Matt B. Davis is unique among WTF guests in that he did comedy for more than a decade, got out of the business and never wanted back in. Matt and Marc talk about how they got to know each other as comics, how they've helped each other in sobriety, and how Matt found a second career within the obstacle racing community. But then the conversation hits an obstacle of its own, as both Matt and Marc try to deal with a roadblock that's interfering with their friendship.
For Christmas Day, Marc presents a special collection of exclusive segments that were published this past year on the Full Maron bonus feed as part of the Marc on Movies series. First, a conversation with WTF producer Brendan McDonald about the films of Martin Scorsese. Then, Marc’s girlfriend Kit tries to walk him through the puzzles and mysteries of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. Finally, another talk between Marc and Brendan about the Sidney Lumet masterpiece Dog Day Afternoon.
Growing up in Ghana, director Blitz Bazawule relied on three things to transport him to other worlds: movies, American hip-hop, and his grandmother’s stories. Blitz tells Marc how he combined all three in his work as a director, how his style of visual poetry attracted the attention of Beyoncé, and how he suddenly found himself at the helm of his first major studio film, the musical version of The Color Purple.
Tammy Pescatelli and Marc were recently on the same show, performing for thousands in a basketball arena. Now in the garage, Tammy and Marc talk about their lives in comedy, which both of them spent earning their stripes on the road, putting in time at The Comedy Store, hosting daily radio shows, and headlining their own shows. But Tammy had to build it all back up after everything came to a halt due to one joke.
As one of country music’s most prolific singer-songwriters, Rodney Crowell talks with Marc about the art of songwriting, his evolution as a performer, and his collaborations with everyone from Emmylou Harris to Waylon Jennings to Rosanne Cash to Jeff Tweedy, who just produced Rodney’s latest album, The Chicago Sessions. Also, John Doe from the band X returns to the show to talk about his lead role in the new film D.O.A.
Peter Sarsgaard is always a memorable presence on screen and on stage. But in his latest role, he’s playing a man losing his memory at an early age. Marc and Peter talk about how life leads to inevitable encounters with dementia and mental trauma, and how depictions in art help us respond to them. They also talk about Peter’s relationship with sports, his collaborations with his wife, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and why he’s forever linked with John Malkovich.
Taylor Williamson’s obsession with comedy led him to club gigs as a teenager and national press coverage praising “the 19-year-old’s cerebral wit.” But Taylor tells Marc he was ready to give up on his dreams after a few years of the comedy grind. They talk about how America’s Got Talent was his salvation, what he learned after a decade of projects that almost got off the ground, and why he taped his new special at The Comedy Store, a place he views with equal parts gratitude and resentment.
Kate Simon’s love of photography started with a Polaroid camera and her talents put her right in the middle of the art and music scenes in London and New York City in the 1970s and ’80s. Kate and Marc talk about her notable subjects like Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Andy Warhol, William S. Burroughs, The Clash, David Bowie and Led Zeppelin. But Kate explains why, out of all the artists she encountered, Bob Marley was the most unforgettable, which she documents in her book Rebel Music.
Jesse David Fox thinks comedy is serious business. As the comedy reporter at Vulture, he’s been writing about it for more than a decade. Now Jesse is attempting to explain the role of comedy in our ever-evolving culture in his newly published Comedy Book. Marc, as you may imagine, has some thoughts. Jesse and Marc talk about standup as an art form, the meaning of edginess, the melding of comedy with tragedy and grief, and the reason Maria Bamford is their favorite comedian working today.
A conversation more than a dozen years in the making, Albert Brooks finally agreed to sit down with Marc overlooking the Pacific Ocean at The Georgian Hotel in Santa Monica. After recently going over parts of his life and career in a documentary directed by his friend Rob Reiner, Albert fills in the gaps with Marc, talking about his early days doing bits for radio stations and television variety shows, his standup sets in LA clubs, and his first writing gigs. There are also lots of stories along the way about folks like Jack Benny, Garry Shandling, George Burns, Paul Lynde and Albert’s mom.
When Marc was living in Highland Park, he found out something interesting about his neighborhood optometrist. Not only was this man an eye doctor, he was an accomplished jazz trumpeter. Marc welcomes Dr. Elliott Caine to the garage to find out how a Midwestern Jewish kid stayed on parallel tracks throughout his life, one fulfilling a career pursuit, one fulfilling his musical passion. Also, Marc delivers his annual Thanksgiving pep talk from Florida.
Taika Waititi has his hands in dozens of projects at any given time, but he says the connective thread of all his work is that he’s still trying to impress his deceased father. Taika and Marc discuss the core of grief in all of Taika’s films and television shows, including the Thor movies, JoJo Rabbit, What We Do in the Shadows, Reservation Dogs and his most recent film Next Goal Wins.
Fisher Stevens left a lasting impression on Marc in the early ‘80s when Fisher was in Brighton Beach Memoirs on Broadway. Since then, Fisher’s career has taken him from acting to directing to making documentary films, winning an Oscar for The Cove. Fisher talks with Marc about landing himself in director’s jail, what drove him toward making docs, how working with the United Nations led to his role on Succession, and why he needed a different set of tools to make the Beckham docuseries for Netflix.
Chef José Andrés could have been best known as the owner of some of the most celebrated restaurants in the world. But now he is arguably more well known as someone who feeds people around the world in their times of greatest need. José talks with Marc about the reason he founded World Central Kitchen, how the organization went from providing food relief in disaster areas to operating in active war zones, and how the chaos of restaurants prepared the chef and his team for the unpredictable nature of relief work.
Before he was Laraaji, Edward Larry Gordon was a gig musician with a background in composition, an aspiring actor, a standup comic and a person interested in the metaphysical. Then one day he pawned his guitar for an autoharp and changed not only his life but the genre of ambient music. Laraaji talks with Marc about his lifelong experimentation with instruments, his collaboration with Brian Eno, and his ongoing practice of laughter meditation.
While John Wilson spends his time filming everything around him, one question he’s constantly asking is whether he should be filming everything around him all the time. John talks with Marc about how his lifelong fascination with film combined with his terrible experiences in reality television led to an embrace of the documentary medium. They talk about the creation of his show, How To with John Wilson, and how it became a way for him to process emotionally difficult things in his life.
Lou Adler’s career in the music industry is one of the most accomplished in history, writing and producing hit songs and albums for the likes of Jan and Dean, Sam Cooke, the Mamas and the Papas, Carole King and many more. But he also was a producer of films like The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the director of Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke. On top of all that, he opened The Roxy Theater on the Sunset Strip, the club that launched many careers, which Lou talks about with Marc on the occasion of The Roxy’s 50th anniversary.
Nearly fifteen years ago, Dan Soder and Marc were talking at a comedy club right after they were both fired from their respective radio gigs. Marc responded to that moment by launching this podcast while Dan committed himself to standup, which led back to radio with his show The Bonfire and to acting gigs on shows like Billions. Dan also tells Marc how his early life hardened him to adversity, losing his father and sister to tragic circumstances, and how he learned how to explain most of life thanks to pro wrestling.