Jackie Martling is a 55-year-old man with a teenager's sense of humor. But that's why Martling is known as "The Joke Man" on Howard Stern's famed radio talk show.
Martling is featured in High Times Magazine's first film, Potluck, which is opening tomorrow in select theaters around the Valley. He plays a bar owner who is trying to score with one of his waitresses who also moonlights as the lead singer of an all-girl rock band. Martling enjoyed the cameo, claiming that since he had a small role, he didn't feel as much pressure to be so focused and could therefore have a little more flexibility with his character.
The film has been described as "Cheech and Chong meet The Sopranos," and the cast also features Frank Adonis, Tommy Chong and Sylvia Miles. The plot: A case full of marijuana that was stolen from a murdered artist keeps getting passed around among different groups of people with an unlikely connection.
"There was nothing to not enjoy about this movie," Martling says. "The movie was so fun to do, and people involved were great - it was a funny, fun time."
Martling is especially reminiscent about one scene in which there was a huge outdoor pot rally in attempts to legalize marijuana. "I got beer poured on my head, I stole someone's shirt ... it was crazy, and it was like the whole world was out there for that scene."
His life may look like all fun and games, but Martling has a solid start and some interesting career shifts. He attended Michigan State University on-and-off for about seven years before finally receiving a degree in mechanical engineering in 1971.
Sure, he was on the Van Wilder plan, but it's hard to concentrate on getting a college degree when you're trying to be in a band. "I learned how to play the guitar because I figured being in a band was a good way to meet girls," he says.
Unable to master music, Martling turned his attention toward comedy. He began doing the comedy club circuit, doing standup acts in any place that would allow him behind the microphone.
It's for this reason that Martling attributes himself to helping start the comedy boom in Long Island. "All of a sudden it was like a pin ball machine, and it got really big." Over the course of doing standup, Martling flirted with the idea of acting.
The Joke Man caught a huge break but still paid his dues for a while. He met Howard Stern and worked for free for three years. He soon was promoted to head writer and became a member of the daily cast. Martling had a thriving career but hit a speed bump when it came to financial matters.
"I left because I wanted more money, and they wouldn't pay me," he says.
The career change did not slow him down a beat. Recently, Martling ignited his passion for acting again and found himself enjoying the independent movie circuit. "I think the indie movie thing is expanding its horizons, and it's a very interesting walk of life." His other movie, Mail Order Bride, opened recently in New York as well.
Martling has also put his comedy and business skills into producing electronic joke products for - get this - kids. After 25 years of making dirty jokes, he has made a big splash with G-rated gizmos like "The Talking Jokemaster Jr.," which is a hot-seller in the Sharper Image catalog and his Web site, www.jokeland.com.
The money he has generated from selling the gadgets is going toward his aspirations of being a movie producer. As for children, Martling doesn't have any, but he does see some mini-me's in his future: "I still squirt," he says. How poignant.
Since he left the Howard Stern Show, he has been sober for two-and-a-half years, separated from his wife, moved to a different house, taken acting lessons, pitched an animated sitcom to a network and now has a cat at home "that I can kick," he says. Ten years from now, Martling would like to own a club in NYC where people could perform, hang out and get a good meal.
"I'm going to be involved in some way, shape or form in show business, but you'll never see me in L.A. because I'm a New Yorker," Martling says. "I'll pretty much be the same but a little richer, older and smarter."
Reach the reporter at rekha.muddaraj@asu.edu.
