WTF with Marc Maron (it's a podcast)

I like Wiig, but she's dull as hell as an interviewee. Maron didn't exactly kill it there, but it's hardly entirely on him.

LOL at how deeply Handler's little cracks about Maron being a "cat guy" or w/ever chewed through him. Jesus, dude.

http://www.vulture.com/2016/08/marc-maron-netflix-glow.html

Yeah, Wiig was so disappointing, but I guess there's a reason she doesn't do formal interviews (only gag-filled shorties).

found wiig totally lifeless

i like marc a lot more than many of you guys. if you wish he wasn't the one doing the interview, you should probably avoid his interviews.

this week's robert kelly ep is great.

Wiig's charm and healthy perspective compensate a little for her lack of candor imo

Maron is good when he's in his zone, swapping stories - interviewing people not so much.

Alan Alda was good.

wish alan alda had a podcast where he just talked for hours.

You literally can't just sit anyone down with a mic and get a good conversation going.

I disagree! Obviously it helps to have a good subject, but if you come prepared I think everything typically falls into place. I was listening to Terry Gross's (ugh) encore interview with Tom Hanks, and she asks him why That Thing You Do was the only movie he ever wrote and directed, and he very quickly corrects her that he made a movie called Larry Crowne and then sort of moves on. But that was the nicest man on earth overlooking the worst research in the world. Anyone else might have gotten snippy. Ask questions that don't get asked, ask about even mundane things, just ... make conversation, and in my experience things move right along.

But obviously Maron is mostly about Maron. He's the star, as such, sharing space and time with his guests.

i can't tell if he's just slowly getting bored of the whole setup or what. for the past several months (or longer?) there have been way too many times when it's felt like he was just going through the motions. (i bailed on the wiig ep early because i could tell it was gonna be zzzz.) he can still pull it off when he's got someone with a deep enough career (alda), the (increasingly rare now) times he's got some fraught personal connection with the guest (eric andre), or when the guest has enough stories/personality to steamroll him (robert kelly).

I don't know if it's old territory Alda wouldn't have wanted to cover or if Maron just didn't go there but when he momentarily talked about the latter half of MASH (post-Gelbart, too many puns) and his issues with it I wanted to hear more.

As she describes her very first experiences at the Groundlings, she is no longer merely answering a question My ear has edged close to the speaker now and my full attention is off my work and on this interview. And it's compelling stuff: "It was like, my /life/. I loved it. And you get such a family, away from home. And you get so close to each other because you're all like, scared, and taking risks in front of each other, and writing, and putting things up that you write, for the first time..."

Here, Maron, no longer able to restrain himself, cuts Wiig off, midstream, to ask his next question.

This is ridiculous by the way, cuz literally everyone who's with an improve troupe for an extended period says this very exact thing and he (and we) have heard the story many times. Not exactly compelling.

Stopped listening to Maron about a year ago, he was really getting on my nerves, and yeah, I felt he was going through the motions a lot of times, and so were the guests. Had no idea him and Eric Andre had beef, will check that one out along with the Wiig one, despite the negative feedback here. i realize i've never heard or seen an interview with her.

i realize i've never heard or seen an interview with her.

And now we know why.

Had no idea him and Eric Andre had beef

Basic Marc beef story...Marc was a dickhead to a young comedian, later finds out young comedian is mad at him for it, wants to bury the hatchet.

Yeah, Marc has beef with 90% of young comedians if they aren't directly in his wheelhouse because he doesn't "understand" them. Also plenty of beef with ones on his wavelength because he feels threatened.

I really disliked Maron when I first started listening to his show, but after a zillion episodes (easy background while at work) I've warmed to him a lot. Plenty of obnoxious quirks and eyerolly bullshit, but he's got some shining moments and I appreciate his nakedness. After spending enough time with a personality like that you almost feel like they're a friend. Even though you resent them a good bit of the time.

Your mom's not exactly compelling

Improv idea: pretend that you're interesting

Holy shit, Ron Perlman's Brando story from the set of Dr. Moreau is a rollercoaster.

There have been some good ones recently.

Monday is Roger Waters. Does he do interviews often? Will he be a complete a-hole or just moderately gruff?

yea i enjoyed opie a lot

ooh I will def listen to Rog, hope he's in a good mood

I haven't listened to the opie episode yet, I will definitely check that hout -- his Henry Winkler convo was one of my favorites, it makes me happy to know that maron is a big Happy Days dork like me

He was way more mellow than I anticipated.

haven't listened in over a year, i checked out bc it felt like he started to phone it in w/ interviews and his extremely limited scope of knowledge & interests was really getting on my nerves. any A+++ interviews from the last year i should check out?

opie was good. waters and crosby were kind of a double-header of aging rock star self-congratulation.

It's possible that this is not WTF-related, but I'm trying to source this anecdote from an interview I heard a couple years ago and I feel like Maron is the most likely source.

As a youth, the interviewee had wanted to be a radio DJ. His imagined DJ name was "DJ Reason", with the idea that he could use Elvis Costello's Radio Radio in his show bumpers: "They say you better listen to the voice of reason..."

Does that ring a bell for anyone?

doesn't ring a bell, sorry man

Lin-Manuel Miranda today <3 <3

ha ha at LMM saying "You want the musical theatre version of Who Are Your Guys"

I love when he does the Marc and Tom Show

Marc is still pretty annoying but I like the friendship between those two guys.

Marc not realising he was being clowned (affectionately) with "equivalent of Who Were Your Guys?"

yeah that was pretty lol

also Maron busting out his Herod with Lin was a+

which if any of these considered to be The Best? heard and loved Robin Williams, Louis CK, Albini and a few others. any tips for other decent ones? your advice is appreciated!

Michael Keaton

ooh

The Todd Hanson episode gutted me.

Mike DeStefano

That was a good one. I think most of my favorites were from around 2010-2011, before he starting getting all the actors and musicians and the show was mostly comics telling drug and booze stories.

Michael Keaton definitely one of the best. Highly recommend Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner and Henry Winkler too.

harris wittels one was really good

otm

Yeah the DeStefano one was really remarkable and moving. Highly recommended.

Norm Macdonald one is a favorite. Harris Wittels 3rded.

was Reiner the one who told the bakery story?
also David Spade's surprised me, the whole shotgun under the bed thing.

A lot of the details in Spade's interview had been covered in his appearance on Nerdist a couple weeks prior, but the tone seemed more gritty on WTF.

Bobby Lee one is some harrowing and occasionally funny drug abuse shit

The Gallagher one is great. The guy lacks any self-awareness at all. Its incredible. Also has the great line AWW CMON GALLAGHER as he leaves

The Robin Williams interview was really good too

robin williams is great, yeah

the stewart lee one is good too and notable in that lee's discussion about having sympathy for audiences who don't quite 'get it' seemed to have a lasting effect on marc