Saturday, September 15, 2012

Mourning Sean Martin

Sean Martin wanted to do it all, and he did quite a bit of it in a very short time.

 We met when he invited me to perform comedy at a benefit show where his band was playing. At the gig, which he also produced, he started asking me about stand up comedy. Next thing I knew he'd become a regular at Luna's, a weekly comedy night here in Sacramento, getting quite good quite quickly.

 Then he started sending me drawings and scripts and essays, partially as invitations to collaborate and partially to let me know what distractions were keeping him from stand up. All the while cancer and chemo were batting him around. He liked talking about his disease and treatment onstage, which is good, because he had to. As soon as he took the mic people were distracted by how thin and gaunt he was. He put them at ease with his illness, but didn't spare them the dark places in his jokes and stories.

I just found out Sean is gone. I feel bad for the times when his energy was too much, even for spastic me. Yeah, in the middle of dealing with this horrid disease and it's brutal treatment, he still had more energy and drive than anyone I can think of. I'll miss him. It was mighty kind of him to leave so much behind for us to remember him by.

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