WTF with Marc Maron (it's a podcast)

WHERE ARE SETHRO AND JAH???????

c'mon, it totally made sense to hold the Brooks ep so he could double with Reiner in the same week

xpost sometime in June?

I got a little bummed when I realized Carl Reiner received more phone calls during this interview than I have in the last two months.

I was thinking of how pissed Maron would have been if any young dude came to his garage and took 5 calls on his cell during the interview

I wondered if they were joke phone calls from Mel Brooks, as most consisted of Carl saying "I'm just doin a... OK, bye" and putting the phone down.

If that was true Carl would certainly be the ultimate straight man. Way over 80%.

kind of a dick move for Maron to call out the UCB like that without having Besser or someone on to give their side.

ooh, what happened?

nothing major. just bitching about the fact that UCB wouldn't bend its no-payment of performers policy for a superstar like him. But it became pretty clear that Maron was the "professional comic" Besser and Ian Roberts were talking about on the "behind the scenes at the UCB" episode of Improv4Humans. They made a pretty good case for the policy on there and Maron really shouldn't perform at spaces meant for amateurs if he's so invested in his professional status.

i think he was trying to speak for all the performers, not just himself.

I wonder if a single podcast could contain both Marc and Matt arguing about this at the same time. Both can really turn it on when they get pushed.

On a vaguely related note which might be better fit for the comedy podcast thread, I seriously hate it when professional comedy types dump on improv, giving examples from bad improv nights as to why the format is inherently terrible. (Note: I have taken several improv classes.)

Chris Eilliot's appearance on the Carolla show and Chris Gore being douchey about it are two examples that stand out to me. It's as if these dudes couldn't accept that valid comedy can come from slightly different formats than they are either adept at or used to.

it reminds me of otherwise cool people hating on the very idea of poetry because they went to some shitty open mic reading in college

Well a lot of the guys you're calling out are right assholes.

Speaking as a semi-professional improviser - I get it, and I don't really mind. I hate most stand-up. I regularly bash the form. I know there's wonderful examples, but overall it's not really for me.

Maron's comedy tastes are actually quite specific, and his aversion to improv speaks to that. He's often talked about not "getting" absurdist comedy like Monty Python or Tim and Eric, and the thing he connects most with is an honesty in the performer. Even in "serious", "real" longform improv, that kind of sincerity is very rare.

And say what you will about Carolla, he's probably one of the best improvisers ever, so maybe he's earned his scorn.

But I think that honesty and Marc's preferred flavor/platonic ideal of authenticity can come thru in sketch or improv, just that its not a form facilitating the overt tangible detail that most people grasp onto the easiest.

I hadn't realized Carolla did improv. Was he a Groundlings dude or something?

Yup, he did classes there at least. His training would really come thru during the Golden Age of Loveline years ago

My fave bit of improv from his show, with Norm MacDonald:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ySoFoSSeww

were Besser & Roberts really bitching out Maron, not responding to the Kurt Metzger controversy? was the I4H episode earlier than a few weeks ago?

(I've not heard either the Besser or Maron eps yet)

the I4H episode came out on Jan. 29

I don't know who Metzger is, but Besser was talking about a professional comic who kept saying "Just give me cabfare." The same phrase Maron used on his show.

ohhh

well this has been a HUGE debate in the improv/standup world, for weeks now; tons of people have weighed in. i suspect maron was just quoting an idea he read.

http://www.metafilter.com/124501/Paid-in-Vibes

that Gethard piece was good

Eddie Pepitone was in town last with his documentary, and I got to meet him! Marc does not come off that well in the docu, which is why they address it in the recent show.

Seriously, "The Bitter Buddha" is effing great and far more podcasty comics show up in it than I expected. Y'all should see it.

<3 mike white interview

when maron mentioned the thing the podcast community is facing, I wonder if he's talking about the patent troll who says he owns the idea of podcasting and is trying to shake down all the big podcasts for money.

That is indeed what he's talking about.

I don't really understand the concept--it's like someone who says he invented the radio suing Garrison Keillor and Dr. Demento.

Yeah, but the problem with patents is that if you have them, you have them. It doesn't matter if it makes sense or not.

Recommend this ep of This American Life very much btw: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/441/when-patents-attack

yeah, i know copyright system is fucked, but it seems this guy should be suing itunes, not content providers

iTunes is only one of a handful of ways you can download podcasts (for example: RSS feed, straight off the website, etc.), and the patent is more about podcast production than distribution specifically.

Also they filed a suit against Apple as well:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/1/prweb10313865.htm

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haha

Marc Maron should sue those other threads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X1i5J3cPbE

I don't know who Metzger is, but Besser was talking about a professional comic who kept saying "Just give me cabfare." The same phrase Maron used on his show.

Finally caught up to this - Maron never uses the phrase "just give me cabfare" once in his brief speech.

just bitching about the fact that UCB wouldn't bend its no-payment of performers policy for a superstar like him.

He says his principle applies generally, never specifically to him.

But it became pretty clear that Maron was the "professional comic" Besser and Ian Roberts were talking about on the "behind the scenes at the UCB" episode of Improv4Humans. They made a pretty good case for the policy on there and Maron really shouldn't perform at spaces meant for amateurs if he's so invested in his professional status.

He also specifically says he's responding to the NYT article about Metzger's complaint, not airing a personal grievance.

xp I think that's the oldest footage of Maron doing standup I've ever seen (1988, I believe, based on the Woodstock 19th anniversary reference).

Oh hey that guy from the Mountain Goats is on the show

Finally caught up to this - Maron never uses the phrase "just give me cabfare" once in his brief speech.

Yeah, you got me. He said "gas money" rather than "cab fare." My memory isn't perfect.

And Besser was talking about a performer who wanted 5 dollars to show "good will" so possibly not Maron, but the same concept.

Xxp: wurster?

your argument was that it was obviously specifically Maron, not Metzger - I'm just pointing out it wasn't.

xpost obv - Wurster would be amazing but I imagine Maron ffwds through the Wurster parts of the Best Show the way ppl ffwd through his opening spiels

Xpost as i said before I didn't know who Metzger was or anything about a NYT story when i posted that weeks ago, so when Maron brought it up seemingly out of the blue on his show after I heard Besser talking about a comic wanting to get paid I thought "o thats who he meant"

Feeling like susan rice here

Todays episode is amazing btw

can't wait to listen!