We all need a laugh in 2026, so let’s raise a glass to this rising star of Brooklyn queer comedy, improv and social media sass: Erik Marini!
Thotyssey: Erik, hello! We’re talking in the middle of a revolting heatwave, are you keeping cool somewhere?
Erik Martini: Hi! Ultimately, I’m keep it fierce at work right now!
Do you have a completely different persona at the day job, or are you always You?
Some customers who don’t like me will tell you I’m possessed by a demon. But mostly I think I am myself–first and foremost, a gay guy.
Representation is key lol! We just got through Pride Weekend, when on Friday you did a show “Radical Queer Joy” at Brooklyn Art Haus! How did that go?
It was so fun! Selling tickets to a show makes me want to pull my teeth out, but a lot of people came and we experienced exactly that–radical queer joy.
What’s your secret to finding the right material for standup in these Not Cute times? Is it about finding a unique approach to topical stuff, or avoiding it altogether?
Such a fierce question. I don’t get super topical unless I can find my own POV on it. Most of the time, I think I avoid it altogether because I find most audiences want to escape the real world. But I commend anyone who is topical and fierce without making it #weird.
Can you share a bit of your origin story with us?
Absolutely! I’m from a suburb outside of Houston, TX. I did a little acting in theater when I was little, but then threw myself fully in my junior year of high school. I wanted to star in musicals and plays before that. There was an improv troupe through my theater program that was very exclusive and you had to audition for; the president of the organization liked me so much that she personally invited me to audition. I liked her a lot and didn’t know what improv was, so I decided to just try it out. I got on, and have had the improv / comedy bug ever since.
Standup and improv seem so hard and scary to me! Is it a thrill / nightmare all the time, or do you feel at ease doing it?
Oh it’s an absolute nightmare. I’ve learned how to manage it (SSRIs!), but I always have to pay a little anxiety tax before I walk onstage. Usually it goes away once I’m up there, though.
Lots of standups and improv folks say that bombing, while awful, is also fun and thrilling in a way. Did you ever experience that feeling, or is it always bad?
Lowkey, bombing always is so bad. If I don’t have fun, it’s a bomb. Sometimes I’ll have fun and it’s not the best performance, so it still feels like I win.
Conversely, when something lands hard and the whole room is loving it loud, that must be the best feeling ever!
I buzz for like hours after. It’s so awesome, and makes me want to just get back up onstage and do it again. It’s truly what I love most.
Was it challenging when you started putting out online bits and comedy content without that immediate response from a live audience to inform you whether it landed or not?
Yes, it was nightmarish… and so not what I was used to. But I kept going because the very first video I ever posted on TikTok got 70K likes. I remember being like “oh, this is easy!” And then I was stuck in like 300 View Jail, or whatever they call it, just chasing the high.
The struggle is so real! You do a hot Miss Piggy, by the way. How does that not destroy your voice, and how the Hell did Frank Oz do that for like a half century, lol?
If I do it for too long I start coughing, Lol! I couldn’t tell you how Frank Oz did it… throat coat and a dream, maybe.
Besides Piggy of course, is there anyone else you consider a comedy idol or just a fabulous inspirational diva in general?
Emma Stone in Easy A and Selena Gomez in Wizards of Waverly Place were on the Erik Martini Blueprint when they were crafting me in the lab. I look like Olivia Rodrigo, Mikey Madison and Emma Stone, so it’s natural for me to be inspired by them as well!
How did your improv troupe The Duchess (with Charlie Flynn, Evan Lazarus and Richie Raymond} come together, what are the things you all like to explore onstage, and what makes you work well together?
Aw, my girls! We all met doing standup. We all have varying degrees of improv backgrounds, but at the end of the day we just wanted to hang out and be silly together. Basically all of us love playing insane cuckoo characters, and telling heightened stories about regular divas. We usually follow one singular narrative in our sets with varying scenes that center around an ingenue, played by our guest or one of us. It’s so fun, and it feels like a TV show. I think we all work well together because we’re all a different shade of the same font: gay guy who loves comedy culture, and women who have a desire for sisterhood.
The Duchess will be at Eris in Brooklyn on Thursday, July 9th to open Brooklyn Comedy Collective’s Fun & Dumb Improv Festival! What’s this all about, and what can folks expect?
Fun and Dumb is an awesome four day improv extravaganza at BCC, featuring over 500 shows (I think that’s the number) that goes from morning until night. The Duchess is headlining and performing the first slot of the festival at 7pm, and we’ve recruited special guest and famous comedian Liza Treyger! I like to think we’re cutting the ribbon of the festival. You can expect hilarity from us as well as hundreds of other awesome groups from NYC and cities all over the US!
By the way, do you notice a big difference these days with how your standup lands in a queer space versus a mixed space? Do you adjust your material for each audience? Or do you just avoid those goddamn straights, lol?
Haha! It’s hard because everywhere in Brooklyn is a queer space. It feels like
I’m always performing for them, which makes me so happy. I don’t avoid the straights by my own choice; I think I’ve just cultivated a beautiful network within the queer community. When I do find a straight audience, it definitely is different… but I find that I’m still able to talk to them. I just maybe don’t talk about gay sex, but I definitely talk about other amazing topics like The Minions, Selling Sunset and smoking weed.
All universal! It’s gonna be wall-to-wall Brooklyn queers at C’mon Everybody on July 16, when you will be the special guest of Sherry Poppins and Lindsay Blowhan’s show Cocaine Milkshake!
It’s gonna be so fun. I actually haven’t met them, but based on how awesome their names are I know I’ll get along with them perfectly. I’m truly so excited and honored they asked me to be on. I think maybe I’ve just been vocal about loving drag online? I also think my Miss Piggy impression has a parallel existence with drag because it’s exactly what I’d do for Snatch Game on Drag Race, and I know I’m not alone in that. I also have drag queens like Pink Pancake to thank for always booking me on her drag shows and allowing me to meet the fierce queens of NYC all the time, and exposing me to that community. I love drag so much, and it’s awesome to be a part of it even if I’m just popping in and telling jokes.
Amazing! And I understand The Duchess is heading to Ptown’s Gifford House on July 21-24?
Yup, they’re finally sending us away.
What else is coming up for you?
Specific date TBD, but I’m doing my hour in LA in September (maybe SF if enough gay people care) and my standup special Demonic Homosexual Possession is coming out in October! Otherwise, just hanging with my friends. I always wanna go on the record and say that I’m in the comedy community to make friends.
Lol! Okay lastly: what’s something that might surprise people about the life of a standup / improv / comedy content creator?
That you can get recognized anywhere! On the train, at your job, a sex party, or when you’re sobbing in the middle of the street! People will always come up and say hi when you’re at your most vulnerable, and you won’t make any money for it. But it’s always awesome and cool when people feel compelled to tell you that you brought them joy! Nothing bad has ever happened to me.
Nor will it! Thanks, Erik!
Check Thotyssey’s calendar for Erik Martini’s upcoming appearances, and follow him on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
Thotyssey 