From WAYWARD Teen to Comedy Legend with Mae Martin

Getting Better with Jonathan Van Ness

Sony Music

Science, Self-improvement, Comedy, Education, Society & Culture

4.9 • 21.5K Ratings

🗓️ 1 October 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Comedian, actor, and writer Mae Martin joins the podcast for a wild ride through their journey — from discovering Ace Ventura as a kid, to cutting their teeth in comedy clubs, to creating the hit Netflix series Wayward. In this episode, Mae opens up about how identity, rejection, and resilience have shaped their comedy and storytelling, and why Wayward feels so personal. We explore the highs and lows of life in comedy, Mae’s creative process, and the joy they find in making art that connects. If you’re obsessed with Wayward or curious about the path that brought Mae here, this conversation is funny, real, and full of heart. Full Getting Better Video Episodes now available on YouTube. Follow Mae Martin on Instagram @hooraymae Follow us on Instagram @gettingbetterwithjvn Follow Jonathan on Instagram @jvn Check out the JVN Patreon for exclusive BTS content, extra interviews, and much much more - check it out here: www.patreon.com/jvn Senior Producer, Chris McClure Producer, Editor & Engineer is Nathanael McClure Production support: Chad Hall Our theme music is also composed by Nathanael McClure. Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Better Babes. I'm Jonathan Van Ness and welcome to Getting Better. We've learned on getting better
0:04.4	that feeling joyful and staying connected to humor and comedy can make us be more engaged in the
0:09.2	world around us. But how do we stay laughing when life is anything but funny? I know for me in the last
0:16.0	few years, I have felt a harder time connecting to joy as we are in a era that is not one of my favorite
0:22.8	eras in the United States. And really, there's a right-word shift all over the world. So how do we
0:27.8	stay joyful? How do we stay connected to comedy in times like this? Which is why we have an
0:33.0	incredible guest. Comedian, writer, and now showrunner, May Martin, has mastered the art of turning
0:39.5	vulnerability into connection. From their groundbreaking series, Feel Good, hosting the beloved
0:44.6	handsome podcast with Tignitaro and Fortune Beamster to their new Netflix project, Wayward,
0:50.5	May has shown us that humor isn't about hiding the pain. It's about transforming it.
0:55.4	Let's get to our conversation with May.
0:58.6	May, welcome to getting better.
1:00.1	I'm so happy to be here.
1:02.1	May, I always find myself saying that if I didn't have comedy,
1:06.3	I would be in my mom's basement eating powder donuts for the rest of my life.
1:09.8	Yeah.
1:10.6	Because it's like, sometimes I just, I think I'd be so sad without comedy. for the rest of my life. Yeah. Because it's like,
1:11.1	sometimes I just,
1:12.1	I think I'd be so sad without comedy.
1:13.6	It's such a good tool.
1:14.6	Yeah,
1:15.0	it's all we have. Yeah. It's, I feel the same. I don't know. I'd be, what would I be doing? I'd be like, what would you be eating in one of your parents' basements? I would be eating, I don't know, something.
	...

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