Specifically, head cheese.

Bonjour, People-

Let me say this first—I will be at the Mayne Stage in Chicago this week August 1-4. I love the venue. I love the city. I’m excited to be performing there. If you are around you should come out.

I’ve been in Montreal at the Just for Laughs Festival for three days and I can honestly say I think I like the French pronunciation of my name better than the way I pronounce it. Maybe I could convince people to say it like that. There is elegance to it. I have had to deal with people saying: Marin, Moran, Maroon, Moron, etc. I’ve always thought that it was ridiculous. Look at it. In my mind there is is no other way to pronounce it but that’s life. In French there seems to be only one way to say it. Maybe I will move to France. I guess I will have to learn how to say something other than my name. Okay, maybe I won’t move there.

I came up here for as few days as possible primarily because I exhaust my capacity to be charming in 72 hours and it starts to diminish into contempt. I thought that was behind me—apparently I have a 72 hour window, so now I know that.

I would be remiss in not telling you what I ate. Specifically, head cheese. I went to Au Pied de Cochon. It’s an amazing restaurant. It is a restaurant apparently driven to mock the animals we eat in death. You can order a pig’s head for two. Somewhere in my heart I know it’s a little wrong to eat meat. I don’t honor that part of my heart primarily because I choose to not think too hard on it or engage fully in the empathy for animals we eat. There are a few steps and some packaging between me and the murder of the animal in the skillet. When you are sitting next to a couple eating a pigs head on a plate it’s hard not to engage and feel a bit of sadness and horror. I mean, do we have to rub it in that we are the heartless victors of the food chain.

I wouldn’t normally go anywhere near head cheese. It’s something you see in the supermarket and wonder, "Who the fuck eats that?" From what I can tell it’s just the picked head meat of the pig suspended in lard jello. For some reason the waiter recommended the house made head cheese, fried, over potatoes and for some reason I ordered it. After my third or fourth bite of cubes of fat and cheek meat I was overwhelmed with a duality of nausea: "Why am I eating this?" and "I shouldn’t be eating this." I’m forty nine. I have got to stop rationalizing this regional culinary suicide mission AND I have to start thinking about the pigs and stop being one. I’m not saying I’m going to stop eating meat but I am saying I will think about the process.

Exciting shows this week. On Monday, John Cale, one of the original members of the Velvet Underground talks about the slice of music history that he is. On Thursday, Don Barris, the first guy I met when I moved to LA in the 80s talks about his insane journey in show business and our shared chaotic history at The Comedy Store. I love these types of talks.

Enjoy!

Boomer Lives!



Love,
Maron

It Feels Real.

Hey, Y’all

I have to say I had a great time in Nashville at Zanies. I actually always have a great time in Nashville. It is one of the great American cities. Good food, good music, beautiful country, good and odd people. All in all, I am done with stereotyping the South in any way. Every time I go almost anywhere in that part of the country part of me wants to live there. It feels real, more real than most places.

I visited Third Man Records while I was down there. I didn’t see Jack White but his nephew gave me a tour of the new facilities. It is pretty fucking amazing. You didn’t hear it here but I think Jack is making plans to take over the world. I didn’t see the war room but I have no doubt there is one there.

I ate Prince’s chicken but I pussed out with the medium so no tall tale of GI tract problems and comedy.

I also visited United Record Pressing. I’m no true vinyl nerd but the guy in charge of marketing over there, Jay Millar, reached out to me and asked me if I wanted a tour. Granted I have been doing the vinyl thing lately. I am definitely not down the rabbit hole too far but I was curious. URP makes about thirty percent of the county’s vinyl records and they have been since 1949. They make records for many big labels. They are not music specific. They just manufacture the records. It was fascinating to see the process from raw vinyl beads to machine to labeling to pressing to putting them in sleeves. All of the machinery is run by humans. Because most of the machines are no longer made there is a full time machinist on the premises to fix them and make parts from scratch if necessary. It was a beautiful undigitized American manufacturing experience. They make forty thousand records a day and the machines are cranking all night. I actually held a record still warm from the press. Look, I don’t know if you can read my excitement but it was fucking cool. It made me love records even more. Not because of the tone or the sound but just because they are organic, solid, well-crafted real things that you can hold and spin magic out of. It was truly groovy.

I’ll be in Montreal at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival this Friday and Saturday. I will be doing a live WTF and a solo show and some random appearances on other shows. You can go to their website to find out the when and wheres.

Big shows this week! On Monday I’ll post a chat I had with Thom Yorke from Radiohead. I talked to him at Rick Rubin’s mansion studio in the Hollywood Hills during an Atoms for Peace session. Rick doesn’t live there. It's an old house that was once owned by Houdini that is only used for recording. It was great talking to Thom because I didn’t know if he talked much. He did. On Thursday, the mighty Judy Gold hangs out and talks about comedy, lesbian stuff, marriage, cock, kids and the obligatory Jew things. Good week ahead.

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!



Love,
Maron

I’m Such a Damn Fanboy.

Hola, People!

First things first. I will be in Nashville this week Thursday through Saturday at Zanies Comedy Club. I’m looking forward to being there and working on some new stuff. I’ll try not to hurt myself too bad with food. I will be up in Montreal at the Just For Laughs Festival doing shows. I have no idea what my schedule is. Go to their site to find out. I will be in Chicago at the Mayne Stage Theater August 1st through 4th. I love that place. I love that city. Come out if you are in the area.

I’m flying back from Seattle as I write this. I was there for the Subpop Silver Jubilee celebration of the label’s 25th anniversary. I actually had an amazing time. I did a show with Eugene Mirman, Kristen Schaal, Kurt Braunholer, Kyle Dunnigan, Jon Benjamin and Jon Glaser. It was amazing. I have to say that few people make me laugh as much as Benjamin and Glaser. There was an Uber car ride we took that may have been the most I’ve laughed in 20 years.

The next day was an all-day music clusterfuck that was phenomenal. I got to see and hang out with Mudhoney, J Mascis, Brett from Built to Spill, King Tuff, Father John Misty and a bunch of other rock folk. I’m still such a damn fanboy when I get around musicians. It’s an effort to act normal. Everyone put on a good show but Mascis went up there with just his acoustic and blew the place up. It was astounding.

I’ve spent a lot of time in Seattle over the years but never went out to visit Hendrix’s grave in Renton. I’m not a big grave visitor but I had a day and some comic put it in my head that I should head out there. So, I tracked my friend Nathan down and we drove out. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I got it in my mind that it would be important and magical. It was something. I’m not sure it was those things. I did leave a gold Boomer button on the grave so there’s that. I will talk about it on the show this week.

On Monday I get a rap education and a great talk with Mike Eagle. Thursday is a live WTF I did in Boston with Sue Costello, Dan Crohn, Rick Jenkins, George McDonald, Teddy Bergeron and DJ Hazard. DJ was one of the first comics I remember seeing live as an adult. George hosted one of the first open mics I ever did. Teddy Bergeron is a legend. There's some amazing stuff in this show.

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!



Love,
Maron

It’s Hot Out Here.

It’s hot out here, People-

I tend to like the heat. Being that I don’t do drugs or drink, when I am being pummeled by heat of any kind I find it relaxing and slightly hallucinogenic. As I become more dehydrated the more I hallucinate. I guess if I take this system all the way it’s really not much safer than drug use. I’m taking a drink of water now.

I’m going to be in Seattle this week doing Sub Pop’s Silver Jubilee Comedy Show on July 12th. I’m also going to stay up there for a couple of days to rock out. Yes, I can rock out. There's a lot of bands playing and it seems like an amazing event. As much as I love Mudhoney I will not go to the top of the Space Needle to see them. I get the novelty but what the fuck. Come on fellas. We’re a little old for that shit, but rock on. I’ll be on the ground.

Next week I’m heading to Nashville for shows at Zanies, July 18th through 20th. I like Nashville. I’ll probably hurt myself with food but that’s what the South is all about. The whole ‘comfort’ food thing is relative. Comfort can be smothering with gravy. Speaking of gravy I will be at the (Poutine) Montreal JFL Festival July 26th and 27th. I’m not sure when I’m doing what I’m doing but I know there’s a live WTF, a solo show, a book signing and a set on some other shows. I would just go to their site and figure it out. Is that okay? You can do that, right?

I feel fat and disgusting. I really need to get into some routine that is healthy now that all the publicity and running around for the show and the book is done. Maybe after Nashville I’ll start. Wait, after Montreal maybe. Yeah, then, for sure.

I am a Twitter addict. There I said it. It’s like a speedball of love and hate and humor. I can’t stop. No other platform holds my attention. It’s gotten to the point where my conscience works in 140 character bursts. Anytime I think about doing something bad or off or wrong my conscience will put together a series of possible tweets that will come back at me if I transgress. Is this what morality is in the age just shy of the singularity? (I only have a very vague understanding of what that is but I will toss it around on occasion to sound like I am on the pulse of prophecy.) Is this what determines our behavior, being wary of the random surveillance of social networking platforms and cameras everywhere? Or are we all still able to weigh personal morality on our own ethical scales? Or is it all based on the fear of the trail of digital detritus we will leave without even knowing it? Hmmm…=

On Monday I talk to Douglas Rushkoff about the pace and access of technology and the good and bad effects it has on our lives. On Thursday I talk to the mighty and sweet Jonah Hill about Jonah Hill-related things. He’s a nice guy. Good talks all around.

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!



Love,
Maron

What now?

It was a good run, people-

What am I going to do now? The final two episodes of Maron aired last Friday, the book is out and doing what it does, I finished an hour-and-a-half standup special for Netflix that we are finishing editing now, and the insane promotional and touring schedule I have been on for what seems like a year is winding down. What now?

I’ve been home for a few days and I’m not leaving again for a week or so and apparently what I like to do is run around and complain about things that need to be done around the house. Which is everything. I guess one of my hobbies is driving my girl crazy with bullshit. The reality is I have to re-enter life, start hitting the LA clubs, work on new material and try to enjoy what I have accomplished. Good luck with that last one. I just wrote that to myself but I guess I wanted all of you to see it.

I will let you know as soon as I know whether or not we get picked up for a second season of Maron. I'm into it.

The response to the series and the book has been great. Outside of the one or two people that thought the show and/or the book was about them and got mildly upset, I was thrilled with all the feedback. It’s a tricky thing to write about your life because there are other people in it and they might take a hit. You have to be able to live with that. I am. I believe that my father will eventually talk to me again. The other guy I pissed off I really haven’t talked to that much in years and quite frankly they should both lighten up a bit.

This is an exciting week. On Monday's show, I had the opportunity to sit down with David Sedaris for a bit and just shoot the shit. I didn’t really know him. I knew some of his work and I know his sister a little but it was really a first conversation. It was fun. It got cut off rather abruptly but we had nice talk. On Thursday, I have Nick Cave in the garage. This was not an easy chat for me. He’s intense and a bit difficult. I think we did good. I will say that the Russell Crowe story towards the end was worth the entire struggle.

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!



Love,
Maron

400, man. That is crazy.

Okay, folks. We did it.

Today is the 400th episode of WTF. It’s insane. I’ve never done 400 of anything. It’s a pretty amazing achievement. It is the most rewarding thing I have ever done. It is a fucking blast and I’m glad you all enjoy it. 400, man. That is crazy.

I really wanted to do the monologue for the show today from my garage. I was going to basically fly back to LA from Buffalo, which was great btw, and do the monologue for the 400th only to turn around and come back to NYC on Tuesday to tape Letterman on Wednesday. I got to the Buffalo airport and it was just one of those fucked flying days. It wasn’t even so much a weather issue. It was just a karmic issue. My biggest fear all weekend was that I wouldn’t be able to get home to get the monologue done and sure as shit it happened. My flight was cancelled, the one I switched to was 8 hours late with connections, but it was through Detroit instead of Chicago. I had already decided that I wasn’t going to make it home to do the show and that I would have to record in a bathroom at the airport or on the street. Luckily I had the gear. All I could think about was getting the opening for the 400th show done. Then I decided I would do it on my layover in Detroit (5 hours) and that would honor our guest appropriately being that it is Iggy Pop and he cut some of his teeth in the Detroit area. I had the poetry all worked out. I would be close to his source and it would read. Then I realized that I might not have the wifi necessary to move the files. That’s when I decided to just go to NYC. I have no clean clothes and nothing to wear for Letterman but I just wanted to be somewhere I could get the damn monologue done for the 400th show. There was an urgency to it. So, I did it. I flew to NYC, spent a shit ton of money on a hotel and will have to buy clothes. All of that only so I could get the monologue done. That urgency and need to get the podcast up and out no matter what has remained in me throughout the entire run of this show. It is the most important thing in my life.

The fact that Iggy Pop was actually in my garage is some kind of milestone, a goal, and an amazing event. The fact that if all goes well I will be sitting on the couch next to Lettermanon Wednesday is another milestone. I’ve worked my entire life to sit there for a few minutes. It all happened because of the podcast. It all happened because all of you dug it. Thank you.

I will have you know that I was nervous when Iggy came over. I was probably more nervous than I have ever been for a guest. He got out of his limo. Walked around back with me. Stood out of my deck, arms outstretched saying, "This is great.” And within minutes his shirt was off. If it were anyone else it would have been odd but that’s just Iggy. We walked together into the garage, me with my shirt on and him with shirt off and we talked. It was just fucking great.

This is actually a huge week on the show because on Thursday Cheech and Chong are in the garage. Who doesn't love Cheech and Chong? They were the first comedy I heard on vinyl and they seared themselves into my brain when I was like 8. It was a fucking honor and a pleasure to talk to them and their story is completely surprising and amazing.

Thank you all for listening.

Boomer lives!



Love,
Maron

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