Taskmaster: Who Is Mae Martin?

Let’s get the awkwardness out of the way first, shall we? The answer is yes, it definitely WAS a throw. No further questions, thank you.

Mae Martin’s Taskmaster performance has been solid gold so far, from the hilarious #throwgate controversy in the drumming challenge to teaching us how to play the double bass with your toes, and introducing an excellent new way of pronouncing the word “humiliated”.

If you thought all that was impressive, just wait until you discover this award-winning Canadian comedian’s other work (spoiler alert: it’s very very good):

Mae Martin’s TV Comedy Career Actually Started 20 Years Ago

An adorably geeky 16-year-old Mae appeared on Canadian award show Cream of Comedy back in 2003 after becoming the youngest ever nominee for the show’s prize. They didn’t win, but their excellent Buffy The Vampire Slayer-themed set was a good sign of things to come.

In the more recent distant past, the UK first got to appreciate Martin’s comedic talents back in 2011, when they moved to London and started appearing on shows like Russell Howard’s Good News (which included them performing an excellent song about a zombie apocalypse).

Their 2017 standup show Dope – which explores addiction in all its forms – was shortlisted for an Edinburgh comedy award and then added to Netflix’s Comedians of The World series.  

Then They Made Us Feel Good

In 2020 Channel 4 aired Martin’s semi-autobiographical comedy-drama Feel Good, and the show really lived up to its name, with their incredible on-screen chemistry with co-star Charlotte Ritchie giving plenty of heartwarming moments. As well as being effortlessly funny, Feel Good deals with complex issues like addiction, childhood trauma and fear of coming out.

The show ended after two series, but not before Mae Martin won a Royal Television Society Award for their writing as well as a BAFTA nomination for their performance. You can currently watch it all on Netflix.

Their Netflix Comedy Special Has Just Been Released

In March 2023 Netflix released Mae Martin’s Comedy Special, SAP, which is an hour of joyful, quirky, life-affirming stand-up taking us through highlights from their childhood, a mythical moose encounter, and an amusing trip to Edinburgh dungeons, grappling with topics like anxiety, nostalgia and shame along the way. They also combine their assured, clever comedy and personal experience of realising they are non-binary to make some insightful points about gender identity – in fact, it’s worth watching this comedy special purely to hear their incredible way of explaining the gender spectrum using an excellent Beauty and the Beast analogy.

Taskmaster airs on Thursdays on Channel 4 at 9pm and is available to stream on Channel 4 online.