'These Are Jokes' was Demetri's 2005 one-man-show for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It was released on CD/DVD on September 26th 2005.Included in the pack are:

• the CD containing tracks featuring one-liners, songs, Yiayia Dinah (see biography), comedian and friend Will Forte (from Saturday Night Live) and more
• the DVD containing a half hour special from his 'Comedy Central Presents' special, some animations, early gigs and videos
• a poster with pictures of item which he tells jokes about.

The CD is a great example of Demetri's 'rapid-fire one-liners' and, if you have watched his videos, also serves as a nice comparison to see the progression of some of his jokes. When he first had the idea of including his family on the CD, his plan was to "just tell jokes and say, 'Yiayia, what'd you think of that?'" But when he tried it out on them and his Yiayia replied "very good observation" in an apparently 'flawless Greek accent and his Mum replied "That was clever", his first thought was "Wow. This is going to be way funnier than I thought. This is awesome." (1) It was from here that his Yiayia Dinah made her way onto the CD introducing the album and telling some stories along the way, mixed in with some of Demetri's classic one-liners and a bit of new material too.

Demetri's aim in making the CD was to "take some of [his] favourite jokes and do a nice solid hour of high LPM (laughs per minute)", and the CD certainly achieves in that regard. The CD was recorded with a live audience, who are also exposed to Demetri's usual visual aids, however the CD holds its own and seems to manage just fine without the visuals (and for those people who need the visual, there is a DVD thrown in just for you).(2) Many of Demetri's comedic devices appear on the show, including his guitar, his drawings, a flip-chart and his glockenspiel(3)
(image to left from muzikspy)

The show was created for the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was performed for 11 nights in a 450 seat theatre, to which Demetri exclaims, "It's crazy that i can do that in Scotland but I can't do that here (NY)." The show was designed to be a "stopgap" between his 2004 one-man-show 'Spiral Bound' and his up and coming 'Dr Earnest Parrot Present Demetri Martin.'(2)

The show is unlike his previous ones, in both a good and bad way. It veers away from his usual 'concept' style show, as can be seen in 'If I' for example, and focuses solely on the delivery of jokes. However, as an almost 'filler' in between shows I find it quite successful. Simple, fresh, elegant and hilarious - traits which directly resemble his style of comedy.

The CD also frequented the top 10 Comedy album downloads from iTunes since its release, still reaching 2nd in February 2009. You can check out the entire lists by clicking here.
(WARNING: this site isn't easily read and could do with a search option, but the information is all there if you're willing to search for it)

Buy the 'These Are Jokes' CD through Amazon.com

or check out some reviews here:
The Fun Times Guide (good review)
Brian Logan - Guardian (mediocre review, doesn't seem to get this style of humour)

References-
(1)Demetri & the Believer Interview, February 2006 - http://www.believermag.com/issue/200602/?read=interview_martin
(2) Gothamist Interview, 20 October 2005 - http://gothamist.com/2005/10/20/demetri_martin_comedian.php
(3) Guardian Review, by Brian Logan. 25 August 2005 - http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2005/aug/25/comedy.endinburchfestival2005