Demetri Martin Joke About Graffiti Spurs Actual Graffiti

"I wonder what Demetri Martin thinks of the impact he's had on men's room wall literature" | Men's restroom in the Evans building @ The University of California at Berkeley | Photo: Christian Handley

In the 2006 breakout-comedy album, "These Are Jokes" by Demetri Martin, the New York brainiac and comedy maven has a great joke about graffiti:

"Graffiti's the most passionate literature there is, you know? It's always like 'Bush sucks!' ... 'U2 Rocks!' ... I want to make indifferent graffiti. 'Toy Story 2 was okay!' ... 'I like Sheryl as a friend, but I'm not sure about taking things further' ... 'This is a bridge!'

In a rare meta-form of tribute, some diehard fans around the U.S. have taken to scrawling "Toy Story 2 was okay" on bathroom stalls, park benches and reservoir walls. As far as bathroom graffiti goes, "Toy Story 2 was okay" is pretty good, especially if you're unfamiliar with Martin's joke. And for those who do know the joke, we find it interesting that they feel so compelled to photograph the text and upload it to Flickr. Herewith, The Apiary presents* a collection of Demetri Martin's real-life "indifferent graffiti."

*The Apiary does not condone the damage or destruction of public property, regardless of how much we enjoy reading "Go home, Dad, you're drunk" above a urinal.

Unisex bathroom @ Bonfire Lounge in Portland, Maine. | Photo: tehbaxter

Bathroom @ Flowers Bar & Restaurant in Seattle | Photo: jhenryrose

Bathroom @ Spike's Junkyard Dogs in Boston, Mass. | Photo: palooza

Alley near a Chinese restaurant off Commonwealth Ave. in Boston | Photo: fuffer

Alternate angle | Photo: redgoldfly

Alternate angle | Photo: lscrabtr

Bathroom wall @ The University of Georgia Main Library in Athens, Ga. | Photo: adrianpritchett

Ladies' bathroom @ King's Hardware in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle (August 5, 2006) | Photo: kate.em

Ladies' bathroom @ King's Hardware (May 27, 2008) | Photo: watermelon4linz

Bathroom wall @ Hummingbird Stage & Tap Room in Macon, Georgia | Photo:
Heather Bowman Cutway

I-95 rest stop bathroom outside Providence, R.I. | Photo: snowak

Bathroom stall @ Tapioca Express on Villa Street in Mountain View, Calif. | Photo: Mary Mactavish

Rest stop bathroom outside of Providence, Rhode Island | Photo: zabeth

Inscribed on the tree | Photo: prozaclogic

Location unidentified | Photo: The Amazing Mr. Joey

Location unidentified | Photo: green bean charlene

Bathroom wall @ The Bad Waitress in Minneapolis | Photo: Hell's Donut House

Bathroom in the basement of the Dartmouth Outing Club building at Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire | Photo: ryanchittick

Park bench in Novato, Ca. | Photo: hogisland

Comments

[Eliot]

This is phenomenal.

[Abbi Crutchfield]

Demitri, please write a joke in which your fans will think it's funny to stay current on political and world issues and vote. Thanks!

[soce]

Now, that's power. I love the ridiculous in-jokes where the typical person would never see that and think "oh, that's clearly a demetri martin joke". Kind of like the phrase "these are my shoes" (which is from a different comedian).

[kate]

"Wow a lot of people shit with pens."

[Hell's Donut House]

No kidding, soce -- when I took that shot, I had no idea the line came from Demetri. I just thought, "Hm... what curiously banal graffiti. Who would bother writing such a thing?"

[Nate]

Who knew?

[chesslee]

i'm crackin' up here.

[Billy Reno]

Anyone know what's going on with his CC show?

[Mike's Action Lyrics]

This Demetri Martin guy sounds powerful!Imagine having that much sway over people... imagine being able to create jokes.

Wow!