WTF with Marc Maron (it's a podcast)

Maron put up the repeat of his Michael K Williams interview from Feb today

such a good conversation, really worth a listen

Really enjoyed the Clooney and Kenneth Branagh eps this week. Maron doesn’t get too much in his own way, especially when Branagh’s rough upbringing short-circuits Maron’s judgments. Both guests are gracious guys in a way, and that goes a long way.

Both of them seemed naturally chatty, so Maron was mostly just rolling with it. I actually found Branagh a little too intense/amped up, though not without an amiable charm.

Maybe it has been going on for awhile now and I've only just noticed it, but it's wild to see clickbait articles being generated from this podcast. The latest being a People headline that popped up on my news feeder, "Idris Elba Thought He Was Shot Making American Gangster", sourced solely from the brief aside that Ridley Scott made while talking about American Gangster.

For approximately a full hour, the latest episode of Marc Maron’s WTF podcast goes absolutely swimmingly. The episode’s guest, Sam Elliott, rumbles on amiably about all manner of subjects, and he seems to be building a genuine rapport with Maron. And then, almost as a closing afterthought, Maron asks Elliott: “Did you see Power of the Dog?” And then everything went to hell.

“Yeah, you wanna talk about that piece of shit?” Elliott growls. Maron laughs a stunned “Oh no”, and then Elliott proceeds to give the weirdest take on a film that may have ever been spoken aloud.

“There was a fuckin’ full page ad out in the LA Times, and there was a clip, and it talked about the evisceration of the American myth. And I thought ‘What the fuck? What the fuck?’ … What are all those dancers, those guys in New York that wear bowties and not much else? That’s what all these fucking cowboys in that movie looked like, running around in chaps and no shirts. There were all these allusions to homosexuality throughout the fucking movie.”

At this point, Maron steps in. “I think that’s what the movie’s about”, he suggests, not incorrectly.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/02/can-someone-explain-to-sam-elliott-what-the-power-of-the-dog-is-about-and-what-movies-are

Never meet your heroes

Did his publicist quit yet? Just an absolutely stupid way to shoot yourself in the foot.

sometimes you eat the bar

Some really good recent eps - i always love the comedian talk, remind me of why i got started with this

sam jay
mike o'brien
caroline rea
guy torry
adam ray ok even

liked his take on the Slap, too.

Do you have to use so many cuss words?

the "angel factories" line is not that funny

yeah, he's brought that up in several episodes, he's so proud of it. it's not particularly funny or clever.

fact remains the guy is very talented within the radio/podcast format, but unremarkable as a stand up.

He’s very good as a standup ime - he can switch a room into a Marc Maron audience in 30 seconds.

yeah his old standup is painful, but he seems pretty good at it now. I just don't think this 1 line holds up to the multi episode release party it's getting.

Yeah, I think he's really good at winning over a crowd. I don't like the "angel factories" thing either though and I wish one of the guests he asks would tell him that.

does he really have to work to win over a crowd anymore? like 90% of the people that come to his shows are people that know him through his podcast.

his last two specials are fine, some good bits, but idk, the way he talks about his stuff indicates he thinks he's working on some next level shit when in reality it's just... pretty ok.

i think he’s a great standup, he has this talent for bringing the audience to him, like he often talks to the crowd conspiratorially or lowers his voice & isnt afraid of small gestures, or silence. i’m always impressed whenever i see him

ime hes definitely one of those standups whose strength is charisma & delivery rather than strong written material. which isnt the knock that it sounds like - those things arguably involve as much or more craftsmanship than writing good jokes. but is obv ironic given how long he was hung up on antiquated 1980s ideas of what an Official Certified Gunslinger Standup is. in a weird way age & fame have made him a better standup i think, allowing him to be comfortable & play to his strengths, seduce the audience and take them on a journey rather than trying to get across lots of written jokes, which he was never good at imo.

does he really have to work to win over a crowd anymore? like 90% of the people that come to his shows are people that know him through his podcast.

90% of his performances are not at Marc Maron shows

multi episode release party

keith richards' hat factory

lol

xxp

and that 90% is what though, him working out new shit at the Comedy Store?

i agree with One Eye Open's summation.

I skipped his most recent tour because it just seemed more "spoken word / this is my story / one-man show" kind of stuff, which is not my jam re standup, but he killed when I saw him I dunno 7-10 years ago, and while I thought his most recent special was pretty slow through most of it, it had two moments ("we brought our own bags" and the turmeric bit) which were the two best things I've seen in anybody's standup in the last few years.

He has at least twice lamented the lack of WholeFoods while on tour.

He's still capable of some pretty great moments, hearing him go deep into grief with Andrew Garfield was a surprisingly good discussion.

I've never been a huge Garfield fan, but he earned some respect from me for just letting the silence sit and not rushing to fill it.

I scrolled to the bottom of the thread and read Jon's second post before seeing his first and for a moment I was thinking 'wow, sounds like Marc's interview with Jim Davis got pretty heavy'

"So, coming up, who were your guys? Trudeau, Guisewite, you hang with them?"

lol

I’m in trouble, Garfield. The food. It doesn’t stop. More lasagna has been sent. Right when I extricate myself and get away, it pulls me back in. Red lasagna, eggplant lasagna, white kale mushroom lasagna, goat cheese zuchinni lasagna. You must know what I'm talkin about -- you do the thing?

Super Pets throws in a "lock the gate". I have watched 2 new animated kids movies with marc voice this month, a bit surreal.

So: Courtney Love!

I have no idea what I'm about to hear, but I'm expecting to be uncomfortable. (Didn't listen yesterday because I was off work.)

Nope, can't do it. I checked out at 4 minutes.

I made it about halfway.

I may have made it five, but was checking out at the supermarket so took a little while 'til I could get a free hand into my pocket.

nearly-complete list of namedrops - corrections in the comments.

is "Barbie" a namedrop?

Idk, I kinda enjoyed it once I settled in. I usually feel like I know what Courtney is getting at underneath the hyperactive delivery.

Oh wow, Katt Williams is on today. (Haven’t listened yet.)

I did complete the Love episode, and yeah, that was a ride. Outside of the stream of conscious delivery "Wow, is this the most name-dropping/starfucker-y interview I've ever heard" was my main takeaway. That full list really is kind of amazing.

Still, as much as she seems like an intolerable person to spend any amount of time with, she does lodge a few interesting things in the overall chaos. Jordan OTM.

That last Tim Blake Nelson episode was good for some Daniel Day Lewis anecdotes. And TBN talking about all the wonderful new music he’s discovered like CocoRosie, Bright Eyes, and Death Grips.

This latest ep with conspiracy historian Robert Guffey on the origins of Qanon was fantastic in explaining stuff for somebody like me who hasn't been knee-deep in that culture.

Unexpectedly really liked the Shatner episode

So there's a Chevy Chase episode coming soon...

!

Unexpectedly really liked the Shatner episode

― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, August 15, 2023 4:59 AM (four weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

I feel like the ones with really old guests have a history of being good, even (especially?) when it's a really old person I haven't heard of.

(Richard) Curtis is currently working on another festive release, an untitled film starring Melissa McCarthy, Paapa Essiedu, and Marc Maron, about a workaholic father who tries to win his family back in time for Christmas with the help of a magic genie.

I haven't listened to the podcast for a while, has he mentioned this at all?

I want to know if he's playing the workaholic father, the magic genie, or someone else

Considering all the voice acting he’s been doing, I’d guess he’s the genie

my guess is

Melissa McCarthy = magic genie
Paapa Essiedu = workaholic father
Maron = someone else, maybe Essiedu's boss or something