Vibes.

What’s up, Folks?

I’m in the air, in a little plane, flying out of the Utah desert.

I really want to thank everyone in Salt Lake City for coming out. I’ve been to Wiseguys quite a few times at this point. Enough to have seen a few different locations come and go. The one downtown is an odd space but a good club. We sold out four shows which I think is about the maximum amount of people I can draw in SLC. About 1,000. Maybe I’m not giving myself enough credit but it just feels like all the people in that city who are into what I do come out. I’m not complaining I appreciate it. It’s just an odd place.

I always seem to forget what it feels like to go there until I get there and I always go back so I don’t think it’s a bad thing. It’s sort of a fascinating vibe. There’s certainly no place else like it. There’s just there’s an awkward vibrating balance going on there. It’s not tense that I can tell. You do feel the presence of the Mormon history and it weighs on the place but it's kind of engaging and mysterious. That and the heat and the high altitude and the sterility of the downtown area make for a kind of dark but interesting vibe. I always walk around for hours when I’m there, even in the heat. It’s a good place to get worn down and think for some reason.

The shows are always pretty exciting because by the fourth show, the late one on Saturday, I’m pretty loopy from walking and thinking and I always seem to improvise there. Finding the through line for the new shit. It was a wild show.

On a less mystical note, they have a great farmer’s market there on Saturdays in Pioneer Park. A lot of fruit, vegetables, baked good, food and crafts. I bought some wooden spoons from a wooden spoon guy. I got tired of looking at my wooden spoons so a spent a little bread for a handcrafted wooden spoon upgrade.

Today on the show I talk to Jay Leno. I know, right? I didn’t think that would ever happen but it did. There were a few very specific things I wanted to cover with him. Back in the day he was one of the best comics working, well-respected, prolific. Then over time, because of several events, a lot the comic community seem to sour on him and lose respect for him. We talk about that a bit. On Thursday the very charming, very funny, very Irish, Chris O’Dowd and I talk about the things. Great talks!

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Community.

Hello, People!

I snuck off to Montreal for two days and I didn’t tell you guys. Sorry.

Also, I’ll be in SLC, Utah at Wiseguys Comedy Club this weekend, Aug. 3-4. Go to wtfpod.com/tour for the ticket link!

I haven’t been to the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal for a few years and I generally don’t go. A couple of weeks ago I was asked by the guy in charge if I could help him reach out to the creators of GLOW, Carly Mensch and Liz Flahive, because he wanted to see if they could receive the comedy writing of the year award at the festival. So, I helped him out and they were into it. Then they asked if I could present them with the award. I was honored to. They gave me my big break and I love the show. So, the festival flew me up and put me up for a couple of days and I did the presenting.

It was actually a perfect amount of time and I forget the good parts of the festival because when I was younger I was so full of panic and dread about the sets I was doing because all the audiences were about a third industry and every set counted. That’s exactly the kind of pressure that used to make me choke and be consumed with anxiety. Now, I don’t give as much of a fuck. I’m established enough that the festival doesn’t do anything for me career-wise and most people know me for better or worse.

I did get one set in up there on Andy Kindler’s Alternative show and it was fun. I had a very decadent dinner with Dean Delray and some Cuban cigars. I saw a lot of people I hadn’t seen in years and that was moving and fun. I forget just how much of a community this industry is. I forget that I’ve been in this business in earnest since my early twenties and all the people that surround it - execs and agents and managers and comics and club owners - have known me since I was a kid. It’s nice to check in. Especially since I’m not sweaty and angry and full of panic anymore. At least not about show business.

The truly great moments of the trip happened around the awards show. I was able to introduce Liz and Carly to my world. I introduced them to Chapelle and Tiffany Haddish, Howie Mandell, Maria Bamford and others. We all met Hannah Gadsby for the first time. The show itself turned out to be very moving. I presented them. Deon Cole presented to Lil Rel Howery. Howie presented to Jo Koy. Maria presented to Hannah. Kevin Hart presented to Tiffany and all the winners got a little choked up. It was sweet.

It was great reconnecting with people. I have a community. It’s just one full of outsiders and weird individuals. Unlike me. Totally stable and normal. I’m so glad they all accept me.

This week is good. Today I talk to Mila Kunis about being a religious refugee and Ashton Kutcher and acting and a lot of other stuff. Also, today, I talk to Iliza Schlesinger about her stalker and new special. On Thursday I have a very intense, interesting talk with the actor, Luzer Twersky, about leaving the Hasidic community to live a normal life and pursue his dreams. Great talks!

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Older.

People!

Dad was here. I’m happy I have the opportunity to assess the current distance between apple and tree.

I made it through, and you know what? It was good. It was nice to hang out with him for a couple of days. I don’t think I could’ve made it more than that but I was able to deal with him for that amount of time a not get sucked into the misery/worry vortex that is his mind.

I must be getting a bit more forgiving as I get older. I think that should happen naturally. Who has the energy to maintain lifelong resentments after a certain point? I mean, a couple of little ones, sure. Not big ones. I think the fact that I have become somewhat successful in what I do tempers my problems with him and also makes his innate attempts at diminishing me or dismissing me a bit impotent, which is good. Bottom line though, he is proud and in awe of what I have done and that is nice.

He is also getting older. When you don’t see your dad for a year or two and he’s in his seventies it can be jarring when you do. He’s going to be 80 this year. He and his wife and I went on a little hike with a very small incline and he just couldn’t handle it. It really hit me that he’s fragile and old. So, I didn’t make him hike or make him feel bad about not being able to do it like he might have done to me when I was younger. I should’ve. Kidding. There’s always some part of your brain that keeps your parents where they were when you were a kid. Now the reality of where he is at is bigger. I felt it. I’m glad he is still around and we can spend time together now. Again, two days max but I am glad.

I’m also realizing things about him that I don’t think I saw the same way years ago. He’s an envelope pusher, a risk taker. I always knew him to be a bit manic and impulsive, irresponsible, which could appear like he was taking risks, but I don’t think he ever put much thought into it. I now know differently. Listen to today’s show for the story.

Today and Thursday I talk to people who have been on the show and who I thought were going to be short talks on different episodes but they turned out to be medium talks and we paired them up. David Sedaris and Bo Burnham today and Sue Costello and Jim Gaffigan on Thursday.

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

It's All Gravy.

We did it, folks. 

Something.

GLOW got Emmy nominations for all kinds of awards—hair, makeup, titles, casting, cinematography, stunts, production design, directing and BEST COMEDY! AND Betty Gilpin got nominated for Supporting Actress in a Comedy. She’s amazing. It’s so great that happened. She is a real envelope pushing actor. A real risk taker at every point of her approach and that makes her character beautifully complex. She had a lot of heavy lifting to do first season in order to make her situation believable. The attention is well-deserved.

I got a lot of tweets saying I was robbed and Alison was robbed. I don’t know how Alison feels but I do not feel like I was robbed. I don’t really like the whole idea of having competition imposed on me. Life is dire enough. Sure, I tried to get nominated because why wouldn’t I but I didn’t really feel disappointed. I think it would’ve been great to get that kind of respect from my peers but I’m not really the award-winning type of person for whatever reason. I just do the work. It’s all gravy for me in a lot of ways. I didn’t think I was going to have the opportunity to do any of the stuff I am doing. I work hard, I like it and so do you. That’s really enough. I did buy some fancy clothes for the other award shows I went to and for TV and I would like to wear them more. I guess that’s the real bummer. I want to dress up. Maybe I’ll just wear my fancy suits around the house more. Maybe I’ll buy myself a trophy and wander around giving acceptance speeches to my cats. Truth is I was better second season. See, maybe I did really want to get nominated. Of course, I did. There, I admitted it. But I think I’m getting better at it and that’s what’s important. Both acting and admitting things. Competition stinks and if it isn’t sports its usually suspect in terms of how it’s all decided. Like elections.

In other news, I got my 23 and Me genetic results back. It actually just said JEW. Seriously. 99.5 percent Ashkenazi Jew with a smattering of "broadly European," whatever that means. Probably Jew too. I have no hereditary disease propensities and there were some details that were just odd. Like, they knew I could smell asparagus in my pee. I’m glad we have these advances to confirm these important traits that we pass on generation to generation.

Today I talk to Gus Van Sant about his new movie 'Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot’ and a lot of his other movies. There’s some surprising stuff about his starting out as an artist that I thought was interesting and fun to know. On Thursday I talk to Daveed Diggs about his new film, ‘Blindspotting.’ It’s a very personal and brutally beautiful film about his hometown of Oakland. We also talk about ‘Hamilton’ and track and stuff. Great talks!

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Repair.

Hot enough for ya, People?

Ridiculous. It’s happening and it’s all of our faults. We ruined the planet. Time to adapt or leave. I know, I know. And go where? Maybe devolve and grow gills and move back into the water. 

Happy Monday!

I’m weird. I like it when it gets up around 113°. It’s mind-altering. That has been known for centuries. It’s like time spent in the desert. That’s when you see things. Manna and burning bushes. You don’t need drugs, you need heat. As someone who has been sober for almost 19 years, I welcome the occasional natural freebie. It seems that my metabolism slows down in the heat. My blood feels like mud in my veins. I’m a bit queasy. Light-headed. Spaced. I don’t move much. 

I spent some time over the weekend dealing with boots. Polishing. Bringing them in for repair. I sat out on my porch in the 100° heat and slowly, methodically polished up one of two pairs of White’s boots that I had been neglecting. It’s a Zen chore. After the polish I had to bring the unpolished pair in for new heels. When I get it in my head to do something, especially non-urgent tasks, I get them done compulsively asap. The guy I used to go to for boot work retired or died. His store is gone. The last time I was in there he didn’t seem great. He was rolling a respirator around. Hopefully he’s just sitting at home, breathing easier. I don’t know. 

I reluctantly went to another old man across the street that I had gone to in the past. I was nervous to go there because the last time he didn’t have the right sized sole for my boots and he said he would make them work, trim them, grind them down. TMI. I just want them to look and feel right. I don’t need to hear about unnecessary challenges and making do. They looked fine, great even, but the experience stuck in my head. I didn’t think it could happen again. When I went back he didn’t have the right sized heel. I thought, ‘fuck.’ It was huge. He said he would trim it and grind it down. Of course he needed cash so I walked three blocks in the 100°-plus weather to the bank. 

In minutes I was almost hallucinatory, sweating, riding the edge of heatstroke. But I liked it. A haze was closing in around my vision, everything slowed down. I felt the earth screaming as air-conditioned cars whizzed by. ‘We’re so fucked,’ I thought. We gambled like children trying to get away with something and now we just wait to get caught in the catastrophic disaster of the big shift on all fronts, for the worst. ‘Nothing matters anymore,’ I thought, nearly passing out. 

I made it to the bank and back. Paid the old man. Went home. In two hours my boots were done. I went back. They looked perfect. He said, ‘You were worried but I love what I do so I do great work I am proud of.’ That seemed like a solid reason to live. I took those boots home and polished them perfectly to match those perfect heels.

Today I talk to the wise and talented Boots Riley about music, life and his new film ‘Sorry to Bother You.’ Good talk. Also, a little talk with Bobcat Goldthwait, too.  On Thursday I talk to the one and only Ray Liotta about his career, life and New Jersey. Great talk. Plus a short drop-in by David Sedaris. 

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Pause.

Well, Folks.

I’m about done doing everything I always wanted to do. Not quite but most of it. I’m not stopping right away because I have other things to do. Though I do think it’s time I look back and retroactively enjoy my life and accomplishments. I’m always so busy ploughing through, doing the next thing and working that I really don’t even take a minute to process what I have done. Well, not just ploughing through and working but not really giving myself much credit either. I think that’s how I stay humble. Just beating myself enough not to be happy or think I did good enough. It’s a bad loop. A curse. Something I need to record over. Dumb. Life is getting shorter.

Example. GLOW, the show on which I am a featured member of the cast, premiered last Friday and I forgot to mention it on my own damn show. I didn’t tell you guys. I forgot. What is that about? Obviously, a lot of you figured it out but still. I know there’s been a lot going on re: the end of the world and our democracy but still. I know I get focused on what I am going to say and what I am saying but still… I spaced promoting a very big thing in my life, on my own show.

Part of me probably thought, ‘well, we did that a long time ago.’ I finished with my feelings about it already. Now, I have to make that right. I watched them all, again. As someone who plays a part you have no idea how the whole thing is going to come out. It came out so fucking good. I’ve seen how excited people are by the show. I’m happy about that. I guess part of me doesn’t think any of it is real until people react to it. The reaction has been great. And, I think I did a good job. I’m proud of my work. And now I’m telling you about it. I had to take pause and let myself have that so I don’t just plough through thinking I did fine and it was okay and what are doing now...

Honestly, I’m thrilled about the show. The second season is better than the first and that was great. I like working with everyone involved and this season really allowed me to let Sam have some depth and take some chances as an actor a bit. It’s amazing working with all the actresses (and Chris Lowell) because they make me better and they’re amazing. I want to congratulate everyone who is involved with the show and thank everyone for watching it.

Today I talk to the all too nice Paul Rudd. I tried to find some dark in there but couldn’t really. Great guy, great talk. On Thursday I go on a tight, easy ride in the mind of Peter Fonda, no helmet. It was before he went (rightfully) nuts on Twitter and pushed the envelope a bit. Good talk.

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Aware.

People!

Everyone hanging in as well as possible? Ok.

I’ve got nothing new to say today. My computer seems to be one of the Apple Macbook Pro that is entitled to a free keyboard replacement or repair. I’ve been battling with this thing for months thinking it was somehow my fault. Some of my emails look like I’m having a stroke while writing them. Now, I just have to get over to the Genius Bar to get it taken care of. It’s ridiculous that I’ve literally stopped using my computer most of the time as opposed to getting this thing fixed. It’s exciting. You live in mild misery long enough out of laziness when you do get it remedied it's life changing. It’s like waiting to pee just because it will feel better when you do. Addict brain.

Speaking of addiction, my big shift to tea a half year ago or so is paying off. It’s blossomed into a very diverse, reliable compulsion with equipment and variety. There are strainers and blends and greens and blacks and scents and brewing temperatures. It’s crazy. I know the difference between First and Second Flush Darjeeling. I know the difference between Irish and English Breakfast teas. None of that is as important as knowing which ones get you high. For me it’s Organic Assam. That shit clears mind and makes everything shiny.

Please stay engaged and aware. We have to remain awake and focused and informed. We can’t fall into ourselves. Try to keep clarity. Assam. Conscience. No killing yourselves.

Today I talk to Lil Rel Howrey about coming up in the black comedy scene of Chicago and his new movie. Great guy, great talk. On Thursday I talk to Comedy Store lifer Eleanor Kerrigan about starting as an actress, being a waitress and getting into comedy. We talk a lot about Comedy Store owner Mitzi Shore. It was recorded before she died and there’s a lot of insight into who she was towards the end of her life. Great talk.

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Speak Out.

People!

I have a cold. I’m ok. Just snotty.

So, we’re shamelessly torturing children and parents by separating them at the border. That’s what the USA is now. We torture children as an example and warning and punishment to desperate people seeking refuge. That’s the USA’s new method. Taking kids away from their mothers at a young age is torture. They will not recover from the trauma. It will define them for the rest of their lives. There is no justification for it. Warning or punishment. If you can justify this in your head you don’t believe in democracy or decency. You’re a bad egg. The USA is shamelessly torturing children as policy. What can we do? We can speak out. Or add this verse to the famous series of statements by Martin Neimoller.

       ‘When they came for the immigrant’s children
       I did not speak out. 
       Because I was not an immigrant.’ 

You know how it ends.

      ‘Then they came for me—and there was no one
      Left to speak for me.’

Brendan found a good organization that provides legal representation and bond funds to get parents out of immigration detention and back with their children. It's called RAICES: Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. You can donate here. Raicestexas.org

I hope the voting works when we vote.

I went to see the Bowie exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. It was far more amazing then I heard. The exhibition itself was really phenomenal. There was historical ephemera: clothes, records, writings, art work, a napkin with lipstick on it, photos, videos. It was completely immersive. You are in the world, history and work of Bowie. 

It was crowded. I couldn’t read everything. It is a guided tour. You wear a headset that is connected to a WIFI activated receiver and it allows you to move at your own pace. What I didn’t expect was how emotional I would get. I was standing in front of a wall-sized projection of Bowie as Ziggy on Top of the Pops or some show like that singing Starman and I just started weeping. It happened over and over again watching videos and interviews. Maybe it was grief, maybe it was joy, maybe both. There was something so amazing about that guy. The way he could intentionally occupy his body in so many ways. The way he could transform himself through movement, music, costume, appearance. He represented something singular and important about creativity and its power to transform. Maybe I was grieving the fact that there seems to be less room for that now. Maybe I was grieving my own youth. Maybe I was just acknowledging how much Bowie meant to me at many stages of my own life maybe I was just feeling my mortality. Maybe I was just moved to the core.

It was great.

Today I talk to Billy Bob Thornton about Billy Bob Thornton. Good talk. On Thursday I talk to Dave Itzkoff about his amazing Robin Williams biography. Another good talk. Good week.

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Greatness.

Hey, Gang!

I’m upstate. New York. Thinking.

It’s been a rough few days. When we have to repost an episode in memoriam it's always rough. I was totally surprised that Anthony Bourdain committed suicide. I would never have expected that. I guess I didn’t really know him and even if I did you just don’t know what is going on in someone’s heart or mind. He seemed to have it all. His heart was in the right place. He was righteous and outspoken but very humble and giving. He did so much to bring people together and he seemed to always be so engaged in life and living it. Who knows what made him decide to do that. It’s terribly sad.

What I realized when I reposted the episode is just how many people loved him and found hope in what he did and were inspired by his journey. His many journeys--as a writer, eater, cooker, explorer of the human experience in all forms and a radical speaker of truth to power. I think it’s hard for people who build relationships with people based on their public persona when something like this happens. Remember, you only know of them what they are making available. Their struggles are sometimes profoundly personal and their own. Try to keep your hope, if you have any left, intact. Have empathy and feel the grief but don’t assume you understand and project and personalize it and take on your idea of their struggles and make it your own. Especially if you are sensitive and prone to spiraling. We didn’t know. Remember him for the greatness. The episode we did in 2011 was a beautiful representation of who he was. I liked talking to him.

I am in Upstate NY visiting with Sarah the Painter’s family for a couple of days. Weather is perfect, the first strawberries are here and I’m dodging deer ticks. Tomorrow we are heading down to NYC. I will be appearing on Good Morning America on Wednesday and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Thursday. I bought some new clothes I’ll be wearing. I forget why I don’t have nice clothes. They’re a pain in the ass to travel with—garment bags and more than one pair of shoes in the duffle. I figure I can dress up a little on TV. I’ve done it before but I just stopped because of the terrible fashion choices I have made over the years. You can go see decades of them at wtfpod.com in the video section.

Today I talk one of my favorite actors, Bob Balaban. Great talk. On Thursday me and Holly Hunter hash some stuff out. It was a trip having her over. Very intense. Great talk as well.

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Healthy.

Hey, Folks!

Exciting opening. Exclamation point and everything. Like I have something to tell you.

I got nothing.

Just slowly prepping my brain to having to adjust to living in an actual authoritarian country and what that means. Aside from that, just the same dumb everyday shit that most of us go through. Though that as a baseline tends to exacerbate other dumb aggravations. At least, just for today, there’s no lava, water or fire ripping down my street. Just in my brain. So, that’s nice.

I’ve been trying to get into some regular exercise habit. I generally work out a couple or more times a week but I mean, like, getting my heart pounding so it feels like I’m going to die. You know, feeling like I’m really doing something ‘healthy.’ I have been through this cycle so many times before. Some of you people have probably been through it with me. I guess I’m aging into being the guy that just cycles and actual change is very incremental and relative to slowly giving up a little at full loop. With me it’s always about food, weight, nicotine and relationships. Any prolonged period when I think I’m really growing or moving forward I eventually end up in very familiar territory and it becomes hand-to-hand combat with myself. But one side is tired now and that seems to be the me that doesn’t think he’s good enough or complete or worthy. That guy is getting tired of trying to convince the other one that he’s not that great and it’s a tough sell given how life has been lately. That’s all good but I wish I could get there without stuffing myself for weeks until I have to relent to dietary control or disappear into a dark void of sad self. I’ve been hitting the dumb cigars a bit too and I’m all nic-fitty and annoyed. Emotionally I think I am genetically incapable of trust or opening up in a relationship and staying open and just letting it be. But like I said, all these things are not as harrowing as they used to be because I’m ok. Been here before. Can deal. Not cancer. Not drinking. Not yet. Aware.

I have great guests this week! I’ve always been a fan of David Harbour and I always thought we might get along in a very specific and engaged way. We did. It was an exciting talk. That’s today. On Thursday I talk to comedian Vanessa Hollingshead. It’s a harrowing tale. We have a bit of history but I’m glad she is doing okay. Great comic talk.

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

I'm Not Sure I Know.

Back home, People!
 
Finally. I’m going to be home for a stretch. I need to regroup and get grounded. I need to work on the new place. I need to get all the dings on my leased car fixed. I need to not eat garbage. I need to reconnect with the cats. I need to buy some plants. I need to… I'm just glad to be home. 

I'm getting reacquainted with my records. One snuck up on me. It has just been hanging out for years. I haven’t really paid attention to it sitting there. I haven’t really listened to it in years. I decided to download it onto my phone for my trip among dozens of others and I was listening to it on the plane and my mind just got blown. It was Dylan’s ‘Planet Waves.’ All of a sudden, out of nowhere, the stacks, it’s my favorite Dylan album and maybe one of the greatest records ever. I don’t hear anyone ever talking about it. I also didn’t realize that Dylan only did two ‘studio’ records with The Band and this was one of them. All of them are so in the pocket it’s crazy. The space between them perfectly filled by one or all of them. It’s just astounding to me. I like when this happens. Something out of the past, that I have known for years, rises up and changes my life. The songs run the range of emotions from grief to ecstasy. There was just a perfect symbiosis between the songs and the people playing them. Peak. Jesus, I’m talking about it like just came out. 1973. I’m a bit obsessed. It will pass. I bought five copies of the album just to have and give to people if needed. It’s not hard to find or that expensive and that just baffles me. It’s fucking box of jewels.

 I’m back from Alabama and I guess I can now talk about what was going on down there. As I assumed many of you guessed I was working on a little movie that we shot out in like two weeks. It was conceived and written by Lynn Shelton and Mike O’Brien and Lynn directed it. The film is completely improvised and it’s a pretty crazy little movie—well at least the footage is—can’t wait to see how it all comes together. It will. Shelton is a wizard. It’s called ‘Sword of Trust’ and it features me, Michaela Watkins, Jillian Bell, Jon Bass, Toby Huss, Whit Thomas, Dan Bakkedahl and Tim Paul. It was hot as balls down there and the shooting was pretty intense at times. Emotional and hilarious and odd. Improvising an entire film is exhausting but it’s a very honest path to discovery. I think I had a good time at least half of the time. That’s pretty good. It was awesome working with everyone and the crew was great. Amazing experience. What’s it about? I’m not sure I know. I do know my character owns a pawn shop and that at some point four of us get out of a truck and interrupt someone inseminating a horse. Enough said. 
 
Today I talk to Tom Papa. He’s a great comic and a guy I’ve known for years but didn’t really know and made assumptions about. I never had him on. We work through it. On Thursday Rachel Brosnahan and I talk about acting and her show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which I like. I didn’t think I would like as a comic but I do. It does something very interesting in retrofitting a woman with a defined comedic voice doing spontaneous long form bits onstage into the '50s. Great talks! 

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Understanding.

What’s up, People?

You don’t have to answer.

I’m in Birmingham, Alabama. I’ve been here for a few days. I’m doing some work down here. Not construction, show business. I’ll tell you about it when I’m done. I can’t right now. I can tell you about being here, I guess.

As many of you know I am always pleasantly surprised when I come down South. Almost always. After years of prejudgment and assumptions and stereotyping, I have grown to embrace and accept the South in bits and pieces, towns and cities, not as whole necessarily. You get what I’m saying. The point is Birmingham seems nice. It takes a lot for cities down here to work against the evil ghosts of oppression and terror that occupy the streets and buildings and fields and trees but they seem to be doing it. I like it here. Good energy, good food, nice people. I’ve been limited to a set and a couple square blocks but at least my judgments are leaning toward the good side which might be too idealistic. I don’t know.

On my day off I did take the trip to Montgomery to see the new National Memorial for Peace and Justice and The Legacy Museum. In all my life of wandering through memorials and monuments and museums dedicated to the legacy of horror of one kind or another I have never been so gutted by a work of public art and museum of history. From their website:

‘The memorial structure on the center of the site is constructed of over 800 corten steel monuments, one for each county in the United States where a racial terror lynching took place. The names of the lynching victims are engraved on the columns. The memorial is more than a static monument. In the six-acre park surrounding the memorial is a field of identical monuments, waiting to be claimed and installed in the counties they represent. Over time, the national memorial will serve as a report on which parts of the country have confronted the truth of this terror and which have not.’

The steel rectangles are suspended evenly from posts, seemingly hanging, as you walk beneath them, hundreds of them. The effect is devastating and elevating simultaneously. Oppressive. The entire monument is situated on several acres of property and it takes time to walk around and take it in. No matter what I thought I knew or understood I have to admit my ignorance of the impact and terror of the violent history for African Americans in this country. I really knew very little other than it was wrong and awful and a few bits and pieces of the history because some part of me didn’t want to know. It is almost impossible to claim empathy as a white person but that isn’t required. What is required is to understand and learn and to know in your heart and mind what happened and the effect it had and continues to have.

After the memorial I drove to the museum which takes you through the entire history of organized murder and institutionalized racism in America. I felt ignorant and shallow and wrong for not knowing it in any real detail. I do now. The museum is in an old slave warehouse and that port on the river in Montgomery was a major hub of slave commerce. You are there in the house with the ghosts real pain and unthinkable horror.

Because of that day trip I won’t be the same and my heart and mind won’t be the same and that is powerful. That is being schooled. It’s an important trip to make if you can.

Today I talk to Josh Brolin which was fun and deep and fast moving. Great talk, great guy. On Thursday Mary Steenburgen and I have a great time getting to know each other and talking about her journey as a person. Great talk.

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Old Lady.

Hey, Folks!

Thanks for all of your input on the Marc Maron/WTF Ben and Jerry’s flavor that will never happen. I think the consensus was What the Fudge. There were some other clever mixtures that involved dark, bitter flavors and some involved the vanilla cut that I talked about on one of my specials. I wasn’t really even expecting it to be a thing but the suggestions came in.

Also, thanks for the commiserating and confirming emails about pooping on the road and while traveling. Glad to know it’s a common thing and we are all that close.

See, you all make me feel less alone too.

La Fonda is okay. She’s old, but she’s okay. I talked about her having a hard time. When I got home from Europe she was peeing blood. It seemed to start when I got home. When a cat is 14 years old and starts peeing blood you just prepare for the worst. Sarah got her into a carrying case and I immediately took her to the vet. It is no easy trip for my weird cats. They pee and shit all over the cage and howl the whole way there. It is very stressful and traumatic but I had no choice.

I did make a decision not to see my regular vet because I can’t deal with him anymore. I didn’t want a chipper morbid prognosis with an upselling of more tests. This guy, even if the cat is okay, will let you know that it’s only a matter of time before they get sick and die and there’s always time for more tests before that happens. I didn’t want to deal with that so I went to a new vet at the same place. She was great, thorough, earnest. We did all the tests. 

They knocked La Fonda out for a set of x-rays. Shot her up with some antibiotic and a steroid and told me it might be a UTI and I might need to give her meds. That’s a nightmare. There just no way to give my cats meds. Never has been. That made me nervous but I waited out the results. She called a couple of days later saying it was a UTI and the antibiotic she used would treat it. I was thrilled. La Fonda wasn’t dying yet. The vet did say that she had weight loss and it could be Lymphoma and I should get more tests. I asked her what the treatment was. She said, ‘Chemotherapy.’ I was said, ‘We’ll see. She’s 14. She’s an old lady. Let’s wait it out.’ I think the visit to the vet takes months off her life just from the stress. Bottom line, she’s okay for now. That’s the best any of us can hope for.

Today I talked to Rachel Bloom about her new movie ‘Most Likely to Murder,’ Crazy Ex Girlfriend, Jews and more. We got each other. On Thursday I talk to Melissa McCarthy about her new movie ‘Life of the Party’ and other stuff. Great talks.

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Connected.

Heading home, folks!

The show at Vicar St. here in Dublin went great. It’s a great venue, we packed it out and the people here are an awesome audience. Martin Angolo opened for me and he did a fantastic job. We just got done packing up our stuff and we’re getting ready to head out. I chose this to be the city I end the tour in and spend the most time in. I did my show on Thursday, I’m writing this on Sunday. I love it here.

I’ve always felt connected to Ireland since I first came here. It has less to do with the people at first and more to do with the weight of the place. There’s an emotional density here that you can feel in the buildings and the hills. It’s hard to explain but there are plenty of poets and writers you can reference for better descriptions than mine. I guess what I’m saying is that it’s not unusual for certain kinds of people to feel connected to this place. You would think they would be Irish or have a bit of it in them. I do not. I just connect to the weight of the island.

I’ve had a tense relationship with the Irish in the past. I started my career in the Boston area and I made my bones in comedy performing in bad situations for New England Townies. Many were the Boston Irish. It was no easy task to find a middle ground with them as an angry, neurotic Jewish guy in his twenties but I was determined to do it and I did most of the time. I can’t say I was being my authentic self but I was in a kind of stage survival mode. I found the audiences to be tough and seemingly mean and judgmental. I thought the Irish didn’t like me. It was a generalization but it came out of insecurity not contempt. 

The American Irish I encountered a lot in Boston are different than the ones I encountered here in Ireland. Again, a generalization but maybe there’s something to it. Maybe the American Irish, not unlike the Jews or Italians that made their way to America a few generations ago, had to fight for their place as people and as communities and that gave them a bit of an edge. There’s a certain sense of surrender and kindness here in the old country. I may be romanticizing it but so be it. I guess what I’m saying is I like the people here.

We had tea at Bewley’s a lot. Scones, whatnot. I actually stayed away from the sausages somehow. We ate a lot at an old veggie place called Cornucopia which was good. We saw the Book of Kells and the long room in the old library at Trinity College. We took a day trip out to Howth and walked the cliffs. We saw Francis Bacon’s reconstructed studio at the Hugh Lane Gallery. We walked around the city a lot. I am going to come back here and spend more time in other parts of the country. Didn’t have time this trip.

The whole short tour was great. We had a good time.

Today on the show I talk to Scott Thompson. It was a long time coming. It was a good talk. I have two more KITH to talk to, Bruce McCullough and Mark McKinney. I also have a short chat with my old friend Tom Rhodes today. On Thursday me and Drew Carey do the talking and it was pretty enlightening. I didn’t know anything about him.

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Fish.

Greeting from Scandinavia, Folks!

Wow, seems like a year since I’ve written. Time is weird when you travel. I’ve done a lot since last Sunday.

Before my show in London I got a shave. During that shave the barber pulled out a long piece of what may have been hanger wire with a little cloth at the end that apparent was soaked in kerosene or some other flammable liquid, lit it and proceed to carefully burn the little hairs in my ears off. I’ve never had anything like that done to me. Usually when you are laying down in a chair and someone lights something on fire and moves towards your head the response is generally, ‘I’ll talk. I’ll talk. Put it out’.

I said nothing. I held my mud. I got a great shave and my ears look niiiiice.
The show I told you I was nervous about last week went really well. I filled Royal Festival Hall, sat down and laid it out. It was intimate and funny. I really think one of the keys to it was having them drop the curtain over the wall-sized pipe organ that would’ve been the backdrop. There’s a subliminal expectation there. Somewhere in the minds of people watching they would be expecting to hear that thing. It’s like doing comedy in front of a blank movie screen. It’s never good. Deep down people are waiting for a movie.

Always better to hide an organ on stage. You don’t want it out during the show. It's distracting and sometimes wrong depending on the show.

Also, the audience was amazing. It was great that everyone came out. I think we all had a nice time and got a few laughs.

Sarah the Painter’s show was the next night at the Timothy Taylor Gallery and that went very well too. The work looked great on the walls and a lot of people came. There was a big dinner and a Peruvian Restaurant after. I’ve never had that kind of food. Another first. It seemed like 20 courses. I ate all of them. I can’t wear one of the pairs of pants I brought over. I guess I get back in shape stateside.

We flew to Stockholm on Wednesday. I liked it there. We saw some great art, a giant ship that sunk in the harbor a long time ago, pretty buildings and I ate some meatballs. I did a good show for a great crowd. I liked Sweden. It’s nice to be in countries where everyone isn’t armed.

We’re in Oslo, Norway now. I’m about to head to the theater. We saw a real Viking ship today and some more amazing art yesterday. We had high tea and I ate fish. I like the vibe here. Feels deep. No sure why. Maybe it’s the fjords. Maybe I have Viking in me. I should get that gene test. It’s a long shot but I’ve done some research. I think it’s possible. I just feel connected to this place. Maybe the herring and smoked salmon and rye bread just got me all genetically nostalgic, not really for here just in a general Jewy way. How did that stuff get into the eastern European Jewish diet? I have to do some more research.

Today I talk to Bradley Whitford about stuff back in the old garage. On Thursday I talk to Mandy Stadtmiller about her new book ‘Unwifeable.’ Good talks. Both of them.

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Traveling.

Across the pond, People.

I’m here. London. I’m not freaking out like I usually do when I travel abroad. I usually feel detached and weird and alone in a stranded kind of way as I wander the streets of another country. Come to think of it, I feel that way wherever I travel if I’m alone. I am not alone. I met Sarah the Painter here.

I have a show tonight at the Royal Festival Hall and Sarah has a show Tuesday at the Tim Taylor Gallery. We’re doing the business.

I am nervous about the show tonight but I’ve been doing this a while. It should be good. It’s a big place. I sold it out. I should be thrilled but that makes me nervous. There is no winning in my head.

I’ve done a lot of travelling in the last few days. I flew into JFK last Wednesday and stayed at The Crown Plaza by the airport. Hotels by the airport, any airport, are a bit tweaky. I know it’s probably just travelers and flight crew but it seems like there is some shady doings going on. Maybe I’m projecting but it just looked like a few wrongminded folks doing some international dirty deals milling about. It could’ve just been some angry Russian guys waiting for an Uber. I don’t know. Is that racist? Probably.

I woke up Thursday morning to pick up a car for a night. I thought I had reserved one of those nice Infinity/Cadillac SUV things but when I arrived there was a giant black Escalade in my pick up spot. I got in it and realized this is something you get picked up in on someone else’s dime, not something you drive. I almost just took it but I felt ridiculous. So, because it was just overnight, I rented a Dodge Charger which is a whole other type of ridiculous. It’s important that I rent something like that once a year so I don’t rationalize buying one on some dumb, cock-driven impulse. It was fun. I drove four hours to Williamstown to do an ‘in conversation’ gig at Williams College about the ‘secular Jewish art of intimacy in conversation.’ Yeah, I didn’t know what it meant either but I rolled with it. It was me being interviewed by a Religious Studies professor named Jefferey Israel. Yup, it was pretty Jewy, but fun.

I stopped at MASS MoCA in North Adams on the way and it was spectacular. Go if you are in the area, or make a special trip.

Then I drove back, dropped the car off at Kennedy, and took the Airtrain to my terminal seven hours early. There just wasn’t enough time to do anything with the day really. There was plenty of time for me to justify upgrading to first class since I had just been paid pretty well to talk about being a Jew who really isn’t that Jewy anymore. I spent a few hours in the Concorde Room eating and spreading my post-its and yellow pads out to organize the thoughts I wrote down over the last, I don’t know, year. I was proud to be working from paper, old school. I looked like a lunatic but fuck it.

So, I got on the plane and had my bed made and slept for bit and I was in England. It was the illusion of sleep but it got me through. I’ll let you know how the show goes on Thursday.

Today I talk to Aisha Tyler who is going through a bit of a life shift. Also, I talk a little bit to Louie Anderson who has a new book out. He’s very funny. It’s always good to see him. On Thursdayme and manic Sam Tripoli talk about comic life, conspiracies and his dad among other things. Great talks.

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

A Part of Who I Am.

I’m out, Folks.

I moved everything out of the garage into the new garage. It’s an odd feeling.

Odd is a broad word for a lot of feelings I’m having about the move. Some of them are just now starting to happen. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling alone and like I was lost somehow. In this flurry of transition, I’m not sure that I really took into mind just how much that garage was part of me. Just how second nature it was to be in there. It was complete symbiosis. We grew together. We were inseparable. Certainly, in the public’s eye, but also in life. Everything that I am now was somehow informed by that space.

I know it seems like I’ve been talking about it a lot but now it is really done and I guess I’m in a bit of shock. Look, I chose it and I’m happy I did but now I’m feeling it. Ryan Singer and I spent the day boxing up stuff and doing five or six trips to and from the new place. We loaded the books (I kept almost all of them) and book shelves into a rented pick up and did it. I wanted my hands on this move. All of it.

I set up the table and attached the booms. I set up the mics, mixer, hard drive and hooked up the monitor. I did a sound and equipment check and tried not to freak out. It felt good, new, exciting. I love the new space.

Then came the feeling of loss and weirdness. There is some part of me that really is not comfortable with change. I was in that old house for more than 13 years. That may not seem like a long time but it really is. A house becomes an extension of you. Part of your being. A haven. A home. A friend. A familiar. I guess no matter how slow I made the transition or how much I love my new place I’m going to feel a little heartbroken and lost for a bit. A little fragile. A little raw. That place was a big part of who I am and now I have to compartmentalize that somehow. 

Compartmentalizing is not my strong suit but I think it’s okay to feel the way I feel. It’s going to take however long it takes to build a relationship with my new place. It will be awkward at first as we learn to understand each other but we will settle in. I do find some solace in the fact that I felt like it was time to go for many reasons. No matter how hard part of my brain wants me to believe I should’ve stayed there forever I know in my heart it was the right thing. We had a good run, me and that garage. It was time for both of us to move on.

Today on the show I talk to Neil Patrick Harris about a lot of things. He’s a solid guy. It was great talking to him. I also spend a little time with Michael Imperioli talking about his new novel which is really quite dark and quite sweet. It’s a perfect balance. It’s a coming of age of story that takes place in NYC in the 70s and Lou Reed is a character in the book. It’s good read. On Thursday I talk to Jason Alexander and he is exactly how you think he is which is rare but good. Sweet guy.

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

That's the Plan.

Now it’s real, people. 

Yesterday was the first open house. Apparently about three hundred people came by. I got the garage pretty stripped down, yet still functional for the showing. I know a few fans came by because they posted pics of MY garage on their Twitter and Instagram feeds. It’s cool. I think that’s why I left it in tact. I knew a few folks just wanted to see it. It’s also always humbling and good to know just how many people have no idea who I am. Obviously I don’t think I’m some huge celebrity but it's good know that podcasts are still special in a way and that the relationship I have with my audience is special and even secret in a way. So, don’t tell too many people that we hang out.

I believe the actual move of the equipment will happen at the end of this week. Should be recording in the new garage next week. It’s going to be a mess for a while and it might take a bit to get the shelves and books and posters and art and sound foam panels up but I will be sitting there at a mic next week. That’s the plan. It will be like the beginning of the podcast. Just me at a table surrounded by piles of stuff that was basically just being stored in the space. I guess it will be a little different but the same vibe.

I know this seems like a slow and very mediated separation from my old house but this is what is happening. I think the place will be sold by the end of this week. I’ve spent some meditative time in the new garage the last few days trying to figure out where to set up the table and the mics. I’ll miss the dogs and the choppers that sometimes made an appearance on the show but I think we’ll have plenty of yardwork noise to contend with and there seems to be a lot of birds around the new house. Doves, I think. Doves.

So, I’ve been watching Stranger Things. I should say I’ve been compulsively consuming it. Made it through all of season one and one episode of season two in a couple of days. I think that’s why I don’t watch most things. I kind of think I don’t care but I think the real truth is I won’t be able to get out or have a life if there are a lot of episodes of anything I get into (and I can get into to most things, really). I have that kind of addictive, completist disposition when it comes to most things that interest me or make me feel good. Also, it triggered some of my old ‘Shadow Government’ propensities to the point where I thought the first six episodes were completely possible. Now I have to finish it.

Today I have what is really a limited discussion with Sean Penn about his book and some other stuff. Intense guy. I also have a short fun talk with director Lynn Shelton about her new movie ‘Outside In.’ Great movie. On Thursday the fellas from They Might Be Giant come by for some lively chatting. Great talks.

Enjoy! 

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron