The Franklin native brings his personal comedy show about death back home this week to prepare for a special taping
It’s kind of fitting that a show that details a journey, of sorts, has been a journey in and of itself for Will Martin.
Just under two years since he began working out a collection of jokes and stories that would become Total Loss: A Story About Death, which makes its way back to Worcester tonight (March 12) for a show at WooHaha Comedy Club before recording a special at the Rockwell in Somerville next week (March 20), the Franklin native is quick to admit that he never intended to make it a sad show, so he’s humbled by the connection and catharsis that crowds have felt to the heavily personal presentation.
“It’s a funny show, and it’s about death. I’ve never tried to make people cry [with the show], but sometimes people do, and that’s totally lovely,” Martin tells Vanyaland. “Some have said it’s a cathartic show, where they’ve been able to laugh at their own experiences with death and remember their loved one, and that’s wonderful, as well. I’m just here to make people laugh and I’m glad people have connected to it.”
When he first started out with it, Martin felt torn about bringing it to the stage, as he worried that, given its focus on the tragic deaths of his friend Nick and little brother Caleb, other comedians and audiences wouldn’t like it. However, those worries seemed to vanish with an outpouring of support shown to him by way of an Indiegogo he set up that raised nearly double the amount needed to travel to different parts of the country with the show and to ultimately film it for a special.
The reaction instilled a heightened sense of confidence in Martin, as not only did the turnout let him know that fans and colleagues had his back, but it also confirmed that people really did want to see the show after all, and the support gave him the extra creative drive to take some risks on how he presented the show going forward.
Shooting the special on the eve of the anniversary of his brother’s passing, coming home to set this show in stone obviously holds more significance for Martin than others might be aware of. It will also mark the final form of a show that has taken on many different angles, with jokes and stories replaced along the way — a creative exercise that Martin feels has only made the show stronger over time.
“You’d have to ask someone who saw that very first show back in 2018 to get a fully objective look, but I feel like it’s about 40 percent different now,” says Martin. “It’s still about Nick and Caleb, but the stories have changed a little, as I’ve removed things, some of which were just not as conducive to their stories as I wanted them to be, so part of this tour has been about working working to fill in those gaps and making it strong again.”
While it may be a comedy show cultivated by Martin, part of his approach was to use the time on stage to not only make people laugh, but also share the spotlight by paying tribute to his friend and brother, and give crowds the sense that, through a cavalcade of jokes, stories, and journal entries, they had met Nick and Caleb themselves, and it seems as though it’s worked out thus far.
“It’s inherently mostly in my voice, as I’m the one telling it because they can’t, but my goal is to only be a third of the show, and for a third to be Caleb, and a third to be Nick,” says Martin. “I have a couple of journals from them, and I tell a few jokes that I heard them tell, and I tell stories that I remember when I think of them, and people have told me that when they leave after the show, even though they never met Nick or Caleb, they now feel like they have, and that’s an honor and sort of the goal.”
WILL MARTIN: TOTAL LOSS :: Thursday, March 12 at WooHaha Comedy Club, 50 Franklin St. in Worcester, MA :: 8 p.m., $10 :: WooHaha Event Page