She wanted to see the bats.

I’m heading into the caves, People-

As I write this I’m a couple hours away from heading down into Carlsbad Caverns in Southern New Mexico. Jessica’s break fell on this week and she had been there when she was a kid and wanted to go back. I figured it would be a nice trip and drive and I could go back to the home state, which is beautiful. I’m not sure I ever made it into the caverns even though I grew up in the state and actually set out to see them twice.

The first time I almost made it there I was sent home from a class trip when I was caught with Patty Ryan’s boobs in my hands because Nick Kaplan ratted me out. Yeah, I remember that. Yeah, I’m using Nick’s full name. He couldn’t just let things be. He had to go tell the chaperone that I had a girl in my room. I don’t feel like revenge is necessary and quite honestly is was an 8th grade trip but I just want him to know that I remember.

The second time I tried to go to the caverns was much later, after college, with a girl who thought it would be cool. We were dating at the time and she had come out from Boston to New Mexico for a bit and we drove my Mom’s station wagon down there and fought most of the way. The car broke down when we got down there and we had to rent a car in Carlsbad - a Delta 88 - and cruised around in that.

Wait, we did go. We were in the caverns. I just remembered that as I am writing this. All I remembered before that last sentence was that big green car, drinking in a cheap hotel and fighting, but right now I’m getting flashbacks from the actual caves. She wanted to see the bats.

All I could remember was the cave of insanity that was the hotel room and I had repressed the actual cavern. I still don’t remember it that well. I’m glad we’re going back.

Dick Van Dyke is on the show Monday and I had a great time talking to him. I went to his house and he couldn’t have been more welcoming. Great guy. Really on his toes, too. He’s 87. On Thursday I talk to E of Eels in the garage. He’s a deep dude with some real stuff inside. He lays a couple of songs down, too.

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!



Love,
Marc

It’s hard to talk to artists about their art.

Howdy, Folks-

I am writing this in between things at SXSW. I just recorded a very intense live episode of the show with Harmony Korine, James Franco, Nate Bargatze and Peter Sagal. It’s hard talking to actors live sometimes. They are very sensitive and sometimes very serious. I was nervous about talking to Korine. He’s a real artist and by that I mean he is a guy with a specific vision that is unique and not necessarily accessible, yet that is all he does and he makes beautiful challenging films. It’s hard to talk to artists about their art, where does it comes from, what is their process. I was doing okay with it when, in the middle of everything while I was talking to Harmony, Eddie Pepitone, who I didn’t know was in the room, starts screaming from the audience telling me to lay off Korine and quit pestering him about his "art." It was spectacular. I had no idea it was going to happen and everyone, including Harmony, thought it was real. I almost wish I didn’t acknowledge him as someone I knew. There are moments like that when reality turns in on itself and everything become hyper-real. You should just leave it alone but, of course, I’m too sensitive for that and I got defensive in the way that I get with Eddie. I didn’t ruin it but I let my own feelings get in the way. It was close.

I forget the power that a joke or a ‘bit’ has. Sensitive people or people who take themselves very seriously are threatened by comics. The comic can effortlessly undermine almost anything with one line. It’s hard to deliberate when those moments are appropriate and I guess that’s the difference between a pro and just a smart ass. I was extremely nervous to talk to Korine and Franco. They are serious dudes. I made a joke at the end of talking to James and it got him prickly and a little defensive. It was awkward. Initially, I thought, that guy should lighten up. Why did he take it so seriously? Well, because jokes cut hard and there was some seriousness in it but this was also coming from the guy that had just been handed his ass by the hilarity of an Eddie Pepitone attack. So, I get it. Lesson learned.

You guys have that episode to look forward to.

This week, on Monday the powerful Leslie Jones talks to me in the garage about coming up in LA, opening for Katt Williams, going to high school with Suge Knight and the fierce desire to become a comic. On Thursday, Lynn Shawcroft talks to me about her life as a comic being married to a comic, Mitch Hedberg, and about her grief and loss in their tragic story. Both of these are great talks.

Enjoy.

Boomer Lives!



Love,
Maron

Podcasters are under attack from Patent Trolls.

Thank you Pacific Northwest! Hello to the rest of you!

Great shows in Portland and Seattle. I was feverish in Seattle and did a marathon, near-two-hour set. I wanted people to get their Maron’s worth. Portland was a blast. Was there for less than a day and had some Pok Pok wings, hung out with Ian Karmel and the theater almost flooded. The toilet broke. It had nothing to do with the wings. Just happened.

I will be at SWSX with the IFC folks and doing a live WTF there. Please check my schedule at wtfpod.com/calendar for upcoming dates in Chicopee, Boston (stand up and a live WTF,) SF, Bethlehem and Milwaukee. I will be shooting an hour special in NYC in April. I will let you know when and where.

I have to be honest with you people. I guess I don’t have to be, but I seem to choose to be. I think I am suppressing a shitload of anxiety and dread. Maybe I’m just putting them on the back burner and choosing to keep excitement on the front one. My book is coming out at the end of April and my show premieres on IFC at the beginning of May. Everyone in the world is going to have the opportunity to be sick of me all at once in at least three mediums. That’s negative. See, in my mind, my excitement is always diminished by my need to prepare for the negative. I know these things are going to happen and I know that, given the world we live in with all its wonderful access opportunities, I’m going to be filtering some shit coming at me. I can barely disengage with trolls in any format now, without a ton of stuff out there. All I’m saying is that I will have to work an Al-Anon program for the Internet. That’s a very specific joke but those of you who were on it, enjoy.

I’m actually thrilled with the way the book came out, as I am with the TV series. I want you know that. I am antsy for you all to see them both.

If you all weren’t aware yet you should know that some podcasters are under attack from patent trolls. Adam Carolla is actually being sued. A patent troll called Personal Audio claims to own the patent for podcasting and is suing Adam and some other podcasts and sent letters of coercion to me and about a dozen others. It’s serious bullshit. I know you’re thinking, “How can you patent ‘podcasting?’ That’s ridiculous.” It is ridiculous, even when you look at the patent, but now someone has to pay LOTS of money to prove that.

Patent trolls are companies who don’t make anything or don’t sell anything, but own patents and use them as a weapon to extort money from businesses and individuals, usually demanding licensing fees that are cheaper than actually litigating a case in court. A patent troll uses patents as legal weapons, instead of actually creating any new products or coming up with new ideas. Instead, trolls are in the business of litigation (or even just threatening litigation). The business model works because patent litigation is so expensive—often costing well into the millions of dollars. This means that when facing the threat of a patent suit, many will choose to settle instead of fight. Of course, this just further emboldens the patent trolls.

Podcasters are uniting to figure out a course of action and help each other. The EFF has been helping us and also asking us to help them support new legislation called the SHIELD Act to make Patent Trolling less prevalent. Please go here eff.org/shield and let your representatives know how you feel.

I may need more of your help around this problem in upcoming months. I will let you know.

Thanks to all of you who bought ‘Boomer Lives’ shirts, I was able to donate 700 dollars to Tony LaRussa’s Animal Rescue Foundation (arf.net). We did a bit of research and I like what they are doing. It will go directly to saving animals’ lives. Thank you. I will send more as more shirts go onto your backs.

On the show this week is the astounding John Darneille of the Mountain Goats. He’s an amazing songwriter and musician with an incredible story. He’s also a great talker which is of course good for our endeavor. On Thursday the lovely Gina Gershon is on the show. She appears in an episode of my IFC show and here she is in the garage. Love her.

Enjoy.

Boomer lives!



Love,
Maron

I love show business.

Hello, people-

Congrats to all you Oscar winners, wait, what am I doing?

I’m going to keep this brief! First off I will be in Portland, Oregon this Thursday, Feb. 28, and in Seattle at the Neptune Theater this Friday, March 1. I think there are some tickets left for both—maybe. Get on it if you want to come. Please check the schedule at wtfpod.com/calendar for upcoming dates.

I love watching the Oscars. That’s all I’m going to say. I love Anne Hathaway and I am not ashamed of that. I love Jennifer Lawrence and I am okay with that as well. I was upset that Silver Lining Playbook didn’t win big. I thought it was a sweet, raw movie about broken people with a lot of heart. It was good to see Jack Nicholson and I think Seth did a good job. It was really one of the best awards for many years in my opinion. Why am I telling you this? Well, I have to admit, I love show business. There, I said it. I think I’ve said it before but I just need to be clear with myself and you. For whatever it’s worth, show business is the business I chose and I’ve been in it, kinda, more than half my life. I never imagined how it would pan out or whether or not it would at all but I’ve always loved it. So, it’s always fun to watch the spectacle of celebrity strutting like the American royalty that they are. It’s also interesting to check in yearly with how everyone is aging and/or trying to fight that process.

Speaking of beautiful, broken people I have Mike White on the show today. Mike’s show, Enlightened, on HBO is really one of the rawest, most compelling shows on the air. I really encourage you to check it out if you haven’t. It’s disturbing and awesome, raw and real. Mike is a genius. Our talk was intense. On Thursday Coedian Darryl Lenox talks about his fall from the grace of his friends and family and how his battle with blindness changed his heart and career. It’s a humbling talk. Hope you dig it.

Stay well.

Boomer lives.


Love,
Maron

There are some things I’d like to keep private.

I’m up north, folks-

First things first. For all you Tom Scharpling and Marc Maron fans there’s a new Marc and Tom Show up and available. You can either go here or just go to iTunes and search Marc and Tom. It’ s great verbal jam. Tom has a great story about a bad encounter with a famous athlete at a Who concert. Plus, I'll talk about the secrets of my rock and roll past. And one of us cops to pitching a movie studio on Big Momma's House 3.

Thank you, Ohio. Despite all of my whining about ticket sales we had great crowds in Cincy and Columbus. They weren’t packed, but they were perfect. The venue in Cincy was a place called Bogarts. People got me nervous saying it was just a shitty rock club. It turns out it is a haunted theater that has been around since the early 1900s. I’ve never performed in a place where the actual theater looked exhausted. That space looks like it had been through just about everything a building could go through and it needed a rest. It felt like it wants to just collapse. I though it was great. There were all these maze-like hallways in the backstage area and every room felt like it had seen some shit. A few ghosts were hanging around. As always, I don't mind having ghosts around. I think they are good for the show.

Columbus was great as well. We played a beautiful theater and the balcony was "dark." That’s a nice way of saying we didn’t sell enough tickets to seat it. I didn’t obsess too much. The place was perfect and the crowd was stellar.

Mike Lawrence did a great job opening for me. People love that guy.

I’m currently in Vancouver recovering from an amazing live WTF during which Margaret Cho talked about my penis for ten minutes. There are some things I would like to keep private. Guess that’s off that list.

Please check wtfpod.com/calendar for upcoming dates in Portland, Seattle, Eugene, Chicopee, Boston (stand up & live WTF,) SF, Bethlehem PA, Milwaukee and Austin TX! As far as I know the IFC show, "Maron," premieres in May and my new book, "Attempting Normal," is out at the end of April. Looks like it might be available for preorder here. You might want to wait for cover art.

This week on the show I finally sit down with Eddie Pepitone for an hour. He brought Steven Feinartz with him. Steven directed the documentary on Eddie called "The Bitter Buddha" which is out this week in select theaters around the U.S. and will be on demand and on iTunes starting Tuesday, February 19th. That's tomorrow. It's been at a bunch of film festivals, most recently at Slamdance. The website is here and you can buy it on iTunes.

The lovely and intense Aimee Mann talks to me on Thursday AND she sings songs. This has been a long time coming. She’s an odd and interesting bird.

Enjoy.

Boomer lives!



Love,
Maron

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