martin, who earned the precious trophy by finishing off with 174 points total.
