"Jedi Rob" Martin
Posted by Spell on
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If you've been by the Ziegfeld Theater anytime in the past 13 days, chances are you've seen Jedi Rob Martin. Whether he's been awake is another matter entirely.
Jedi Rob, 22, is notorious for being able to stretch out and nap on just about any patch of sidewalk, as long as it's on the north side of 54th Street. In fact, this ability led to his national network television debut during the 1999 NYLine for "Episode I."
As Jodi Applegate interviewed line members for the "Sunday Today" show on NBC, she attempted to sit on a sleeping bag next to some fans playing "Star Wars" Trivial Pursuit. Little did she know that Jedi Rob was making himself comfortable, and she ended up sitting on his head.
"That's my 15 minutes of fame right there," Martin says. "At least once a day people bring it up on the line."
Of course, it wasn't just NYLine members, or New Yorkers for that matter, who viewed the infamous incident.
"My uncle was watching, and he was thinking about what a bunch of geeks we were," Martin says. "Then I popped my head out of this sleeping bag."
Hoping to live down the incident, Jedi Rob has a new goal for the "Episode II" line - to put in the most hours on the pavement, awake or asleep.
As of May 10, Jedi Rob has been on 54th Street for seven straight days. Before he came to the line May 3, he packed several changes of clothes, toothbrush and toothpaste, and his cell phone charger. Don't be afraid to stand close to him, though - he has a job at a gym just a few blocks from the Ziegfeld, so he is showering on a regular basis. And, yes, he has managed to get more than enough shut-eye.
"The first night or two was uncomfortable," Martin says. "So I try to deprive myself one night so I can sleep soundly the next."
One thing that won't cause Jedi Rob to lose any sleep is worries that somebody else will put in more hours on the NYLine.
"It just sucks me in," Martin says. "I go away and I get line withdrawal. I was trying to get my sister and her friends to sponsor me at a dollar an hour, but now they couldn't afford that."
Once he's put in all the hours and the movie premieres, don't think Jedi Rob is going to be content sleeping in his bed at home. He may be returning to his job as a grip for independent filmmakers, but he'll be counting the days until 2005.
"There's nothing I can possibly think of that would keep me away from the 2005 line," Martin says. "Maybe I'll be in a job that won't let me spend as much time on the line, but that's what I thought three years ago."