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The WTF Podcast With Marc Maron

Started by TIAL, May 17, 2010, 11:33:58 PM

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TIAL

A while back I made a thread asking for recommendations as to what podcasts people liked. Someone came up with the suggestion of the WTF Podcast.
I've been downloading it a while now and quite enjoy it, although I feel a bit out of my depth. I'm starting this thread to see if people agree with me or if we have any experts on the crowd that Marc seems to interview. I like to think of myself as pretty au fait with the British comedy scene, but this podcast has opened my eyes to a whole new alternative scene in America.
I have to admit I didn't/don't know much about the comedy scene in America, from what I've heard stand-ups don't see their job as the final stage of their show-business career  - it just seemed a vehicle to get on TV, especially in LA. That may be a terrible stereotype, but a lot of people (including many Americans) have told me is that US stand-up is nowhere near as good as it is in the UK. But what I've definitely learnt from the WTF Podcast is that there are tonnes of comedians out there in the US defying those stereotypes.

The thing that I both like and find rather surprising is how deep Maron gets in his conversations to his podcast audience. This means that as well as being a great insight into the day-to-day life of a stand-up comic, it also serves as an interesting look into his mind. He's certainly not afraid of talking about his psyche, and neither do his guests seem to be. In fact, it seems that not an episode goes by without Maron and his guests talking about how their psychological problems fuel their comedy, something I think you'd be hard pushed to find in the UK. But please correct me if I'm wrong!

In short, this is a fascinating insight into the daily life and mind of a US stand-up. I'd welcome some suggestions of interviews to listen to in his extensive collection of podcasts, as well as your views on the podcast itself.

Yeah, it's generally a good listen.  The Nick Kroll (El Chupacabra) and Maria Bamford episodes are very funny, and the Wyatt Cenac interview is interesting for its insights into the casting process for television writers/performers over there.

Maron* himself is a decent enough interviewer but this is probably due to the majority of his guests being old friends.  I wouldn't necessarily agree with you that the comedians featured are alternative either - there are some very successful people (i.e. stand-ups who made it to TV and then Hollywood) - but the fact they all seem to have come up together makes for an interesting dynamic.

*his stand-up his crap though! It's all 'my divorce lol' this and 'ZOMG being Jewish!!! ZOMG' that.

easytarget

Episodes 75 and 76 are great - interviews and an investigation into whether Carlos Mencia steals jokes.

Tiny Poster


easytarget

and while he's in England he's interviewing Stewart Lee.

Quote from: wtf newsletter
I have scheduled an interview with Stewart Lee. I am new to his comedy, but he is certainly the real deal and a truly unique comedy mind. I am looking forward to chatting with him.
Should be great.

Tiny Poster

Cor! I'm going to see him on Wednesday, anyone else got tickets?

easytarget

Suffering through the Patrice O'Neal interview now. By Christ he's a hateful, unfunny, misogynistic piece of shit. I'm hoping Maron will stand up to him at some point.

Paaaaul

Quote from: easytarget on August 03, 2010, 06:58:51 PM
Suffering through the Patrice O'Neal interview now. By Christ he's a hateful, unfunny, misogynistic piece of shit. I'm hoping Maron will stand up to him at some point.

Not really. It's just a horrible listen all the way through.

DJ Solid Snail

I strongly recommend everybody listen to the ace H. Jon Benjamin interview. They've got an excellent rapport going on in that.

I went for that first as it was one of the few names I recognised - which other ones are good?

Gavin

Quote from: DJ Solid Snail on August 03, 2010, 10:23:47 PM
I strongly recommend everybody listen to the ace H. Jon Benjamin interview. They've got an excellent rapport going on in that.

I went for that first as it was one of the few names I recognised - which other ones are good?

The Carlos Mencia ones are a highlight, "Bro". The ones where he has a fake guest are the worst.

TIAL

If you've gone by names you recognise I expect you'll have listened to the Robin Williams one already. But that's a good one.
Brendon Burns and Jim Jeffries both do a good job of describing the differences between standup in the UK and US.

One lesser known one I'd personally recommend is episode 54, where he visits Vegas (and isn't too impressed) and talks to Ron Shock. I'm not familiar with him but he has an amazing back story. And the two share stories about Bill Hicks, if he's your thing. He isn't mine but it was fascinating nonetheless.

Can't wait for his views on London and the Stewart Lee interview.

Edit - I'm still very impressed with this podcast, both from the perspective of how much it's teaching me about US comedy and how Maron and his guests really get into deep conversations, which fits the format perfectly. It's also great to have a podcast lasting more than an hour twice a week, for free. He clearly puts a tonne of work into it all.

easytarget

Quote from: Paaaaul on August 03, 2010, 09:12:59 PM
Not really. It's just a horrible listen all the way through.

Kinda picks up when he talks about being in jail (for being a rapist), really hated Maron's "Well he's a deep guy that has thought about stuff a lot" platitudes that bookended the show. Bad liberal. Easily the worst guest he's ever had (oooooh maybe Caroline Rhea in Episode 8, bleh).

Good ones to check out are:

  • Roadtrip with Eddie Pepitone - I heart Eddie Pepitone
  • Glenn Wool - UK based Canadi-standup interesting analysis on "Americans laugh at this, British laugh at this" - in fact Neil this is a pretty good example of people talking about comedy - I don't agree with all of it, but it's worth hearing
  • Marget Cho - I can't stand her comedy but it's a fascinating interview
  • Jim Short/Greg Proops - I've always quite liked Greg Proops and after a bit he drops the stage-persona and starts talking like a real human - good stuff.
The live UCB broadcasts are always good, the fake guests are pretty poor (except for "Come on now").




Paaaaul

Quote from: DJ Solid Snail on August 03, 2010, 10:23:47 PM
I strongly recommend everybody listen to the ace H. Jon Benjamin interview. They've got an excellent rapport going on in that.

I went for that first as it was one of the few names I recognised - which other ones are good?

Ones that I've enjoyed for varying reasons- Jim Jeffries, Dane Cook, Paul Provenza, Carlos Mencia x 2, Todd Barry.
In fact, most of them are, at the very least interesting, and on the whole, entertaining, except...

Ones to avoid - The podcasts recorded on stage have been fairly awful, and show the worst side of US stand-up. Crass, coked up one-upmanship.

Paaaaul

Quote from: easytarget on August 03, 2010, 11:38:46 PM
Kinda picks up when he talks about being in jail (for being a rapist)...
... and how it wasn't his fault really, after all she loved cock, even if she was 15.

Quote from: easytarget on August 03, 2010, 11:38:46 PM
The live UCB broadcasts are always good, the fake guests are pretty poor (except for "Come on now").

What is there to enjoy in the UCB shows? The stand-up is usually lazy hack stuff with the performers trying to sell themselves in 10 minutes by being shouty, and there is very little in the way of discussion on those shows.

easytarget

The performers are pretty good for example Al Madrigal was loads better on this than he was on his Comedy Central special (even doing pretty much the same jokes). Eddie Pepitone is always outstanding (the first or second one when he's screaming about trying to get cast in Transformers 3 is ace). Oh, and that one where Marc confuses Haiti with Jamaica - that's some embarassing comedy.

Dark Poet

"Marc takes in some of the world's best works of art while staying in London. Wondering whether stand-up comedy counts as art, Marc puts the question to Stewart Lee, one of Great Britain's most renowned comics. Hear how they both struggle to get their work to the stage (and in Stewart's case, get into legal battles over it) and judge for yourself."

http://traffic.libsyn.com/wtfpod/WTF_-_EPISODE_98_STEWART_LEE.mp3

TIAL

Been looking forward to this one. A lovely interview with Lee.

I also found it quite sweet how he got so paranoid about a lady saying 'you alright?' to him after his show.

squinky

I've only dipped into these - like a few other people in the thread, I'll be more likely to listen if he's interviewing someone I've heard of - but I'm fascinated by Maron's willingness to talk about himself in what I originally assumed was going to be a set of straightforward interviews with comedians. In the Carlos Mencia interview and the recent podcast with Mike Birbiglia, he seems happy to talk about being resentful of other comedians' successes and times he's been jealous or competitive or assumed that another stand-up was trying to stick it to him for one reason or another. I don't know a lot about Maron outside the podcast, so I don't know how much this is an extension of an onstage style or persona, but it surprises me every time an interview takes an unexpected left-turn into Marc Maron's Personal Issues.

Tiny Poster

His act revolves around him being extremely honest about himself, his neuroses, self-loathing, failed relationships, addictions etc. Part of his Soho Theatre set was about how, as someone with anger problems, he initially rationalised and empathised with Mel Gibson on those released phone calls, for instance.


Well, his act used to be a lot more political, but he's focusing on the personal now. I'm sure some of his albums are available on Spotify if you want to check them out.

Famous Mortimer

Several of them start with him saying "I used to think this guy was an asshole..." and he freely admits the problem back then may have been him. Which is quite refreshing.

He made me have some respect for Dane Cook, which I was pretty astonished by, and the two on Carlos Mencia are absolutely fascinating. Pick and choose, is the best way to go about it - the Sklar Brothers one, much as I like the Sklars, was kinda boring. And the David Cross one wasn't much good either.

Tiny Poster

The ones with comedians outside the 'alternative' white scene are generally great - Kumail Nanjiana, the Mencia episodes, W. Kamau Bell and Dwayne Kennedy, and the recent Moshe Kasher episode. The S Lee one is wonderful, revealing details about the man I'd never heard before.

zhenghe

The most recent two episodes are an interview with Judd Apatow.  The first part features clips of interviews Apatow did in 1983 (when he was 16) with Jerry Seinfeld, Garry Shandling and Jay Leno.

Gavin

Quote from: zhenghe on September 19, 2010, 12:58:52 PM
The most recent two episodes are an interview with Judd Apatow.  The first part features clips of interviews Apatow did in 1983 (when he was 16) with Jerry Seinfeld, Garry Shandling and Jay Leno.

There have been four episodes since Apatow. Maron's review of Bob Dylan in #107 is great.

Paaaaul

I believe the newest one is the first time a CaB poster has featured on WTF.

This week Maron's removed the first 50-odd podcasts which is a pain as I had been dipping into the old ones a couple of times a week and now have missed the chance to listen to 20 or so of them. Boooo.



Tiny Poster

Quote from: Paaaaul on September 19, 2010, 06:34:36 PM
I believe the newest one is the first time a CaB poster has featured on WTF.

Has Harry Deansway ever posted on here? Probably not, thinking about it.

If you're a fan of "comedians chatting about comedy", then I strenuously recommend The Green Room with Paul Provenza. Each episode has a pretty different atmosphere: old hands discussing unusual gigs, Patrice O'Neal and others talking about Truth and political correctness, Paul Mooney turning everything into a race thang... it's a joy.

Famous Mortimer

Quote from: Tiny Poster on September 21, 2010, 03:59:44 PM
Has Harry Deansway ever posted on here? Probably not, thinking about it.

If you're a fan of "comedians chatting about comedy", then I strenuously recommend The Green Room with Paul Provenza. Each episode has a pretty different atmosphere: old hands discussing unusual gigs, Patrice O'Neal and others talking about Truth and political correctness, Paul Mooney turning everything into a race thang... it's a joy.
It doesn't always work (The Green Room) but when it does it's as good a program as you'll see on comedy. Seeing people from different generations and schools of comedy shooting the shit is worth the effort of tracking the episodes down.

Neil

I'm editing a podcast at the minute where Apexjazz talks about The Green Room, which Tiny Poster introduced me to.  Is the Tommy Smothers vs Penn Jillette one out there anywhere?  It sounds incredible.

Tiny Poster

Quote from: Neil on September 21, 2010, 04:24:05 PM
I'm editing a podcast at the minute where Apexjazz talks about The Green Room, which Tiny Poster introduced me to.  Is the Tommy Smothers vs Penn Jillette one out there anywhere?  It sounds incredible.

I'd love to hear the chat, would you be so kind as to DM me when it drops?

And I heartily second the request for the Jillette/Smothers episode - it's not to be found in the usual places.