As he entered McAlister Auditorium with nervous energy last Wednesday night, Demetri Martin kicked off the school year with a stellar show combining deadpan humor, subtle genius and a bit of awkwardness.

Making a stop at Tulane on his “Let’s Get Awkward” tour, Martin stayed true to the name and engaged in uncomfortable small talk that broke the audience into bouts of laughter. He offered insight into everyday actions, the uncomfortableness of social life and strange little quirks we take for granted.

His stand-up was well-crafted with short observations, yet he was not afraid to experiment with new material, branching into stories and visibly getting excited about nailing jokes and stories he initially stumbled over.

He opened up the floor to questions to talk about various projects he has worked on. The audience got excited with him, as he enraptured the them and put them in his shoes, simultaneously relating to the Tulane crowd and shaping the set so that it specifically related to college students.

To close out the show, Martin played some guitar and shared one-liners like “75 percent of German Shepherds are dogs” and “Jesus Christ was the first scarecrow.”

Martin has a lot more coming, as he will be touring across the U.S. this year for the “Let’s Get Awkward” tour and making his directorial debut in “Dean.”

Tulane University Campus Programming selected a great comedian to ring in the school year, setting the bar high for this semester.