If it only takes one word to describe someone, in this case, “person” might be the best choice. That was made clear when Demitri Martin’s special “Demitri Martin: Person” aired on Comedy Central. But now, there will be more to consider about the man with the Beatle-like haircut, because this person has a new show, “Important Things with Demitri Martin,” which airs starting tonight on Comedy Central.

Each episode focuses on a word — the first episode is about timing — and creates a web of jokes to analyze it in multiple respects. Martin plays the ringleader in it all, making jokes through his usual pen/pad combo while also branching into pre-filmed sketches. Although he doesn’t have a lot of acting experience, bridging the gap between standup and television wasn’t difficult.

“I tried to apply the style I’ve developed to a slightly different format… There’s a little standup in the show, like my usual stand-up I guess. But once it goes into sketches, I try to carry whatever comedic perspective I have into more of a sketch format,” Martin said.

Martin commonly performs with the help of a large sketch pad which he integrates into his jokes with music, his own one-liners, or, in some cases, by letting the doodles speak for themselves. When asked how he decided on such an unconventional comedy tool, Martin claims it’s natural.

“When I have no idea about what I’m going to draw or write, I would just move the pen around the paper to see what shapes come out of it. Bringing it on the stage was I guess the next natural step in that process. Sometimes I used to draw things that I couldn’t get to work out without the drawings I thought maybe it could be an extra punch line to a joke or a tag or something. And then once I tried that, it was like ‘Well, that seems to work sometimes,’ and it could actually yield other bits,” Martin said.

Back in 1997, Martin was enrolled in law school with a full ride scholarship. With one year left until graduation, he decided to drop out and instead pursue his dream of comedy. It was a risky decision that paid off, but not before Martin adjusted some of his views.

“One thing comedy has taught me is that I was forced to change my definition of success. I think when I was younger, I thought success was something that you tried something and you just get your results, and you succeeded. But with standup, I was forced to look at success in a larger window of time,” he said.

Another way to recognize Martin’s comedic style is through the lightening bolt symbol, which he commonly uses for really no reason other than because they’re cool.

“I just like lightening bolts, and I enjoy drawing a lightening bolt because when I draw it, it’s just a continuous movement and then it closes. I think they’re cool. Lightening bolts seem confident.”

The future, on the other hand, poses a lot of questions for Martin. He would like to write a screenplay and learn more about acting, and in addition to the book he’s writing, he stays busy. But according to him, what he wanted to “be” when he grew up was less important than doing the things he wanted to do.

“The interesting thing about doing this kind of career is that is’ very unpredictable. And all jobs are, but this on especially. That’s something great about it, it just seems so wide open. I often think of a career as more of a body of work, you know, what did you manage that you’re proud of, and did you try things that were hard for you, and did you get better at them. I feel in the next 5 years if I could do some of that, I’d probably be pretty happy about wherever that takes me,” Martin said.

*”Important Things with Demitri Martin” airs on Comedy Central.*