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 WTF With Marc Maron is a (semi-)comedic podcast hosted by stand-up Marc Maron (did you watch Comedy Central in the mid- to late-ninties? You probably have seen him perform before), where he has a guest on each week, and interviews them. Why is this so important and unique and special? Two reasons; first, the host. Marc isn't a typical interviewer. Hell, he's probably not the best interviewer, but he has an astounding success rate, if you consider a success as an interesting interview. Something about the fact that he's insecure and neurotic and depressed carries over to the interviews, and because instead of taking a neutral position like most interviewers, he actively engages in a conversation with his guests, you get some stories and information that that you definitely wouldn't hear most other places. The second is the variety of the guests. He started out interviewing friends from the stand-up community and people he had met (and probably burned bridges with) over his 20-odd years doing comedy, but as the podcast got more people listening to it, the guests got better. Sure, Patton Oswalt and David Cross and Sarah Silverman are big names in the comedy world, but 75% of people probably wouldn't have a clue who you were talking about if you mentioned them, but starting with his interview with Robin Williams, he's been able to get some pretty big names on the show, and had interviews that were more than the traditional Tonight Show spot. People like Ben Stiller, Carlos Mencia, Dane Cook and Chris Rock have all been on the show, and classic comedians like Gallagher, Carrot Top and Andrew Dice Clay have shown up as well (more on that Gallagher show later). Sounds cool, but what's with the weird topic title? Well, like I've said, Marc Maron is not a normal person. He's messed up in the head, and for 10-20 minutes a show before the interview, you get a little peek inside what goes on in there. He'll talk to himself/the listener at length about his girlfriend, his life on the road, his past, and any number of things that are bothering him. These segments are met with two very different opinions. People like me find this fascinating because it's a look into the mind of a crazy person and he's often still very funny when he's doing it, but there is a large contingent who are incredibly turned off by the rants, and to them I say, "Just skip it". There's still a solid 30-50 minutes of interview in there, just listen to that. Occasionally (especially in the earlier episodes, and especially when the guest is someone Maron has met and hated at some point in his life) this will seep into the interview, but it's getting less prevalent, and it's kinda funny to watch other people react to it. I'm sold, where do I start? There is quite a bit of backlog, but the nice thing about the show is that there's no continuity to it. Honestly, if there are any names on the list that you recognize and would like to listen to, do it! There's very rarely a bad episode, and if it's someone you like, you get to listen to them for a little while. If you either don't recognize any names or just want the absolute best of the best, I've compiled a little "Essential Listening" list for the new listeners: Episode 67: Robin Williams This is kinda where it all blew up. It's an interview with Robin Williams that doesn't shy away from the hard stuff, and cemented Maron as a host who can get a hell of an interview out of guests. Episodes 75/76: Carlos Mencia Yeah, that dick. There's a very important reason that there are two episodes on the guy, and that's because Maron felt that the initial interview felt very fake, and so he interviewed a few latin comics that came up with Mencia in the next episode, and painted two very different pictures of the same guy. Will cement hatred for Carlos Mencia that might not already have been cemented. Episode 85: Dane Cook And on the opposite side of the spectrum, you might end up listening to this and having a much better opinion of Dane Cook. Maron brings up the Mencia interview and talks about a few parallels between the two, but Cook actually responds honestly where Mencia responded with PR bullshit. All three of those are interesting because these guys are all fairly well known for being accused of joke stealing, and the way each of them talks about it is completely different. It's a nice compare and contrast. The next three are a lot more calm and dare I say heartwarming. Episodes 103/104: Judd Apatow Judd Apatow loves stand-up comedy, and this is all the proof anyone will ever need. These two episodes talk about Apatow's high school interviews of famous comedians, as well as everything else in his life. You actually hear some tapes that Apatow taped when he was in high school, and it's interesting to hear some of the people he interviewed. Episodes 111/112: Louis C.K. This may actually be the high point of the show. Louis and Marc go way back, and are great friends, but at the time of the interview, didn't talk much at all, and so along with being a career overview of the modern day Carlin (Louis is that good), it's listening to two friends reconnect and talk about their friendship. May end up bringing a tear or two to your eye. Episode 130: Mike DeStefano While the first five I listed are with some of the biggest names that have been on WTF, this episode is a little different because it's not a guy that the average joe would recognize, but it's so worth listening to because the story DeStefano has to tell. Talking about growing up around the mob, drug addiction, living and working with AIDS, meeting and eventually losing his wife, and his recovery and getting into stand-up, it's great listening to someone who has found happiness despite life constantly making GBS threads on them. Of course, the sad coda to this interview is that less than 3 months later DeStefano would die of complications from his disease. And of course, Episode 145: Gallagher This is hilarious. Gallagher is that guy who smashes the gently caress out of watermelons and other poo poo on stage, and also happens to be a horrible, racist, homophobic, untalented rear end in a top hat, and when Marc calls him out on all that, he leaves. Just straight up ditches the interview. Probably got the 'cast the most attention it had gotten since the Williams ep. Beyond that, just start listening. If you don't recognize any names, just start wiki-searching names, you'll recognize people pretty quick. There are lots of episodes that I didn't name that are great, and I'm sure people will come in here and list off a few that I forgot as well. OK, I listened, but it doesn't go back that far. What gives? Oh yeah, the backlog. Well, the show's backlog on iTunes and the website is pretty small, only going back about 50 episodes (along with the Gallagher and DeStefano eps), but for some of the most popular episodes, they are sold for $1.99 on iTunes, and you can get the WTF app on your iPhone or Android phone (iPhone you can get 1, 6, or 12 month subscriptions for a small price, and Android you get the same thing until the end of 2011, which as of right now is obviously pretty worthless, but I bet if you wait a couple weeks, there will be a 2012 app). I got the year subscription for my iPhone, and the app works very well and has every main episode of the show, along with most of the premium episodes. OK, this is awesome. I know. If you like this, you'd probably also like Marc Maron's new CD (recently named AV Club's 3rd best comedy album of the year, and when the only people better than you are Patton Oswalt and Louis C.K., that's saying something). You can also get t-shirts and poo poo at his website I loving love this show, and hopefully y'all will too.
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Dec 22, 2011 08:31
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Yeah, how did this not have it's own thread? I wouldn't be listening to any podcasts if it wasn't for WTF. I'll start the discussion. As much as I like Marc and as much as I dislike Dane Cook's comedy, I thought Marc came off as a total dick. He kept going back to Cook's "stealing my essence" line over and over again like he didn't know what Cook was trying to say. Usually I feel like Maron has made peace with an old peer or made a new friendship at the end of each comedian episode, but this one felt off. Anybody listen to the Bobby Lee interview? Most unexpected interview about making GBS threads your pants while taping Mad TV because you're high on crystal meth I've ever heard
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Dec 22, 2011 09:05
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I had to stop listening to the podcast. I love Marc's comedy and although he was nothing but a pleasant nice man the time I was lucky enough to eat lunch with him, he seems like a really genuine dyed-in-the-wool rear end in a top hat, and I found it harder and harder to empathize with him. I used to relate to (or at least understand) a lot of the depressive poo poo he typically rants about at the top of the episodes, but it just became clear at some point that he can still be a hardheaded unrepentant dick which was the cause of a lot of those issues. It's weird to hear guests who've been on his show and seemingly made peace with him and were friendly later comment on some other podcast/messageboard/interview/twitter that they had a run-in with him and he was dismissive and mean to them. I will listen to the occasional episode where he gets a guest I'm really into like Hamm or Cranston, but even then I usually skip the intro and get frustrated when he tries to force his interpretation of their life experiences onto them. It seemed like he kept wanting to make Cranston buy into this privileged-child-of-destiny narrative despite Brian's gentle insistence otherwise. It's a really bad interview technique.
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Dec 22, 2011 22:43
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I'm considering getting the 1.99 one just to blast through and listen to the ones I missed long ago. I find that if the person on isn't someone I am already interested in then I likely won't enjoy that much. Maron is a good interviewer for sussing out certain things from the person he is interviewing but he can't really make me engaged to a person I have no interest in to begin with. If I pay 1.99 through the iTunes app/on my phone it is only a one time 30 day thing right? It won't pull some auto renew poo poo right?
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Dec 23, 2011 00:22
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soggybagel posted:I'm considering getting the 1.99 one just to blast through and listen to the ones I missed long ago. I find that if the person on isn't someone I am already interested in then I likely won't enjoy that much. Maron is a good interviewer for sussing out certain things from the person he is interviewing but he can't really make me engaged to a person I have no interest in to begin with. If it is run by the same company who run the website section, it's an auto renew and they are complete assholes about it. I thought it was a one off (I guess he got complaints about it because the site is pretty specific about it now). I found out they charged me again when they sent me an email telling me I renewed for another six months. I emailed them back, the same day, asking them to cancel it (since I couldn't find a way to do it on the site) and refund me since I didn't know it would auto-renew. They sent me an email saying that they turned off auto-renew but they won't refund me. I send a blunt email saying to delete the account and refund me or I'm contacting my bank for a chargeback. They send an email saying they will gladly delete my account but they still can't issue a refund. Needless to say, I didn't email them again and contacted my bank. Call Me Charlie fucked around with this message at 05:36 on Dec 23, 2011 |
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Dec 23, 2011 01:12
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indigi posted:I had to stop listening to the podcast. I love Marc's comedy and although he was nothing but a pleasant nice man the time I was lucky enough to eat lunch with him, he seems like a really genuine dyed-in-the-wool rear end in a top hat, and I found it harder and harder to empathize with him. I used to relate to (or at least understand) a lot of the depressive poo poo he typically rants about at the top of the episodes, but it just became clear at some point that he can still be a hardheaded unrepentant dick which was the cause of a lot of those issues. It's weird to hear guests who've been on his show and seemingly made peace with him and were friendly later comment on some other podcast/messageboard/interview/twitter that they had a run-in with him and he was dismissive and mean to them. Out of curiosity, please tell us about eating lunch with him. I generally listen to all of the interviews as they're posted even if I don't know or don't like the comedian. I listen to them just because sometimes even if you don't like the comedian, they have an interesting story. I especially like hearing stories from comedians about doing stand-up in different countries.
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Dec 23, 2011 04:36
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The Dong Lover episode was really, really good. The live shows are surprisingly fun and entertaining as well, especially when Ira Glass tells the story of him getting black-out drunk.
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Dec 23, 2011 09:25
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Dr.Radical posted:Out of curiosity, please tell us about eating lunch with him.
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Dec 23, 2011 11:21
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Here are the links to these episodes, since they're available on PRX but not on his website. These might be the censored versions, but I like the PRX packages since you can just click on the segment you want to hear. Episode 67: Robin Williams http://www.prx.org/pieces/63067-wtf-episode-106-with-robin-williams Episodes 75/76: Carlos Mencia http://www.prx.org/pieces/63069-wtf-episode-108-with-carlos-mencia Episode 85: Dane Cook http://www.prx.org/pieces/63071-wtf-episode-110-dane-cook-janeane-garofalo Episodes 103/104: Judd Apatow http://www.prx.org/pieces/62998-wtf-episode-101-with-judd-apatow Episodes 111/112: Louis C.K. http://www.prx.org/pieces/63053-wtf-episode-104-with-louis-ck Episode 130: Mike DeStefano http://www.prx.org/pieces/63068-wtf-episode-with-107-mike-destefano-margaret-ch
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Dec 25, 2011 07:40
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It seems like on some older episodes, the initial rant was interesting and related to other things. But lately, it seems like he only spends time talking in front of the interview if he has to fill space. Question: is his standup any good? A friend of mine says it isn't as good as his interviews. I think that's interesting if it's true. That he spent so many years on one thing, then figured out he was good at another thing and found success at that. BTW, WTF has really gotten me into comics, but not comedy. I don't particularly care about standup, but the comic's mind is really interesting to me. The whole academic and psychological/psychoanalytic aspect of the show is the draw for me.
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Dec 25, 2011 07:45
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I'm curious. How does one not like stand-up? Do you not enjoy laughing? It's like saying you don't enjoy music or films but enjoy reading up on the creative minds that create this art.
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Dec 25, 2011 07:59
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He's brilliantly funny and his comedy is often at least as compelling as the podcast
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Dec 25, 2011 08:20
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Mordecai Sanchez posted:I'm curious. How does one not like stand-up? Do you not enjoy laughing? It's like saying you don't enjoy music or films but enjoy reading up on the creative minds that create this art. I don't dislike it. I've listened to CDs from about a half-dozen well-respected standups in the last couple weeks, and they were fine. I laughed more than a couple times. But the art has its limitations. Even if the comedian is pretty out there, it's a format that's fairly easy to understand and predict. I appreciate its purity, but other forms of comedy that are more plot-based are more satisfying to me. By the way, your comment's right--I don't enjoy music or films as much as I like playing music or writing stories. Anything completely engaging and active is better for me than sitting down and listening. I want to see some standup live soon, since that would probably be different. The way the audience and the comic interact would be fun to be a part of. Probably like how going to a show is different from listening to a record.
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Dec 25, 2011 08:21
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You sound like a really great guy to hang out with
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Dec 25, 2011 08:26
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indigi posted:You sound like a really great guy to hang out with Oh God, you're right, this is why it's so difficult for me to maintain relationships and find any fulfillment in interaction with other people MERRY CHRISTMAS
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Dec 25, 2011 09:04
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Marc Maron parachute account found.
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Dec 25, 2011 22:21
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Mescal posted:
That's not what I said though. I was asking if you enjoyed reading and analyzing the people who make art better than actually listening/watching it, not doing the art yourself. But stand-up is not easy to predict at all. BAD stand-up is easy to predict. Rock music isn't easy to predict just because the Foo Fighters have wrote the same album 10 times. If you know the punchline to a joke or story, it's because it's not very good.
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Dec 25, 2011 22:35
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Marriage sounds loving annoying.
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Dec 29, 2011 16:20
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Mescal posted:I don't dislike it. I've listened to CDs from about a half-dozen well-respected standups in the last couple weeks, and they were fine. I laughed more than a couple times. Do yourself a favor and spend 5$ and watch Louis CK's newest special. It'll tell you how good Stand Up is.
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Dec 29, 2011 22:52
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The next one is with Russell Brand, which should be interesting. Maron is probably going to hate him.
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Jan 3, 2012 14:02
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Another pretty good and drat interesting episode is the 170th episode with Andy Dick . From tales of living in a shed behind the house of the mother of one of his children, to delving into Andy's side of the Phil Hartman/John Lovitz drama, this is definitely worth a listen.
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Jan 3, 2012 18:31
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Cervixalot posted:Another pretty good and drat interesting episode is the 170th episode with Andy Dick . From tales of living in a shed behind the house of the mother of one of his children, to delving into Andy's side of the Phil Hartman/John Lovitz drama, this is definitely worth a listen. That episode actually had me believing that Dick had gotten back on track and was as sober and focused as he said he was. A week or two later he humped some strangers in line at a McDonald's or rubbed his dick on a dog or something.
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Jan 3, 2012 19:46
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Cervixalot posted:Another pretty good and drat interesting episode is the 170th episode with Andy Dick . From tales of living in a shed behind the house of the mother of one of his children, to delving into Andy's side of the Phil Hartman/John Lovitz drama, this is definitely worth a listen. That entire episode actually made me angry. It's just Andy blaming everyone else for bullshit he does. It's his own fault he can't find work; not daddy's or anyone else's. gently caress I have never come away from a non-political interview before so angry. I kind of felt pity for him going into the interview and by the end just wanted to punch Andy for every day he's had anything resembling a career.
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Jan 3, 2012 21:20
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I agree he's annoying as hell, but I kind of expected that out of him. I think if you enjoy Andy Dick, you'll enjoy the interview. Now if you want to talk about interviews that come out of god damned nowhere, Bobby Lee's interview was pretty suprising and worth checking out. Edit: V ep 137 V Urk! fucked around with this message at 03:09 on Jan 4, 2012 |
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Jan 3, 2012 21:51
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CommunistMojo posted:That entire episode actually made me angry. It's just Andy blaming everyone else for bullshit he does. It's his own fault he can't find work; not daddy's or anyone else's. gently caress I have never come away from a non-political interview before so angry. I kind of felt pity for him going into the interview and by the end just wanted to punch Andy for every day he's had anything resembling a career. No, i'm with you totally. Just found it to be very interesting to see what a nutcase the guy is. At first I felt a little sympathy, but it is apparent that he really has no interest in fixing his hosed up life. Going to check out the Bobby Lee episode after the recommendations- what number is it?
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Jan 3, 2012 22:55
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jyrka posted:The next one is with Russell Brand, which should be interesting. Maron is probably going to hate him. I wonder just how close the interview was to Russell filing for divorce. I'm sure the two could relate on that level.
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Jan 5, 2012 17:13
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The Brand episode was oddly professional and upbeat.
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Jan 6, 2012 19:18
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People were expecting different? I haven't listened to the episode yet but every interview I see with Brand he comes off as a smart and well spoken guy(somehow).
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Jan 6, 2012 20:15
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Yeah, Brand seems like a pretty smart and introspective dude, if a little manic and intense. I want to recommend the Todd Benson episode, but it recently went behind the subscription wall. Very intense, a good insight into the early days of The Onion, and then a hard left turn into very emotionally intense stuff during the back half.
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Jan 7, 2012 04:27
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I liked the Brand interview quite a bit. Russell came off as a smart, well-spoken guy who has a really good understanding of himself and what he needs to do to stay on the old straight and narrow, given his past demons. Maron said their segment was taped on December 13th, I believe, so it was a little before the divorce announcement. Also, I sort of agree with the OP about Maron's rants at the beginning of the show. I listen to it religiously now, and have become a fan of wanting to hear what's going on in his life because it is, at worst, amusing. I used to refer to WTF as "fast forward 30 minutes with Marc Maron." But now that I'm invested in him, it's actually more interesting. There's a pretty good interview with a woman from a few weeks ago named Jillian Lauren. She's married to the bass player from Weezer and used to be a MEMBER OF THE SULTAN OF BRUNEI'S HAREM. She wrote a book about it and talks about what it was like to be a paid-for lady for the richest dude in the world. It was pretty good. The Aubrey Plaza (Parks & Rec actress) interview was really good, too. She reveals to Maron that she had a stroke when she was 20 and a lot of other crazy stuff. VAN fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Jan 7, 2012 |
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Jan 7, 2012 20:37
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This Burt Kriesher interview is hilarious. Even Maron can't hate on the Machine! Great stories.
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Jan 9, 2012 16:09
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I guess as an aside during the Bert episode, Marc mentions that the pilot he did months ago for comedy central didn't get picked up. I had forgotten about that.
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Jan 9, 2012 21:01
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So I'm thinking today's episode will get some attention. Todd Glass has a bit of an announcement that I won't ...spoil? Not sure if that's the best term, but since some people will want to hear the ep I guess I'll just leave it at that. It's a interesting episode not only on it's own merits but it's interesting to hear Todd be sincere. Unless he's on a rant, it's hard for me to tell when he's not doing a bit. Urk! fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Jan 16, 2012 |
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Jan 16, 2012 17:20
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It is really fantastic. All I could think about though is him going When I come out of the closet I have a GOOOOOD TIIIIIME!
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Jan 17, 2012 00:39
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indigi posted:I usually skip the intro and get frustrated when he tries to force his interpretation of their life experiences onto them. It seemed like he kept wanting to make Cranston buy into this privileged-child-of-destiny narrative despite Brian's gentle insistence otherwise. It's a really bad interview technique. Yeah it definitely seems like he sometimes will latch onto certain things and emphasize them/insist his own interpretation. One more minor example that kind of annoyed me for some reason was when he asked Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton about their childhood/teens and at some point he asked them if they liked the Grateful Dead, and their response was basically "Yeah, I liked them pretty well." Then for the rest of the interview he would constantly call them deadheads (e.g. "So me and Charlie went into an audition..." "A COUPLE OF DEADHEADS, GOING TO AN AUDITION!") and say that they were Deadheads whenever they talked about their past at all.
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Jan 18, 2012 13:59
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I can't help but love Maron. I guess in a weird way I identify with his neurosis and I just really love the interviews. I listen while I am at work and the one with the Onion guy had me just broke down in tears, there's been a few times like that with him. Between Maron and the Nerdist I have things to look forward to a few times a week since Smodco has really not been that great the last few months. He's coming to my area soon and I am trying to convince my husband to make the trip to see him. The Todd Glass one was just fantastic. Just so heartfelt and I just want to hug the guy.
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Jan 18, 2012 16:21
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bbf2 posted:Yeah it definitely seems like he sometimes will latch onto certain things and emphasize them/insist his own interpretation. Or when he pounced on Dane Cook over the "essence" remark and would not let it go. Whatever you think of Dane, that was just stupid and annoying.
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Jan 18, 2012 16:45
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bbf2 posted:Yeah it definitely seems like he sometimes will latch onto certain things and emphasize them/insist his own interpretation. The Dead seems to be one of the things he finds easiest to bond over, for some reason.
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Jan 18, 2012 22:27
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He did it with Adam Scott earlier too.
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Jan 22, 2012 09:28
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I like that he gets big guests to open up but I really don't like Marc himself. His standup isn't funny at all and I skip his dumb rants every time. Recently TJ Miller tweeted something about Dane Cook's recent set where all he was doing was working out his personal issues onstage in the middle of a set and how comedians shouldn't do that. I feel like Marc Maron does that and nothing else. Every time he pops up on Doug Loves Movies and everyone makes fun of him I laugh though!
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Jan 23, 2012 14:59
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