The mistake that most people make is that when they say "cerebral humor" or claim that his humor is intelligent, they immediately think "oh, what he's going to tell us a math joke? a theory of evolution gag?" You're right on that note, his jokes are not intelligent, even he has said so when I met him in an L.A. after a stand up gig he did there and a few of us manage to catch up to him. The reason he is branded as "smart humor" is because of critics. When one of us asked him what his show was going to be about, he responded he was having a bit of trouble with it because some critics said his jokes were too "cerebral" so he was trying to find some common ground with people who do not get his jokes.
I can see why people and critics would think his jokes are smart, but in reality they're not. They're just surprisingly clever, because he points out the extreme obvious that a lot of people take for granted in their daily life. Then applies it to his style of comedy, which is that aloofness you mentioned. Some people laugh others are still in that state of "I don't get it," and THAT is the real basis of the joke, people that do not get a very simple and stupid joke that really requires no brain power to understand.
His whole point of his jokes is to make us feel stupid and at the same time realize "oh yeah, Ive done that also" and being able to laugh at ourselves while he interprets the smallest of details that people take for granted. It may seem childish, in a lot of ways I can understand why you would say that, but really his intention is for you to think about it and judge it as you see fit. Which like I said doesn't take much brain power to process. If you still do not agree, then I guess Demetri Martin is not your type of comedian. Simple as that.
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