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Marc Maron

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Marc Maron
Maron performing in Minneapolis in July 2010
Born (1963-09-27) September 27, 1963 (age 60)
Jersey City, New Jersey, United States
MediumStand-up, radio, television, webcast
NationalityUnited States
Years active1980s–present
GenresAlternative comedy, cringe humor, self deprecation, black comedy, satire, Observational comedy
SpouseKimberly Reiss (1997-2001; divorced)
Mishna Wolff (2004-2007; divorced)
Notable works and rolesMorning Sedition
WTF with Marc Maron
The Marc Maron Show
Maron
WebsiteMarcMaron.com
wtfpod.com

Marc David Maron (/ˈmærən/ MAR-ən; born September 27, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian, podcast host, writer and actor.

He has been host of The Marc Maron Show and co-host of both Morning Sedition and Breakroom Live, all politically oriented shows produced by Air America Media. He hosted Comedy Central's Short Attention Span Theater for a year, replacing Jon Stewart. Maron has been a frequent guest on the Late Show with David Letterman and made more than 40 appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, more than any other standup performer.[1][2] He was also a regular guest on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and hosted the short-lived American version of the British game show Never Mind the Buzzcocks on VH1.[3]

In September 2009, Maron began hosting a twice-weekly podcast titled WTF with Marc Maron in which he interviews comedians and celebrities.[1]

In May 2013 he started starring in his own IFC TV series, Maron.

Early life

Maron was born to a Jewish family in Jersey City, New Jersey. He lived in Wayne, New Jersey, and Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, until he was six. Maron's father was a physician who joined the US Air Force for two years for his medical residency, and Maron and his family lived in Alaska. When his father left the Air Force, he moved his family to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and started a medical practice.[1]

In 1986, Maron graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in English literature.[4]

Career

Maron started his comedy career at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles and became an associate of Sam Kinison.[5] He later moved to New York City and became part of the New York alternative comedy scene. During the summer of 1994, he appeared a few times on Monday open-mic night at the now-closed Greenwich Village location of the Boston Comedy Club. He auditioned unsuccessfully for the 1995 Saturday Night Live cast overhaul and attributes being passed over to being high during a meeting with show creator and producer Lorne Michaels.[1][6][7]

Maron continued to be a standup performer and also began to appear on television; his voice was used in episodes of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, and he hosted Short Attention Span Theater for a time. He also recorded half-hour specials for HBO and Comedy Central Presents as well as comedy showcases like the Cam Neely Foundation fundraiser, which also featured performers such as Jon Stewart, Denis Leary, and Steven Wright. He frequently appeared in the live alternative standup series he had organized with Janeane Garofalo called "Eating It," which used the rock bar Luna Lounge in New York's Lower East Side as its venue, from the 1990s until the building was razed in 2005. [citation needed]

His only major film credit to date is a small part—credited as "angry promoter"—in the 2000 Cameron Crowe film Almost Famous, in which he is first seen fighting with Noah Taylor's character and then yelling at and chasing after the main characters as they drive away on a bus, at which point he yells "lock the gates!," which is now used in the intro to his podcasts.[8] He was also featured at the Luna Lounge in the 1997 mockumentary Who's the Caboose? starring Sarah Silverman and Sam Seder.[9]

His first one-man show, Jerusalem Syndrome, had an extended off-Broadway run in 2000 and was released in book form in 2001. In 2009, he began work shopping another one-man show, Scorching The Earth. According to Maron (in Scorching The Earth) these two shows "bookend" his relationship with his second wife, comic Mishna Wolff, which ended in a bitter divorce. Moment Magazine produced a piece on Maron in which he was interviewed about his experience with Jerusalem Syndrome. When asked if he really came down with it, Maron responded, "The premise of my book is that not only did it happen during a short trip I took to Israel, but it’s been happening to me all my life." [10]

In May 2008, he toured with Eugene Mirman and Andy Kindler in Stand Uppity: Comedy That Makes You Feel Better About Yourself and Superior to Others. In January 2009, a collaboration with Sam Seder which had begun in September 2007 as a weekly hour-long video webcast became Breakroom Live with Maron & Seder, produced by Air America.[11] Until its cancellation in July 2009, the show was webcast live weekdays at 3 pm Eastern, with episodes archived for later viewing as well. In its final incarnation, the show was quite informal, taking place in the actual break room of Air America Media, with the cafeteria vending machines just off-camera. This meant occasional distractions when Air America staff and management alike would occasionally come in for food and drink. Maron and Seder held court in an online "post-show chat" with viewers, in an even less formal continuation of each webcast, after the credits had rolled.

Maron's standup comedy act is marked by his commitment to self-revelation and cultural analysis. He is particularly known for relentless on-stage exploration of his own relationships with family, girlfriends, and other standup comedians that he has known and befriended over his many years in the business. [citation needed]

In 2012, he provided the voice of Magnus Hammersmith in three episodes of Metalocalypse. On August 16, 2012, he guest-starred as himself on an episode of Louis C.K.'s show Louie.[12]

Maron, a television series created by and starring Maron for a 10-episode first season, premiered on IFC on May 3, 2013.[13] The show is autobiographical, revolving around Maron's life as a twice-divorced sober comedian running a comedy podcast out of his garage.

Radio

From almost the first day of the liberal talk radio network Air America's broadcasts in 2004, Maron co-hosted Morning Sedition, a three-hour early-morning radio show with Mark Riley that aired weekdays from 6am to 9am Eastern time. The show was unique in the Air America lineup in its heavy reliance on both live and preproduced sketch comedy, utilizing the talents of staff writers as well as the on-air hosts. The format was a left-leaning near-satire of typical morning "Buddy" radio programs, including recurring characters, interviews, and listener call-in segments, and it attracted a loyal fan base. [citation needed]

As 2005 waned, it became known that Maron's contract would not be renewed on its December 1, 2005, end date because of problems with then Air America executive Danny Goldberg. Goldberg reportedly did not "get" the comedy or agree with the satiric and often angry tone set by Maron and other writers (Jim Earl and Kent Jones) for a morning drive-time show. On November 28, 2005, it was officially announced that Maron's contract had not been renewed. His last Morning Sedition broadcast was on December 16, 2005, and the show was discontinued shortly thereafter. [citation needed]

On February 28, 2006, Maron began hosting a nighttime radio program with Jim Earl as sidekick for KTLK Progressive Talk 1150AM in Los Angeles called The Marc Maron Show from 10:00 pm until midnight PST. The program was frequently delayed (sometimes for over an hour) owing to KTLK's contractual agreement to broadcast local sports events that would often go into overtime. The Marc Maron Show was never nationally syndicated by Air America despite reported contractual clauses promising such. The show was streamed online live, but the show was not publicized, and the existence of the stream was not well promoted. [citation needed]

On July 5, it was announced that Maron's final episode would be on July 14. A few days before that date, Maron bluntly discussed his long struggle with Air America Radio's executives on-air. In 2008, Marc and Sam Seder expanded their prior collaboration on a weekly hour-long video webcast (streamed at The Sam Seder Show website) into a daily show (and "post-show chat") produced by Air America Media called Maron v. Seder. The show became Breakroom Live with Maron & Seder starting in 2009 and could be viewed on Air America Media's website. On July 15, 2009, after less than one year, Air America Media canceled Breakroom Live. According to the show's hosts, the cancellation was for financial reasons. Ironically, the day before the cancellation, the show got some of the first real publicity it had received when MaximumFun.org posted its podcast of an interview with Maron on The Sound of Young America. [citation needed]

On the final Breakroom Live webcast, Maron said that this marked the third time since 2005 he'd been told by an executive at the network that his services would not be required in the immediate future. Co-host Sam Seder pointed out that this would be the end of his fourth show at Air America since the troubled network's inception. [citation needed]

WTF with Marc Maron podcast

Main article: WTF with Marc Maron

On September 1, 2009, Maron began a twice-weekly podcast called WTF with Marc Maron. Released Mondays and Thursdays, the show features interviews with fellow comedians, both old friends and acquaintances. In a free-form discussion, Maron and his guests touch on topics like the arc of the interviewees' careers, shared past experiences, and stories from the road. The show was originally produced after-hours in the Air America offices, to which Maron and his producer still had keys. Around the 20th episode, Maron temporarily moved to Los Angeles before announcing that the move would be permanent in the 22nd. WTF is currently recorded in his garage, with the bulk of the guests meeting him there, though he does have a mobile setup to talk to guests. WTF has reached No. 1 on iTunes comedy section numerous times. Though it is a free podcast, it has a number of rotating sponsors and accepts donations.

On May 17, 2011, it was announced that a version of WTF with Marc Maron is now available for noncommercial broadcast via Public Radio Exchange. The initial offering is ten episodes edited from previous podcasts and is designed, according to co-producer of the broadcast package Jesse Thorn, "to capture what makes WTF special and communicate it to folks who aren't comedy nerds—or even necessarily comedy fans." Initial station pickups include WBEZ Chicago and the Public Radio Remix service on SiriusXM.[14] On May 6, 2012, 'WTF with Marc Maron' won the award for "Best Comedy Podcast" at the 2012 Comedy Central Comedy awards.

Television

See Maron (TV series)

Personal life

Maron lived in Astoria, Queens, through the 1990s and most of the 2000s but moved back to Los Angeles in the fall of 2009. He has been married twice, once to Kimberly Reiss and once to Mishna Wolff (a former standup comedian). Both relationships have been a large part of his act at various times. During numerous appearances at the Edinburgh Fringe festival in 2007, Maron riffed on his then-recent separation and divorce from his second wife, Mishna Wolff.

Maron has also spoken openly, both in his act and on his podcast, about his alcohol and drug use during the 1990s, although he is now sober. He also speaks openly of his caring for numerous stray cats that he takes into his home. This has led to him to refer to his home, on the WTF Podcast, as the "Cat Ranch". Marc has one sibling, a brother named Craig, who has three adopted children.[citation needed]

Maron lives in Highland Park, Los Angeles with his three cats, Monkey, Boomer, and LaFonda.[15] After Boomer went missing, Maron began incorporating the catchphrase, "Boomer lives!" into various portions of the podcast.

On the October 14, 2013 episode of his podcast, Maron announced that he had broken up with his former fiancee, Jessica Sanchez.[16]

On the February 10, 2014 episode of his podcast, Maron confirmed he was dating Moon Zappa. However, on the May 1, 2014 episode of his podcast, Maron announced that he was no longer dating Moon.[17]

Published works

Books
  • The Jerusalem Syndrome (2001) ISBN 978-0-7679-0810-8
  • Attempting Normal (2013) ISBN 978-0-8129-9287-8
Comedy albums
  • Not Sold Out (2002)
  • Tickets Still Available (2006)
  • Final Engagement (2 discs) (2009)
  • This Has to Be Funny (2011)
  • Thinky Pain (2013) Netflix
Podcasts
TV Shows

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Justin Kaufmann (August 29, 2011). "Wikipedia Files: Marc Maron (WTF Podcast)". WBEZ. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
  2. ^ "January 5, 2010". Late Night With Conan O'Brien. January 5, 2010. NBC. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "Never Mind the Buzzcocks". VH1. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  4. ^ Hayes, Dade (April 22, 2013). "Broadcasting & Cable". Broadcasting & Cable.
  5. ^ Maron, Marc (2001), "7", The Jerusalem Syndrome: My Life as a Reluctant Messiah, Broadway Books, ISBN 0-7679-0810-4
  6. ^ Maron, Marc (1998). "Lorne Michaels and Gorillas". Air America. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
  7. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (August 22, 2013). "The God of 'SNL' Will See You Now". The New York Times. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  8. ^ "Almost Famous". IMDb.com. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  9. ^ "Who's the Caboose? (1997)". IMDb.com. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  10. ^ "Marc Maron - Page 2 of 2 - Moment Magazine". Momentmag.com. May 8, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  11. ^ "The Majority Report with Sam Seder | Majority Report Radio". Breakroomlive.com. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  12. ^ ""Louie" Ikea/Piano Lesson". imdb.com. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  13. ^ "Coming Soon – Maron". IFC. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  14. ^ "WTF: The Public Radio Show!". Maximum Fun. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  15. ^ "Marc Maron Learned the Meaning of "Feral" from a Cat". Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  16. ^ "WTF Podcast Episode 432 - Natasha Lyonne". Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  17. ^ "WTF Podcast Episode 493 - Stephen Malkmus". Retrieved May 2014. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
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