Mae Martin is an Canadian-British actor, screen-writer and comedian. They are most well-known for writing and starring in the hit Netflix show Feel Good (2020-2021), for which they won a BAFTA award.
Martin was born in Ontario, Canada, on 2nd May 1987. They have described their parents as “hippies” who had a love for British comedy, and were incredibly open-minded, creating a “liberal utopia” when they were growing up. From their early teens, Martin was involved in their local late-night comedy scene, performing stand-up at the Family Circus Maximus. Though they credit the experience as “exhilarating”, they have since admitted that it wasn’t the safest scene for a young person. By 14, Martin was drinking heavily, as well as dabbling in cocaine and other drugs. Eventually, they went through rehabilitation for their addiction, an experience which would later inspire their 2017 live show Dope.
In search of a fresh start, Martin moved to London in 2011, where they quickly fell in love with the British comedy scene. They worked a number of dead end jobs before eventually landing a breakout opportunity to perform their show Mae Martin: Us at the world famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2015. This led to a BBC radio show, Mae Martin's Guide to 21st Century Sexuality, which further bolstered them into the spotlight.
When Dope came to Netflix as part of the Comedians of the World collection in 2019, Martin found a further, larger fanbase. Feel Good soon followed in 2020, a semi-autobiographical comedy drama written by Martin, with them as the main character. The show deals with themes of addiction and abuse, as well as struggles with one's sexuality or gender. A second season was released in 2021.
Martin came out as both bisexual and non-binary in a wonderfully rambly Instagram post in April 2021, writing:
The way I feel about my gender identity is ongoing and evolving [...] I’m nonbinary, my pronouns are they/them and she/her [...] I’m very bisexual and attracted to people of all genders [...] Annnnyway, this aspect of my identity is just one part of me and not the main part at ALL, but I get asked about it a lot in interviews/by online people, and am often inaccurately referred to as a female comedian or a lesbian comedian, so I thought I’d just clarify.