Martha Wegner - Marty Steps Out

 

My name is Martha. And there may be a few other Marthas out there. And if you're a Martha, you know what I'm talking about. [audience laughter] When I introduce myself, I say, my name is Martha. People don't just say, “Oh, nice to meet you.” They have something to say. They say, “Oh, my grandma's name was Martha. I loved her.” [audience laughter] They say, “Oh, I had an Aunt Martha. My favorite aunt.” They say, “My favorite name is Martha.” But you'll notice they don't ever name their daughters that. [audience laughter] 

 

So, I grew up as Martha. On top of that, I had four sisters surrounding me. Kathy, Julie, Susie and Lizzie. We're talking perky in the midst of that is Martha. [audience laughter] So, I really became my name. I was shy, I was reserved and I did everything I could to keep attention off of me. The other thing about me is I love to dance. And the husband that I just love beyond words does not love to dance. [audience laughter] He's really bad at dancing. [audience laughter] We don't get along well when we try to dance. So, I got this great idea. I thought, I'm going to take line dancing. You get out there, you do it yourself. I found a line dance class. It's called Soul Line Dance. What that means is we are not dancing to Billy Ray Cyrus and Achy Breaky Heart. We're dancing to Billy Ray Cyrus with Lil Nas X, Old Town Road. 

 

I decided I'm going to have a new persona as I go into dance. I am going to be Marty. [audience laughter] And that's what I did. I signed up as Marty, I put a name tag on as Marty and everybody in this class calls me Marty. Soon after, a new person started this class. His name is Randy, and he's about my age. Whereas I dance according to the rules, Randy dances. When I turn, he spins. I said to him, “Where did you learn how to dance?” And he said, “Well, I was on Soul Train.” [audience laughter] I looked it up. He was on Soul Train. “I was in a video with Lionel Richie, All Night Long.” It's true. I looked it up. He was, 

 

Randy loves me. I love Randy. When I come into the room, he yells, “Marty Mar.” It just makes me so happy. About a year ago, he said, “We are going to have a-” and this is what he called it, “a dance extravaganza. There will be dancing, there will be stage performances, and there will be lip syncing. Marty, what will you be doing?” And I said, “Nothing. I don't perform, I don't sing, I do not draw attention to myself.” The next week, he said, “And Marty, what will you be doing?” I said, “Nothing. I don't do it.” The next week, he said, “Marty, I need your song because I'm getting my playlist together. You will be lip syncing.” I said, “Okay, Taylor Swift.” [audience cheering] What else? 

 

So, I got my outfit out of my closet. This is the closest I could get to Taylor Swift. This is what I wore. Put on my dance shoes, went to Walgreens, got red lipstick, got a blonde wig with a ponytail, which I did not wear because I took the green line and I didn't want people to think they had to sit next to a crazy lady. [audience laughter] So, I did it. I did it with all the Taylor attitude you could imagine. We Are Never, Ever, Ever Getting Back Together, [audience laughter] Like, Ever. [audience laughter] I did great. My dance teacher was there taping it on her phone. And so, I watched it and I can hear my husband standing next to her. 

 

Now, my husband's known me for 45 years. And Tina said, “Did you ever think you would see your wife do this?” And my husband says, “No.” [audience laughter] He doesn't say no like, “I'm so proud of her.” He's like, “No, this is so--" [audience laughter] So, I put it on Facebook and the reaction is great, except my sister, my parents are like, “What happened?” And my sister Kathy emails me, “Do you realize that someday your grandchildren are going to watch this?” 

 

Spectator: [00:26:08] Hell yeah.

 

Martha: [00:26:10] Exactly. My husband emailed me and he said, “I love watching this, because this is so not you.” But he said, this man who's known me since I was 19 years old, he said, “But I recognize you in all of it.” And he's right. It was in there all the time, and I needed Randy, and I needed Taylor and I needed Marty. She showed me.