Marc makes a pilgrimage to Las Vegas for a sit-down with Sammy Shore, a comic with a long show business life that doesn't quite have the ending he planned on. Sammy tells Marc about starting his career as Shecky Greene's partner, becoming the opening act for Elvis, starting The Comedy Store, and how each of these successful points of his career seemed to fall apart every time. This episode is sponsored by Sonos and Casper.
It's not entirely accurate to say this episode has never been heard by anyone before. About 700 people were in the room at the Now Hear This podcast festival in Anaheim this past October to hear Marc and his producer Brendan McDonald reveal the secrets behind WTF. It's the first time Marc and Brendan ever did anything like this together in front of a live audience. This episode is sponsored by Squatty Potty.
A lot of former child stars have been in the garage, but Derek Trucks wasn't so much a child star as he was a prodigy. At the age of nine, Derek was a guitar wizard. He talks with Marc about avoiding the pitfall of becoming a novelty act and evolving into a versatile practitioner and appreciator of music, with help from several notable mentors along the way. This episode is sponsored by Squatty Potty, Sonos, Blue Apron, and Audible.
Annette Bening attributes her longevity in acting to stopping when she wanted. She talks with Marc about being able to put the brakes on her career when dealing with the responsibilities of parenting. They also talk about privacy, winning (or not winning) awards, Warren Beatty, and the many influential people Annette worked with who are no longer with us, including Garry Shandling, Mike Nichols, John Candy, and Robin Williams. This episode is sponsored by Joule from ChefSteps and Stamps.com.
Every so often Marc gets together with Tom Scharpling of The Best Show to figure out life's big questions. They record these conversations and release them as The Marc and Tom Show. This one was recorded almost four years ago and was never released. For the first time, hear Marc and Tom talk about painful high school experiences, times they've fallen victim to con artists, what they plan to do during the apocalypse, and more. Featuring theme music by The Tokeleys. This episode is sponsored by Squatty Potty.
Comedian Billy West is a master of voices and one of the preeminent voiceover artists working today. Billy tells Marc about his need to escape into characters while growing up in a chaotic home. It was a retreat from reality that led to success later in life with Ren and Stimpy, Futurama, The Howard Stern Show and countless other projects. And it all hinged on his lifelong love of The Three Stooges. This episode is sponsored by Children International, MeUndies, and Squarespace.
Casey Affleck says he doesn't want fame or stardom. So how's he handling it now that the spotlight keeps getting hotter? Casey talks with Marc about growing up in Massachusetts, maturing as an actor, living in the public eye, having kids, dealing with an alcoholic dad, and creating his performance in Manchester by the Sea. This episode is sponsored by Children International, Squarespace, Stamps.com, Blue Apron and Squatty Potty.
In September 2016, Marc recorded a conversation with the legendary Jerry Lewis. Until now, no one has heard it other than those in the room. This was supposed to be a full-length episode of WTF, but the interview was compromised and there were no plans to release it. Marc explains what happened as we present this never-before-heard conversation. This episode is sponsored by If She Only Knew from Kensington Books.
Comedian Shane Mauss saw his career gathering steam only to stall out and make him feel like opportunities were passing him by. Then an accident that left him with two broken feet coincided with another journey. One that involves neuroscience, psychedelic drugs, and an altered perception that led to a career rejuvenation. This episode is sponsored by SimpliSafe, Sonos, Carnivore Club, and Squarespace.
As Dana Carvey puts it, he gave a Heisman to fame, essentially putting himself on the sidelines of showbiz for 15 years. Dana and Marc talk about the string of events that happened after SNL and Wayne's World that prompted Dana to reevaluate what's important in life and how he's developed a new perspective on his early years. This episode is sponsored by Sonos, Joule by ChefSteps, Casper, and Stamps.com.
We go back into the WTF Shoebox Vault to find another unaired pilot for The Marc Maron Show in Los Angeles from 2006. This time the guest was comedian Maria Bamford, the sidekick was still Jim Earl, and the investigative reporter was Eddie Pepitone. The only people who ever heard this were the people who made it, plus one angry program director who didn't want to put it on the air. This special presentation is sponsored by Squatty Potty. Use code WTF for 25% off and free shipping.
Gothic folk duo The Handsome Family meet up with Marc while he's in Albuquerque to talk about American roots music, carnival sideshows, meeting your heroes, and dealing with bipolarity. But first, documentary filmmaker Sam Pollard joins Marc in the garage to talk about his new film Two Trains Runnin', a look at the summer of 1964, as history converged in unexpected ways. This episode is sponsored by Pete Holmes: Faces and Sounds on HBO, Squarespace, Carnivore Club, and Audible.
Comedian Joe Matarese has struggled with bouts of rage, anxiety and paralyzing indecisiveness. As he tells Marc, Joe is correcting these problems through medication, therapy, help from his wife, and inspiration from one particular episode of WTF. Joe also explains why his big idea of being the comic who snaps on the audience didn't have a lot of running room. This episode is sponsored by Joule from ChefSteps, Sonos, Blue Apron, and Stamps.com.
This limited series dives deep into the WTF Vault (aka a shoebox under producer Brendan McDonald's bed) to present lost Marc Maron material that has never been heard by anyone else. In this episode, hear an unaired test show Marc and Brendan created ten years ago for a nighttime variety program on Los Angeles radio, featuring Patton Oswalt as the guest and Jim Earl as Marc's sidekick. This special presentation is sponsored by Zappos and Blue Apron.
Singer-songwriter Scott Fagan created a beautiful album in 1968, called South Atlantic Blues. But things didn't go the way they were supposed to. Scott talks with Marc about why the album and his career fizzled, how they were both resurrected, and how he connected with a son he never met, who is an accomplished artist in his own right. Plus, Marc delivers his annual Thanksgiving Day pep talk. This episode is sponsored by the new Rolling Stones album Blue and Lonesome, Sonos, and Squarespace.
Michael Shannon cuts a pretty intimidating figure on stage and screen. The combination of his Southern upbringing and his early-career immersion into the Chicago theater scene probably accounts for much of his intensity. Michael and Marc talk about his experiences with creators like Tracy Letts, William Friedkin, and Jeff Nichols, and they delve into what occupies Michael's mind when he's not acting. This episode is sponsored by LifeAfter from GE Podcast Theater, Sonos, ZipRecruiter, and Squarespace.
Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain wrote a book that changed Marc's life. On the 20-year anniversary of 'Please Kill Me: An Uncensored Oral History of Punk,' Legs and Gillian tell Marc why they wrote it in the first place and why it still resonates two decades later. Also, Marc's neighborhood buddy Andre Royo stops by to talk about his new independent film Hunter Gatherer. This episode is sponsored by The Rolling Stones's Blue and Lonesome, Squarespace, LifeAfter from GE Podcast Theater and Panoply, and MeUndies.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is not only the creator of Hamilton and In The Heights, he's also a long-time WTFer. So he's well prepared to get into everything with Marc during a visit to the garage, including his multicultural upbringing, his early exposure to both hip hop and musical theater, his reasons for making Hamilton, and what "Weird Al" Yankovic has to do with all of it. This episode is sponsored by MeUndies, Sonos, Stamps.com, and Audible.