WTF with Marc Maron (it's a podcast)

yep. the personal shit is Maron's method of approach, not his objective: the conversations are about career and creativity.

and there's something about his personality and his style where even though he's ridiculously narcissistic, sometimes to the point of distraction, he'll just hone in and ask a question that just drives to the heart of the conversation, sometimes repeatedly in the same conversation. Like with Dan Harmon. I didn't walk away with a ton of understanding of his work on Community, but I came away with an understanding of the person. And there's not a lot of interviews that give you that. We sort of go in wanting information, wanting the muscle on the bone and we walk away with the marrow. And I think what's great is that Maron doesn't always know that he's doing that. I think if he knew he'd be Charlie fucking Rose and would be a terrifying mechagodzilla interviewer, but while he's self-effacing enough and paranoid enough to not know how good he is, I think it's real gift.

Though I will say as a lifelong question asker and someone who loves to get stories out of people, the way he goes about it can drive me completely round the bend, and it took me a long time to get past that. Just the moments where he chooses to come in on a question, or cutting someone off when they're talking, or not asking a followup question on an interesting tidbit because he's in his head thinking about his next question...that does take some getting used to. But the time spent with him is worth it. He's changed SO much from those first episodes.

Definitely in the Harmon interview you saw the best of the Maron technique, in that I knew that if anyone else (say Chris Harwick) were the interviewer it would just be about how cool this or that episode of Community was, or how awesome Abed or Troy is. And even as a fan of that show I saw how Maron was able to pull more interesting stuff out by not being a fan-boy, but by being a perhaps slightly jealous more seasoned show-biz dude asking what he was interested in. That Harmon rose to the challenge made him more interesting.

Hardwick, or whatever he call he-self

he changed his name to Gang Starrdwyck after Guru died

Hardwick: So, how about that paintball episode?
Harmon: Well, we really set out to...
Hardwick: That episode was IN SANE !

yep. the personal shit is Maron's method of approach, not his objective: the conversations are about career and creativity.

― all cats are gay (sic), Friday, June 10, 2011 8:36 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark

yeah otm - as far as talking shop goes, this is as good as it gets

Oh boy that last call to Ray, bit or not, just gave me the CREEPS.

― WHO THE FUCK READS THE (a hoy hoy), Thursday, June 9, 2011 3:48 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

xxp yeah, I was gonna say, if they were bits, Maron is a really talented actor. that last call was supremely uncomfortable. ray seemed legitimately confused about how to deal with maron and maron kinda seemed like a socially inept psycho.

― Mordy, Thursday, June 9, 2011 7:45 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark

srsly holy fuck that last call was sooooo awful

So happy Amy Poehler is on the show today!!! Listening now.

his experience of 12-stepping a) makes him process-oriented w/r/t human foibles and motivations, so he approaches that stuff in a deeper way than 99.87% of all interviewers in the world

it's the strong whiff of therapy that turns me off, frankly. i don't think it makes his interviews "deep" (necessarily), but like many therapy addicts i think it does mean he projects his own issues onto everyone he meets

i mean i dunno - maybe he's never actually had a therapist but he certainly uses the podcast as a therapeutic medium for himself. and like, that's his prerogative but maybe after listening to him for an hour he could send me a check for $100 like other therapists get

sounds like ur projecting ur issues with therapy addicts

Just listened to an episode for the first time, the Garry Shandling one, and loved it. Definitely has the therapy side, which I love, because it gets around comics having to be "on."

You def picked a good one to begin with.

if anyones curious like i was, here is the story jill soloway was talking abt, reads a lot like palahniuk

http://www.corpse.org/archives/issue_10/ficciones/soloway.html

are the last couple episodes worth listening to? don't really care about the guests, so i haven't bothered.

basically, no. i think the larry miller one was one of the first i turned off early

yeah, larry miller seemed annoying. the jimmy fallon one was OK

Only made it 20 minutes into the Thune one. Don't know Thune and Marc was being a dick.

guys you should listen to things maybe you can ~~~learn something~~~

I dug the Thune episode. I don't think Maron was being a dick so much as that's just how comedians are around each other, which Thune acknowledged/understood -- he didn't seem put out/upset by Maron's dickishness at all, and Maron copped to it anyway. And the way Maron tackled the "guitar comic" thing was kind of fascinating, especially how the two of them tried to spell out their problems with and/or attraction to that approach.

The Thune episode was one of favorites recently. Listening to Maron grapple with Thune's Christianity was pretty interesting.

uh "my favorites"

Thune was good. Maron is funny with his laser-focus on religion, he's like an alien from outer-space trying to understand a foreign thing. I like it. And cool of Thune to talk about it so openly.

I kinda liked the Larry Miller ep. :/

It got a little uncomfortable when they talked about Thune meeting his wife.

Larry Miller was okay, but when the interviewee has his/her own podcast, I feel like it goes too smoothly.

True. It wasnt revelatory but I do like the way Miller tells stories.

I guess I just have mixed feelings about Miller in general esp after finding out he was a contributing writer for the Weekly Standard.

Well, they say that a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged (though Miller didn't take the usual attitude.)

interview w/Maron on the onion av club today:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/marc-maron,58554/

Today's WTF was pretty hard to listen to.

I've got about six shows to catch up on including today's, so thanks for the (totally conflicting) pointers, folks! :)

It's podcasts like this that keep me from TV entirely.

By hard to listen to I meant raw.

I cried for an hour afterwards...dug up some stuff I hadn't thought about in a long time. Yeah. Really tough going but god he's so likeable, I really do hope that he stays okay. What a fucking story.

The Patton Oswalt one is so layered and fascinating, with the undercurrents of competition, jealousy, success, etc.

DRUDGE SIRENS

Do not listen to the Todd Hanson episode in public, especially at work like I did, or p much anywhere which isn't a dark room, alone, with a box of tissues and a phone that can be used to call a best friend

I somehow managed to be finishing the second half driving down the freeway home from work. WALL OF TEARS ;_;

omg I wept like a baby during that Hanson interview esp when he starts talking about his cats. I was impressed w/Maron's restraint during the interview honestly.

it's funny that he's having guests now who kind of resent going to do the show (or are at least skeptical), but pretty obviously have been put up to it by their agents because the podcast has gotten so popular.

just downloaded my first episode, gallagher.

not a great first choice - go grab i think Maria Bamford is a pretty excellent introduction. Or Louis CK, Patton Oswalt... somewhere where the interviewee and Maron have some history, and they get into it.

it's funny that he's having guests now who kind of resent going to do the show (or are at least skeptical), but pretty obviously have been put up to it by their agents because the podcast has gotten so popular.

Who do you have in mind exactly? It does seem like within the last few months, there are more guests who are openly plugging something.

Richard Lewis and Paul Reiser both seemed like they had no idea what the show was

yup, i was thinking of those two in particular.

Yeah, any time a guest is surprised that Maron "hasn't done his research," it's a tip-off that they don't know how the show works.

Also, I think Reiser mispronounced "Maron."

Gallagher certainly seemed to fit that description too -- it seemed like he had no idea who Maron was

I've only listened to one and it was the Gallagher one. I was expecting some sort of nervous "edgy" confrontational style of interview and it wasn't that at all. Pleasantly surprised.

Haven't listened to any others though.

Gallagher certainly seemed to fit that description too -- it seemed like he had no idea who Maron was

it seemed like he had no idea where he was