WTF with Marc Maron (it's a podcast)

i don't really get him at all

but apparently it's not "alt comedy" that bugs me, because Todd Barry is in that wiki. Barry is able to effectively tell jokes in his stand up w/o going for otm observations about too large subject matter.

xp I shouldn't be so harsh, because I did like his movie. his latest stand up was just too motivational speaker for me.

I wish just one of these guests would ask Maron if he knows what a "political reactionary" actually is

Birbiglia really is a great storyteller but I agree - his tendency to tie things up all tidy with a lesson learned is getting more and more grating. The Captain Epiphany schtick just feels forced - motivated more by his own quest to find a perfectly symetrical story structure than a genuine experience.

yeah, that is well put.

it's because that's the this american life formula and he is (somewhat inexplicably) their chosen stand-up

The Moth formula as well

http://pitchfork.com/features/5-10-15-20/9403-marc-maron/

Good piece.

some of these would make good sad youtubes

Scott Aukerman in the NYT:

Your show airs right after your fellow comedy-podcaster Marc Maron’s TV show, “Maron.” You two are sort of rivals. He seems to prefer stand-up to improv comedy.

Marc actually has a goofy sense of humor, but he doesn’t do that in his own act. His own act is more a personal examination of his own psychosis and born out of a desire to inform the audience about how many 20-year-olds are inclined to sleep with him. In his mind there is a difference between the wacky people and the real comics. I don’t see the distinction all that much.

Then, predictably:

http://oi58.tinypic.com/vh3mu9.jpg

Haha. Maron got Saucermanned.

Has anyone interviewed Maron the way he interviews people? Ill-prepared, somewhat disinterested, constantly shifting direction when their attention span wanes?

someone should interview him and just keep asking questions about Sam Seder

rupaul on Monday! :D

innaresting!

sick burnerman

Aukerman seems like a prick

I could listen to RuPaul for forever.

Adam Scott openly questioned him on his "and on a brand new Maron!" schtick he'll do when announcing their IFC shows a few weeks back on their pseudo-U2 show. Can't remember his response, tho

Ru gave Maron the full Ru experience. Loved it.

Ha I've been wondering about the Aukerman/Maron relationship since they seem like polar opposites in terms of comedic style but have concurrent shows on IFC. The "on a brand new Maron" joke is clearly just about using the language of cheezy sitcom promos for a show that's supposed to be existential and awkward. The NYT zing was pretty mild but made me laugh.

I would watch Comedy Bang Bang for the guests, but I can't deal with Aukerman (and I'm waaaaay over Reggie Watts).

i dont think i can handle multiple-hosted podcasts. especially comedians, all talking over each other trying ot get a laugh in.

Aukerman is aligned with Tompkins too

Tompkins used to be on Best Show all the time, was buds with Scharpling

now he's a reg on Comedy Bang Bang

Maron is friends with Scharpling

so Maron vs. Aukerman is actually a proxy war between the Tompkins and Scharpling superpowers

yah

kevin_costner_donald_sutherland.jpg

Aukerman and Scharpling are cool; Maron and Tompkins are uncool.

Scharpling and Maron and Tompkins are cool

Aukerman is not

yep

also pretty sure Tompkins and Scharpling hate each other now

Aukerman is aggressively uncool
Maron wants desperately to be cool and is not
Scharpling is cool
Tompkins is genius who doesn't let notions of cool/uncool bother him

xpost yeah, they had a falling out after the tv pilot they worked on together didn't get picked up

FTR I think Scharpling is a genius too

no, but Wurster is

Yeah, the real sad part of this topic is that Scharpling and Tompkins aren't on friendly terms anymore, because they were great together.

I could listen to RuPaul for forever.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, May 19, 2014 12:22 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yes. Listening now. Has to be one of Mt favorite of these.

Aasif Mandvi is a person I like, but I could not get into this interview at all for some reason.

maron seemed disinterested or something. but yeah the conversation was a bit boring

i suspect maron has pretty severe ADD and probably cant medicate it due to being sober? i also feel like his getting off track is sometimes an effort to steer the conversation towards drug stories because that where is the most lively and focused and connected with his guest.

These are just poorly informed assumptions, of course.

Wow that Stephen Malkmus is a chatty one, no?

Well yeah, where regular people will bond over shared experiences relating to pop culture or personal history or other benign topics, Maron has very little interest in things like that and will dig for darkness or dependency or turmoil because I think that's the only outlet where he feels like what he has to say if of any worth.

really liked rupaul's unapologetic pro-acid stance.
great reveal after the first half of Ru asserting "I have no ego! I have no fear! I am open to the universe!" and then "Oh by the way I did five hits of acid a day for a decade."

I think Mike Birbiglia is great.

rupaul's "do you have another shirt?" was loool

^ YES

"it's new! it's from the show! do i need a new shirt"

*silence*

that interview was a good listen but i'm kinda bummed out to learn rupaul is such a stereotypical delusional hippie

Yeah Ru is made of selfhelp koolaid.

It was offputting for me when I first encountered it. I dunno that I'd stand for THAT much bullshit in anyone else. But as an avid drag race fan now I give him a pass because he genuinely helps sooo many queens find their way on the show with that exact koolaid. It's nutty as hell but it seems to work? idk