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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy
Promotional art for SAP
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SAP

Mae Martin

Netflix · 2023 · 70 min

A quiet, optimistic comedy set in a painted forest.

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Mae Martin makes a case for finding the sweetness in a chaotic world by treating stand-up like a slightly weird conversation. Walking onto a stage decorated with pine trees, Martin balances modern anxieties with self-mocking stories about family and gender identity. The center of the hour is a sequence mapping the gender spectrum to the characters of Beauty and the Beast. In Martin’s formulation, extreme masculinity belongs to Gaston and Stockholm syndrome to Belle, while they identify with Lumière, the party-hosting candlestick who just wants everyone to feel welcome.\n\nFilmed at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver and released on Netflix in March 2023, the performance came at a transitional point in Martin’s career. They had recently wrapped their television series Feel Good, which established them to a global audience. While their older stand-up shows focused on the mechanics of teenage addiction, Sap takes a broader view. Martin is loose and expressive, showing off a physical presence that keeps the crowd engaged even when the material shifts into quiet moments.\n\nThe set covers personal anecdotes ranging from a childhood encounter with a moose to a specific nickname earned during a teenage stint in rehab. There is also a recurring bit about how embarrassing it is for adults to have bedrooms, comparing human memories to snowglobes that people are forced to show to strangers. Directed by Abbi Jacobson, the show begins and ends with pre-recorded sketches featuring comedian Phil Burgers, establishing a campy atmosphere that carries over onto the stage. Critics praised the show’s composure, noting that Martin’s performance felt like a reassuring response to a difficult few years.

The set list

6 bits

  1. Being nicknamed 'Bathwater' while attending rehab at age 19.

    Reflects on the cruel specificity of being told they look like someone who would drink their own bathwater, before pivoting into wishing someone would interrupt an adult Tinder date to declare bath time.

  2. The snow-globe theory of human interaction and identity.

    Begins by questioning why adults decorate rooms to prove individuality, heightening to the idea that experiences are like novelty snow globes kept on mental shelves that people take turns showing off to one another.

  3. The gender spectrum illustrated through Beauty and the Beast.

    Positions themself in the middle of the spectrum by relating to the candlestick Lumière, imagining anti-trans comedians watching the routine and having a sudden epiphany.

  4. Parents claiming to have driven underneath a moose in a car.

    Revisiting the story as an emblem of optimism and a distinct worldview of believing improbable things.

  5. A graveyard of abandoned imaginary children planned with ex-partners.

    Uses escalating act-outs and creepy ghost-child voices to describe the fictional kids dreamed up in past relationships.

  6. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    A Buddhist parable about a man trapped between two beasts who licks tree sap from a branch. closer

    Functions as the philosophical finale and metaphor for the special, emphasizing savoring small, sweet moments of survival and pleasure amidst a chaotic world.

How it plays

Tone
Warm, philosophical, gentle, and absurd with an underlying theme of embattled optimism.
On stage
Introspective, sincere, and excitable storyteller who delivers thoughts with breathless candor, self-effacing looseness, and a slightly dry, quirky charm.
Pace
Casual, winding narrative pace with excitable kinetic storytelling, self-interruptions, and deliberate pauses rather than rapid-fire setups and punchlines.
About
gender identity and the gender spectrum, teenage addiction and rehab, human connection and individuality, optimism and finding joy in a difficult world, past relationships

What the critics said

Received positive critical appraisal for its warm, vulnerable introspection and distinctive narrative style combining Mike Birbiglia-style confessionalism with casual absurdity, though some reviewers noted its underplayed closer and low-key delivery might divide audiences expecting punchier stand-up.

In the room: An affectionate and polite hometown Vancouver crowd that cheered enthusiastically for personal disclosures, though somewhat uncertain about how to respond to the earnest, underplayed closing anecdote.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: rottentomatoes.com, vulture.com, telegraph.co.uk, decider.com, en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, cbc.ca.

Backstory

Filmed in Canada as a non-binary trans performer reflecting on the political backlash against trans rights and anti-trans stand-up comedy specials, as well as navigating personal milestones including top surgery and recovery from teen drug addiction.

Details

Released
Taped
Vogue Theatre, Vancouver
Runtime
70 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Abbi Jacobson
Honors
Nominee, Comedy Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2024
Topics
Before
Comedians of the World (2019)

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