“I brought visual art into my stand-up comedy,” says Martin, who worked on paintings for two-plus years before he figured he had enough material to fill a gallery.

The relationship between the viewer and the art is both exciting and scary to Martin. When taking a comedy show on the road, you more or less know your jokes will land, he says.

Talk radio host and gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder is drawing fire for a decades-old clip, recorded at a comedy club, in which he repeatedly uses the N-word, in an apparent impression of O.J ...