Victor Martinez, Jr.

March 23, 2025

Photo Credit

Louis Hamilton II Images

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Vic­tor Mar­tinez Jr. has carved an unlike­ly path through Austin’s com­e­dy scene — a suit-clad host who pairs metic­u­lous craft with cannabis cul­ture. As the cre­ator of *The High Tonight Show*, he’s become com­e­dy’s answer to a focused som­me­li­er: ele­vat­ing smoke ses­sions into struc­tured art with­out los­ing their rebel­lious edge. For­get the lazy ston­er tropes; this is com­e­dy with a busi­ness casu­al dress code.

Survival Through Laughter

Growing up as the quiet middle child in a divorced household, Martinez didn't just use humor—he reverse-engineered it. His childhood became a crash course in reading rooms and defusing tension, with comedy serving as both armor and compass through fractured family dynamics.

I looked for lev­i­ty in sit­u­a­tions I had to make up on my own…divorced par­ents, only boy, mid­dle child
Victor Martinez
The Onstage Switch

Martinez embodies comedy's quiet paradox: a natural emcee who describes himself as "shy offstage." His magnetic stage presence isn't an act—it's the focused output of someone who channels social energy into precise bursts. Think of it as comedy's version of a solar panel: absorbing ambient energy all week to power Friday night's spotlight.

I’m kind of shy off stage…but I’m pret­ty good in front of an audience.
Victor Martinez
Building a New Blueprint

When a Los Angeles streaming studio offered Martinez airtime in 2016, he counterpunched with a concept that defied expectations. *The High Tonight Show* became his laboratory—part classic talk show, part cannabis manifesto. Hosted without exception in a suit, well, don't you want to dress up a little bit too?

I want­ed to break the sil­ly stig­ma. Wear a suit, keep it sharp — like Jay Leno with a blunt.
Victor Martinez
Focus Over Fogginess

Martinez's cannabis approach sounds like a well-honed process. He smokes with the precision of someone timing a soufflé—using THC to sharpen his craft rather than blur its edges. It's comedy as calculated experiment: "What if we treated joints like espresso shots?"

Any­time I smoked weed, I felt more focused.
Victor Martinez
Unconventional Baptism

Every comic has that cringe origin story. Martinez's involves unwittingly bombing at a Christian folk open mic with porn material. The result? A comedy trial by fire that somehow lit his career fuse.

Talked about porn at a Bible crowd’s open mic. Yeah, it was embarrassing.
Victor Martinez

Fol­low Victor

Vic­tor can be seen and heard:

  • The High Tonight Live Show — Roz­co’s, Saturdays
  • The High Tonight Podcast
  • The High Tonight Mic — Abe’s Shop, Thurs­days 8pm

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Victor Martinez