Anxiety Levels.

Now we’re in it, Folks!
 
The new year. The shit. Chaos. 
 
How’s your vessel holding up? The last few weeks have been weird. It’s always an odd time. The entire time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Vacations on and off. When it’s time to reengage with real life, today, I barely know what day it is.
 
We’ve been through the ceremony, starting fresh. We enter doughy, lethargic, full of decadent food choice regrets, laziness. Then, jarred into the life patterns by mundane responsibility. It will take a week to wake the fuck up and arrive at the status quo of your particular situation. 
 
Seeing the sweaty new leaf newbies on the hill I hike. Panting, looking up with dread. Maybe it will stick. 
 
Fear is awake. It only took a matter of days for the monster to level the new year into a perpetual anticipation of active war. Authoritarian trick. Keep everyone freaked out. Create a culture of media induced PTSD. No comfort anywhere. The narcissistic self-serving morally corrupt monster president killed a mass murdering militaristic state sponsored terrorist evil genius. Problems remain. He’s still president. 
 
I’m okay. The anxiety levels have been high. Having a hard time breathing somedays. Just dread and trying to adjust to being comfortable and terrified simultaneously. That shouldn’t be a problem, right? Wrong. The more relaxed I get on some deeper level the more frightening things become. That’s what you get for letting go a bit. The doubt demons rush in. A virus that infects the ego. Compartmentalizing is a challenge. 
 
Enough poetry. This year I started off running. One day last week I did three interviews. One of them being the one that you can hear today with Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. It was a little nerve-racking for me. They couldn’t come to the house. I had to go off site. I met them at the Arclight Theater in Hollywood in the greenroom. I’ve been a little gun shy with the traveling rig after the equipment problem with the Turturro trip. I was vigilant and obsessed and I still got a little crazy. Fortunately, Pitt is a fan of my crazy. It worked out. Talking to two people is always tricky. Talking to two of the most innately charismatic movie stars of our age is even more so. Doing it while being mildly obsessed and panicked by recording equipment really makes it an electric event. My Everest. Dig it. It was a lot of fun. 
 
On Thursday I have an absolutely lovely chat with the actor Joe Mantegna. Sweet guy. Great talks. 

Enjoy!

Love,

Maron

Hardwired.

Happy New Year (almost), Folks!
 
I’m assuming we’ll make it. 
 
Please be careful on the NYE. Don’t die in a stupid way. I don’t even go out there. I never really liked doing standup on that night. Eventually I just stopped going out at all. I used to go to NYE parities but only for a little while early in the evening. I just have this terrible fear of being t-boned by a drunk, texting teenager in between parties scrambling to get somewhere in time for the countdown. 
 
I know. It’s a very specific fear but I think a rational one. 
 
So, I did something the other night that I never thought I would do. Yup. You guessed it. I went to see Dead and Company. I’m not a huge Dead head but I have love for them. I saw them when I was a freshman in High School on the Terrapin tour but I had no idea what they did or why. I got the tickets for free. Later, in college I did what was necessary. I tripped, saw them a few times and lived with Dead Head roommates for a couple of years. So, the Dead is hardwired into me. I like them. I like the music. I just never thought I would want to see what’s left of them with John Mayer. 
 
My brother wanted to bring his step daughter out to see them in LA. I wasn’t going to with them but I was going to try to get them some tickets. Then I decided, ‘fuck it. I’ll go.’ Me and Lynn and my bro and his kid went to see them and I had a blast. It was great to hear the songs again. Bob sounded great. Mickey and Bill were on it. John was fine. He had the Jerry tone and flourishes down and made them his own. It sounded good.  
 
I couldn’t help feeling the absence though. To see Bob there like an old captain of a ghost ship. He was all in. He was present. He was singing the shit out of those songs but it felt like a living eulogy for a different time and Jerry. Again, it wasn’t a downer, it just felt a little haunted. When they played He’s Gone it felt really deep. Then, Morning Dew just crushed me. And then, One More Saturday Night and I was doing the hippie jig again. 
 
I’m glad I bore witness. 
 
Today I talk to Shauna Duggins, the Emmy-winning stunt coordinator of GLOW, about being a stunt person.  On Thursday I talk to Scott Caan about growing up in Hollywood, his dad and leveling off as a person. Great talks! 

Enjoy!

Love,

Maron

A Chorus.

Back for a minute, Folks.
 
Home for the holidays with no real plans and no family around. Perfect. It’s a little quiet but it’s a good time to reflect and get grounded and hopefully not sink into a self-hole with a maudlin pond at the bottom. 
 
Please be careful, People. Have a good holiday and new year. Don’t die in a stupid way. Be nice to people. Don’t engage in emotional or physical violence. Be of service. Do the empathy thing. 
 
I don’t really get all worked up about the whole Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays issue. If someone says ‘Merry Christmas’ to me I smile and look at them and shout, ‘I AM A FUCKING JEW YOU INSENSITVE FUCK!’ Which is really the politest way to handle that situation. If you were wondering. 
 
I did some serious on-set time in Atlanta on the Aretha Franklin bio pic ‘Respect.’ A few 12-hour-plus days but it got fun. Now I’m home through the new year and then back for a few more scenes. 
 
I’m glad to be home. It feels like I haven’t really spent much time here lately. The last time I was here was only for a week or so and then I had to put LaFonda down and leave two days later. Maybe that helped my grief a bit but I was little concerned about how Monkey was handling it. For some reason I didn’t think it would affect Buster that much because he just liked to beat up on the old lady. Buster is a little fucker. 
 
I don’t really have the holiday spirit but I like the pace of the peace that comes over the towns when everything stops moving for a few days. 
 
I did have a moving experience on the set of the movie. The last meal at catering in the dining hall was sort of a Christmas party. A few local singers were brought in to sing Christmas carols. It’s rare that a star of a movie hangs with the crew for a meal but this crew had been working together for a while and it was a special meal and Jennifer Hudson came in to hang with everyone. I don’t really know her or her work but I know she is a great singer. Of course, the people singing wanted her to come up and sing but she wasn’t into it. 
 
Then I watched her watch them and she seemed to be pulled in by the music. It was like she couldn’t help herself as she moved in to join the women in a chorus of a song I didn’t know. A Christmas song. Her voice was somehow transcendent but I guess most people know that. To hear it in that situation, that close up really got me all choked up and connected to humanity. I guess that’s what it’s all about. 
 
Today I talk to an old pal of mine from Boston, Jimmy Tingle, about life, politics and sobriety. On Thursday I talk to another inspired singer, Brittany Howard, about her journey to greatness. Great talks for the holidays! 

Enjoy!

Love,

Maron

La Fonda.

Sad days, People.

I’m okay, just sad. Grief. Real grief. It’s appropriate and not all consuming but it’s still hard. It’s over the loss of my friend, my cat, LaFonda.

The day came.

I don’t know how much most of you know about that cat and where she came from but she and her siblings were essential to me finding my voice on radio and subsequently podcasting. I trapped a litter of totally feral kittens who were eating out of dumpsters behind my apartment in Astoria, Queens back around August 2004. The chaos that ensued was so all consuming that I couldn’t help but talk about it on the radio every day for weeks. I was at Air America at the time. I theoretically was supposed to be talking about politics but with the support of the production crew (which included Brendan McDonald) I was encouraged to talk about my ‘life’ and by doing that my life on the mic in that medium evolved. It was the immediacy of caring for those cats that enabled my voice.

Monkey and LaFonda moved back to LA with me and they have been through lots of experiences and people since then. They were both indoor/outdoor cats for quite a while and survived. So, they had their own adventures outside with life, inside with me. As they got older I got more afraid of them being eaten or run over and they came in for a good many years ago now.

As many of you know when I got back from Ireland it was clear that LaFonda had become severely ill. She had lost a lot of weight and was diminishing before my eyes. I brought her into the vet and he told me she had a bladder infection which we treated and that her kidneys we’re shot, almost gone, but it wasn’t time to put her down. He said when she starts puking or having diarrhea all the time, then it’s done. He recommended subcutaneous fluids a few times a week. So, I was focused on keeping her alive. Trying to get her to level off. He said I may get another year out of her. I suspect she had kidney problems for a long time so I was hopeful.

It wasn’t really working. She was conscious but very weak. I took to puréeing her food with water and setting it in front of her whenever I could. I gave her the IV fluids a few times a week for a couple of weeks. Her energy was going. I was trying to just accept that this was her in old age and it was fine. It wasn’t. I started to realize I would have to put her down at some point, possibly soon. I had never done that. Even though I’ve had many cats, I’ve never had to put one of my own down. They’ve died when I was away (Butch), disappeared (Boomer), got eaten (Deaf Black Cat) or run over (Scaredy Cat).

I knew I had to go away on Friday and I felt that LaFonda was deteriorating quickly but I was still trying to just nurse her. I didn’t know when or how to make the decision. I wanted to have her put down at home. The most helpful thing someone said was, ‘she will tell you.’ I didn’t know what that meant until I did.

Tuesday, she didn’t really eat and what she did, she threw up. She was howling on and off and seemed disoriented and wobbly. She started to act strange like trying to climb in the toilet and shitting in the shower. On Wednesday she didn’t eat at all and howled all day and was very agitated and strange. She was telling me. It was time.

On Thursday I took her to the vet kind of knowing that I would not leave with her but still in a bit of denial thinking it may be just another bladder infection.

The vet weighed her—5 lbs. Tiny. Listless but awake. He said her eyes were sunken and her gums white and she was anemic. He said her kidneys have most likely stopped working. He said it was time. I believed him. I spent time with her in the room. I talked to her. I gave her love. Lynn came and gave me and the cat love. I held LaFonda through the procedure and reassured her that things were okay. I didn’t know if I would cry but, man, I did. She went lifeless while I was holding her. It was a terrible but beautiful event. It felt right but devastating. I will get her ashes next week. I will remember her always.

I was the crying man leaving the vet’s office with an empty carrier.

LaFonda lives! Forever now.

Today I talk to Jay Roach about his films including his new one ‘Bombshell.’ On Thursday I talk to Alex Gibney about his documentary work including his new one ‘Citizen K.’ Great talks.

Enjoy!

Love,

Maron

Feeling Rusty.

Hey, People!

Sorry. Does the exclamation point make me seem more chipper and excited than I want? I feel ok. I’m a little overwhelmed and I think my body is responding to it. Which isn’t great.

The LaFonda’s last days saga continues. It’s odd when you have a sick cat. There’s some part of your own fear and denial and projection that takes a toll. I’m just caught in this loop of constantly checking in with the cat. I’m hyperaware.

The truth is a few days ago she was under the bed and I looked at her and really felt like she was communicating that she was done. That she had had enough and was ready to go whenever I was willing to let her go. I think that is partially true but the facts are she is still up around, receiving and giving love, eating, drinking and hanging out a bit.

I have to accept that this is a cat in her very old age. Yes, she is sick and dying but she is also very much alive and just not the same cat I’ve known. I just have to take care of her and accept how she is now without assuming that every day is the worst and last and I have to help her die. Currently she is spending about a quarter of the day under the bed, a quarter on the bed and half hanging with her brother and me on the couch. I have taken to putting two cans of the kidney food in the Vitamix with some water and liquefying it. She seems to eat a lot more that way and also get some fluids. I’m also trying to do the subcutaneouns fluids three times a week.

When her time out in the world is less than her time under the bed I will reassess but right now it’s sort of a warm, sweet hospice situation over here.

I didn’t realize I hadn’t done standup in over a month until I went on the other night. It had just gotten away from me. In my defense, I was traveling for most of it. I can’t remember the last time, if ever, that I hadn’t done a set in that long. I went to The Comedy Store on Friday and it was kind of a rough re-entry. Having been hammering away for over a year to get the set I did for my special taping, I guess I needed the break. Being rusty feels shitty because you just have to take the hit, ride it out and wait. I did three sets on Saturday and I was back in the groove. I found the funny again. It’s odd that when you aren’t in the groove and you feel what that feels like, part of you thinks it will never come back. Which makes it very exciting when it does. So, Saturday was fun.

Today on the show I talk to Cedric the Entertainer and it was fun. He gave me a window into the St. Louis area comedy scene and when the business of black comedy really took off. On Thursday I talk to Paul Walter Hauser about being Richard Jewell, loving Jesus and his path in the biz. Good talks!

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Butter, Cream & Eggs.

We did it, People!

I assume you all made it through another Thanksgiving.

I did. It was actually the best one. There was some of the same problems but, I don’t know, everyone is getting older and I believe compassion can replace just sucking it up. I think. I’m not sure I entirely pulled that off but I think I got it the day I was leaving. I actually hadn’t really thought about it but on Friday I talked to an old buddy of mine from the secret society and he said it was something he was trying to do with some success. Fleeting, but some. I realized on the last day that we’re just not going to be around forever. Obviously I know that but to act in relation to that in a positive way was probably the correct approach. As opposed to hanging onto resentments that guarantee the repetition of patterns of behavior. Fuck it. Let it go. It’s hard but I think possible. Some shit fades naturally. Be happy for it. Don’t try to reconnect old wires.

Everyone got along at my mom’s house. It was genuinely nice.

I did something I don’t ever do on Thanksgiving. I don’t do it on principle. That is compromise the food for health reasons. Like, if the food requires butter, milk, cream, bread, whatever… use it. It’s one day. It’s not the day to try out ‘healthy’ alternatives for a one-day-a-year meal. I don’t do that. This year though, I made some things differently because there were some vegan people there and I thought it would be nice to change things up. I made the mashed potatoes with olive oil and garlic. I made roasted brussels sprouts and green beans with olive oil. I made squash with garam masala and coconut oil. The stuffing was loaded though—butter, cream, eggs, bread, nuts, the works. I cooked it outside of the bird. The turkey was straight up. Nothing inside but salt and pepper. No basting. It came out perfect. The potatoes were almost all gone. People liked them better than with the butter and cream. So, I guess what I’m saying is that I don’t feel that shitty about eating it all. Maybe the three pies, but that’s it.

I’ve got some sad news. I told you about my cat LaFonda having kidney problems before I left. I thought I could help and nurse her with food and subcutaneous fluids but she doesn’t seem to be bouncing back at all. When I got back she was weak and thin and slow. She’s still eating and drinking and trying to be part of it all but she’s exhausting herself. I just think it may be time, soon. So sad. I’ve had her for 15 years. Longest relationship of my life. Her brother Monkey is doing better but she’s just fading. It's hard.

Today on the show I talk to comedian Jessica Kirson. She's very funny, very Jewish, and we did that thing. On Thursday I talk to rock photographer Ethan Russell about the Beatles, Stones, The Who, and more. He was at the Altamont Free Concert and Friday is the 50th anniversary. So, there will be some of that. Great talks!

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

I'm Back.

We made it back from Europe.

Here’s some highlights that I haven’t told you about:

Even with all my wining about my discomfort with not being able to communicate because of language problems and thinking that the movie, Sword of Trust, didn’t connect as well as it could have at The Gijon International Film Festival, somehow I won the Best Actor award and the film won Best Script. That’s not nothing even though my brain wants to think it is. There were a lot of films up for consideration. Here I was all worried that the comedy wasn’t working and they were there for the serious undertones of the whole thing. I am honored.

Speaking of acting, I did a lot of reading about and listening to Jerry Wexler, who I am playing in the upcoming Aretha Franklin biopic Respect. The best part about doing all the reading was learning so much about music. There was a lot of his life that coincided with so much about jazz, R&B, rock, the whole thing. I learned about a bunch of artists I knew very little about. I learned about the evolution of the record business. I learned about NYC in '20s and '30s. Great research on so many levels. Now, I just have to nail that old timey NYC Jewish accent and we’ll be all set.

On our way back from Gijon we stopped in Madrid for literally less than 24 hours and we got there and just bolted to The Prado. I’d always wanted to see that museum. They’ve got some serious masterpieces there. Hieronymus Bosch stuff that was so mind blowing up close and I don’t think I ever realized what a thief Dali was. It’s all Bosch, man. We saw a lot of stuff but the highlight for me was Goya’s Black Paintings. Never really knew anything about them. Had seen a couple in books but never associated them with a bunch of others or a series of themes of darkness. It was as mind-blowing as the Rothko room with the Four Seasons painting at The Tate. Heavy and beautiful.

I am happy to be home but sadly when I got here one of my other cats was very ill. Monkey is bouncing back from the hyperthyroid. I got the dosage correct for his medicine and he’s doing well. Now, LaFonda is sick. They’re old. She had a UTI when I got home. I took her to the vet to find that her kidneys are crapping out. They aren’t ‘time to put her down’ bad but they aren’t good. I’m going to try to give her subcutaneous fluids a couple times of week. Hope she has a little bit of life left in her. It’s hard when the pets get old.

Today on the show I talk to Mike Sweeney. I knew Mike as a comic back in NYC in the 80s. He was the head writer of Conan for many years and still wears many hats in the Conan empire. I thought I kind of knew him but I did not, at all. Wild life story. One of the weirdest ones in the history of the show. On Thursday I talk to an old recovery friend of mine, Keith Wager. We talk about his arc from jail to the wardrobe dept and his podcast It’s All Bad. Great talks.

Hope your Thanksgiving turns out ok.

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Rocks.

Hey, People!

Ireland is fecking amazing.

It’s strange when you are on a trip. I feel like so much has happened since I’ve last written. Like I’ve had an entire life here in a week. I guess the last time I wrote I had just landed in Dublin and we were there one night.

The next day we drove up through Northern Ireland into County Donegal. We rented a house up there for a few days and used that as our base. The weather was crazy. Squals and insane winds and then moments later—nothing. Stillness. Chill.

Our first day out we went to Giant's Causeway. I feel like I’ve been seeing pictures of those rocks all of my life and I always wanted to go there. It was not disappointing. Strange and beautiful octagonal natural rock formations that step down into the water and a wall of octagonal pillars of rock. We got pelted by insane winds and rain just as we made it back to the car. Good timing.

Also, it turns out I’ve literally been seeing those rocks almost all of my life because they are the rocks on the cover of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Houses of the Holy.’

The next day we drove to Slieve Liag. CRAGGY CLIIFFS. Fucking unbelievable. We were told by many people that they were more stunning than the Cliffs of Moher. I don’t know, we didn’t go there, but they were very awe-inspiring which is more impressive than just awesome. And sheep.

We drove a 100 mile loop called the Inishowen 100 through Malin Head, the Mamore Gap, and we cut out to see Grianan of Aileach, which is a circular ruin that sits atop a small mountain with an insane panoramic view of the world and sheep.

I bought a tweed vest in Donegal. Sheep.

We drove through many towns, ate black bread, fish, potatoes, cabbage, lamb, scones, blood pudding, eggs, and cooked for ourselves too. We made our way to our second rented house in Westport and from there went to Galway for the day, walked around the Connemara National Park, saw the Killary Fjord and sheep.

I made bog-mined peat fuel fires in a solid fuel stove that burned for hours.

I feel deeply for this land for some reason. It feels so connected, so raw and authentic to me. Like the entire island is a damp, living organism, a mound of rocks and entangled roots, that carries the eons of living history and darkness in every brick of bog-mined peat fuel that I turned into heat and smoke drifting up. The people here are hard and beautiful.

You can see some of my Ireland pics on IG @marcmaron.

Today we go to Spain for the Gijon Film Festival. Spain. That should be nice.

Today on the show I have a talk with Nathan Lane that was a long time coming. It was great. He needs to know it was great. On Thursday I talk to comedian Louis Katz. He’s been around for a while. He opened for me years ago and I always meant to talk to him but it just got away from me until now. Great talks.

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Go For the Ice Cream.

Hey, People!

Back in Ireland.

I seem to like it here. I feel like I’ve been here a lot lately. Usually for work/vacation. This is the first time I’ve come here just for time off. I’ve never really travelled around much. This trip we’re going up to the northeastern part of the country. We’re going to see the craggy cliffs and rocks in the rain and grayness. Maybe there will be sun but we aren’t anticipating that. We knew what we were getting into.

I like it gray and rainy and green. I always have. But now more than ever after living in LA for so long where most times you feel like you’re living in a landscape of kindling. Just dry and arid.

Lush is nice.

I seem to be over the tropical vacation for now.

I’ve been here a couple of days and I really thought I would ease into the Irish eating, but no. I’m already sconed and heavily soda breaded. Not to mention egged and baconed up. It started on the plane.

We took an overnight flight here and I generally don’t sleep on planes. So, once it was lights out I was just sitting there obsessing on the fact that I got new lenses in my glasses the day before I l left and they didn’t feel quite right. Like shit was a little blurry. So, I decided to fester on the fact that my entire trip may be ruined by my inability to see properly and there would be nothing I could do about it. There are no lens places that can knock out a pair of progressives overnight. So, I was mad and sitting in the dark on the plane and there were two dessert options. Cheese Plate and Ice Cream. I wanted to eat my anger a bit so I went with the cheese. I don’t eat much cheese. I knew I didn’t want to get the ice cream. I ate it all quickly and intensely. Wasn’t great. Then, I told the flight attendant to bring me the ice cream. Fuck it. I ate that the same way. Better.

Then I reclined and drifted into a slight sugar coma sleep only to be woken up by massive turbulence. Bad. As I laid there I thought about whether or not I wanted to die reclining or in an upright position. I also had a moment where I felt genuinely happy I had eaten the ice cream, which is rare. I thought as we were spiraling into the ocean to our deaths I could at least be thinking, ‘I’m glad I decided to go for the ice cream.’ As opposed to, ‘why the fuck didn’t I eat that shitty ice cream?’ So, that was good.

I bought a tweed cap.

In other news, my father apparently listened to an episode of the podcast for the first time. He had seen the new Edward Norton movie ‘Motherless Brooklyn’ and liked it. I told him I talked to Edward and it was good. I sent him a link with instructions how to listen and he did it! He said it was great how we talked. I told him there’s over one thousand other talks he could listen to the same way, even a president. He laughed.

Today on the show I talk to Tony Hale about his hilarious acting and non-hilarious acting and faith. On Thursday I talk to Lili Taylor about her career and birds. Great talks!

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Felt Good After.

I think I got It, People!

I’d like to thank everyone who came out to the REDCAT last Weds for my special tapings. We did it. It wasn’t looking great for me after that first show but we got it with the second show.

I’m not saying the first show was bad. It wasn’t. It was an enjoyable show for people to have watched. There was something about the energy that wasn’t good for me. I knew exactly what it was. Polite and low key. No matter what I did. I couldn’t get them over the hump. I think it had something to do with the venue.

The Redcat is a medium-sized, black box theater. Which means, no proscenium. Just a big space that you can build whatever you want in. We had a beautiful set design and the shots are going to look great. We had all the room we needed to move the cameras how we wanted. I definitely understood why we chose to shoot there technically but I think there is a reason why more comedy specials aren’t shot in theaters like that.

An old vaudeville house or theatrical venue from the early 1900s has its own personality. Many are beautiful but you don’t think about it much once the show gets started. They are old theaters built to have things happening on stage. Their personalities aren’t intrusive once the lights go down.

The black box variety of theaters are sparse. No personality. The expectations are different. I think the black box is where people expect to see experimental theater, modern weirdness, the raw stuff. They’re built for that. I think there is an intensity to those type of sparse spaces that creates a floating, almost insecure place for the audience. All these are fine attributes but I’m not sure that the weighty expectations of the space itself are great for a straight up comedy show. I was thinking about this days before we shot the special. I noticed it when I stood on the stage during the tech day.

So, the first show was at 7pm on a Wednesday. They were a good enough audience but I’m not sure they were focused or comfortable because I could feel them enjoying it but I needed more laughter. And yes, I will blame the time and the space. It was fine. Good even.

In between shows I knew the onus was on me. How do I adjust my approach to stay open and get everyone into a groove? Well, I could hear when Luke Schwartz was opening for me that they were just more focused and juiced. I went out there and just blew it open. It was a great show. I made room for some looseness and some riffing and it was solid. Good laughs, good pace. I felt good after.

It was scary though. Heading into a second show knowing that was the only chance I would have to get the special I wanted. The first show was good, usable. But I would know when watching it that it didn’t click the way I wanted it to.

It’s all done now and it's almost like it didn’t happen. I’ll see an edit this week. I’m considering doing the set in a few cities I didn’t hit on the tour before the special comes out. We’ll see.

Today I talk to John Goodman. Sweet guy. Heavy heart. Love him. On Thursday my GLOW costar Kate Nash talks to me about pop stardom and the rise and fall or her star. Great talks.

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

The Bay.

Hey, People!

You good? Scary here. I guess it’s kind of scary most places these days. It's fire scary here. Windy and fiery.

I drove up to San Francisco on Friday. I just felt like driving. In my mind I thought it would be meditative, helpful. I thought I would listen to some of my old sets just to make sure I was on top of what I wanted to be doing as I get ready for my special taping on Wednesday. I thought maybe I would take the coastal route, leisurely. Well, I didn’t do any of that. I drove straight up the stinky, boring 5 and listened to the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers the entire way. The meditative thing happened though, for sure. I still think it was a good idea. San Francisco is one of the great cities to drive into. Very dramatic. Bridges, water, hills, big buidlings.

It was really nice to spend a couple of days up in the Bay Area. I have a history there. Not a terrible one but not a particularly great one either. I was kind of lost up there I think. I moved out there on a desperate whim. I had hit a wall in NYC in like ’92. I was using drugs and I couldn’t really get on stage enough in the city. I decided to follow an ex-girlfriend out to SF. She didn’t know I was coming. I drove straight through from NYC to SF in 3 days. The last stretch was 22 hours straight. I showed up on her doorstep, burnt out and begged her to take me back. She eventually did and I started trying to do comedy there. I crashed with her until we got our own place in the Mission. It was a difficult time. Floundering comedy career, new city, slight drug issue. I got into the SF comedy competition in ’92 and placed like 13th. It was enough to get me working around the city.


Then I got a job in NYC hosting the last version of Short Attention Span Theater. I commuted from SF to NYC every other week because my girlfriend wasn’t ready to go back to NYC and I wasn’t really either. The following year I did the competition again and I came in second. I lost the title at the venue I played Saturday night. The Masonic. I had to set that venue straight. I did. It was a great show.

I also feel like I got level with that city. It was always a mindfuck to me. I never felt like I knew what the fuck was going on there. I was out of my mind. Trying to get sober. Drinking shit tons of coffee. Smoking packs and packs of Marlboros. Wandering around writing shit down. Trying to be in a relationship. There was just a weird, crackling energy to the place. I assumed that everyone there was exactly who they set out to be and I just didn’t have what it took to be who I was. I think I was wrong. It was a desperate place filled with broken people trying to be whole. Like me! Didn’t realize it at the time.

I spent some quality time with my buddy Jack. Drove in on Friday. Headed over to the Mission. We had dinner and did the wander and talk for a couple hours and did it again the next day for lunch. Old friend stuff. Getting up to speed. Doing what we did when were in our late twenties and early thirties. Working shit out on the move with nothing else to do.

Today on the show I talk to Edward Norton about his new movie and his life and career and whatever else was on his mind. On Thursday I talk to singer songwriter Joan Shelley and she sings. So nice. Good talks.

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

The History of Country.

Hey, Ya’ll

How goes it? I’m good. I think.

I’ve been deep in Ken Burns's ‘Country Music’ and what an amazing treat it is. I mean, I have a lot of country records. I’ve always liked the music. It wasn’t really ‘my’ music in any way but it’s always been around me somehow. Growing up in New Mexico it was definitely around. Later in life I became a deeper fan and really dug into some of it. I have a lot of country records but I really never fit them in a context, a history.

I know a bit about the history of the blues and a bit about the history of rock and a bit about the history of jazz but absolutely no sense of the history of country. It’s so exciting learning about it. Especially because I have a lot of the records. So, I’ve been going deep into the Carter Family catalogue these last few days on the road. Heading for Jimmie Rodgers next. It’s really incredible what a deeper understanding of an art can do for your appreciation of it. The fact that was I was in Nashville laying on my bed watching the doc knowing that so much of it happened in that town gave it some heft as well.

I was only in Nashville one day but I always have a nice time there. Great town. Walked around a bit. Learned something about myself that I think I will stick, too. I’m old. 56 now. I know that’s not ‘old’ and I know that other people in their fifties get really defensive when you say that but I didn’t assume I would live this long and now here I am. It’s great but sometimes I don’t know what to do with ‘life.’ What makes it ‘fun?’ Worthwhile. Exciting. Historically, for me, it seems to be doing things that aren’t great for me but feel good. I’ve had to move away from those things, change them up. I have my moments though where I think, ‘fuck it, you only live once.’ I decided in Nashville that that isn’t necessarily a bad philosophy if you manage it. I decided it could apply to one decision a day, max, if at all.

So, I said, ‘Fuck it, I only live once,’ and ate at Arnold’s Country Kitchen. Been wanting to go there for years but it always seemed closed. I was dying for some chess pie which you can only get down south and not too many places have it. I had a plate of fried catfish, cauliflower casserole, corn pudding, turnip greens, cornbread and a slice of chess pie. Fuck it, I only live once. I’m glad that was where I allotted my one daily use of that philosophy because I walked over to Carter’s Vintage Guitars after lunch and they still had a few of Ed King’s guitars for sale. They had a mint ’53 Les Paul Deluxe Gold Top. It was stunning. I didn’t need it, but I didn’t need the Arnold’s either. The difference between saying, ‘Fuck it, I only live once’ at Arnold’s and not Carter's was about $39,980. Phew. Not that I have that kind of money to spend on a guitar but… fuck it. I could’ve. Didn’t. Feel good about it. Chess pie was amazing. That was the smart use of my new ‘fuck it’ limit.

Today I go a different direction with my talk, still show biz, but unique. I talk to make up and effects genius Rick Baker and it was great. On Thursday I talk to the Pamela Des Barres, the original rock groupie.

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

He's Eating.

Hello, Friends!

I’m not sure if there are still tickets left for my special tapings at REDCAT on Oct. 30. It’s a fairly intimate space but there are two shows that night, 7pm and 10pm. If there are tickets you can get them at wtfpod.com/tour along with tickets to upcoming shows in Philly, DC, Boston, Atlanta, Nashville and SF. Good times.

Monkey update. I don’t know if I’ve kept you in the loop entirely. I have a hard time remembering shit these days. I guess I could just look at last week’s update. Either way, I went into a little panic with Monkey this week. He has been diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism and I was given what seems like a million little pills by the vet. I know, you’re thinking how the fuck are you going to get your cat to take pills. Nightmare, right? I’ve never been able to give my cats almost any medicine, ever. These pills are small though. I use pill pockets. Theyre these little wads of sticky, chicken flavored, cat crack with a pill slot carved out and you just stick the pill in there and close up the hole and HE EATS THEM. Amazing product and I’m not being paid to say that.

He did ten days of one pill a day and I’m about a week into two a day now. A few days ago he was completely lethargic and gagging and I thought he was on his way out. He wasn’t putting on any weight but he was eating. I just thought he was dying. He’s 15. Then, all of sudden, he was back. Focused. Energy good. Obviously, I don’t think he will live forever, but if he’s happy I can keep him around for a bit. There’s still a lot more pills but they seem to be working, I think.

I talked to some people who had the same problem with their cat and had him irradiated, zapped. To kill the thyroid. They said it worked but they had to keep the cat in the basement for ten days because it was radioactive. Crazy. I’ll stick with the pills for now.

Today I talk to the human embodiment of The Comedy Store, Argus Hamilton. He was one of the original Comedy Store comics and he’s the only one of his generation that still works there. On Thursday I talk to my GLOW co-star, comedian Jackie Tohn. Great talks.

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Happening.

People!

Everybody relatively ok? I am. Edgy. Eating. Itchy on the inside. But okay.

I’m trying to see the events in my life as more than just part of a process or the past or just some shit that happened. It’s weird how quickly things fade into the past for me. Stuff just blows by and it feels like things that happened last week could’ve happened years ago. I’m going to try to really engage with what is happening in my life. I’m starting to drift a bit.

Like, last week was kind of monumental. Aside from having a birthday and going to the premiere of a big movie I have a small part in, I got to jam with a great punk rock band. I know, it’s crazy. Middle aged me ripping a lead on Neil Young’s ‘Keep on Rocking in the Free World’ with Titus Andronicus. IT HAPPENED!

Patrick Stickles texted me to tell me he was in town with the band and they were playing at The Bootleg Theater. He asked me if I wanted to come see the show. I said, ‘Fuck yeah!’ He then asked me if I wanted to maybe bring my Goldtop down and jam on the Neil song. I said I could probably manage that. I checked out the chords. Very doable. Easy, even. When the time came to go. I loaded up my axe but when I got there I got cold feet about bringing it in. I don’t want to walk in with my guitar in front of all the kids to play one song. Patrick had said he’d have one there if I needed it.

It was the last song of the night. I realized during the penultimate song of the night that I may not be too clear on some of the changes in the song. So, I ducked out to the john and loaded it up on my phone and listened. Walked back in the room just in time to brought up on stage. We played it, exchanged some leads, wrapped it up. Someone tweeted a vid of my lead and I have to be honest, I’ve watched it about ten times a day since Thursday. I love playing guitar.

On Friday I had a 56th birthday. I bought some records, relaxed, reflected, had a nice dinner with someone. Perfect.

On Saturday I went to the premiere of Joker. I have a small scene in a big movie and I have to be honest, again: I showed up for work. I held my own. It was cool to see me on the screen with one of my heroes, Robert DeNiro. Thrilling actually.

I am noticing my accomplishments from here on out. Not blowing past them.

Today I talk to Marilu Henner about her insane upbringing and life in showbiz. On Thursday, if everything works out, I will be talking to Danny DeVito about Danny DeVito.

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

The Ritual.

Motor City, People!

Let’s get some dates out of the way here. I will be playing Los Angeles at DynastyTypewriter on October 5th and 6th. This is a small venue so you should get tickets if you want to come. Also, if you’ve seen me a bunch of times recently, wait it out until my special taping which has been moved to LA. I don’t have specifics yet but I’m going to need my LA people there. 

I head to Philadelphia, Washington, DC and Boston October 10th, 11th and 12th. That's Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. In DC, I am playing the Kennedy Center. It’s big. So, if you want to see me and you are in the DC area that would be a good time. I like when rooms are close to full. It makes me feel better about what I do. 

I’ll be in Nashville, Atlanta and San Francisco, October 18th, 19th and 26th. These are the final dates of the run of this hour-plus. I love all these cities and I’m looking forward to all the shows. 

So, Detroit. I really didn’t know what to expect. Like most people I’ve heard that the city was pretty beat up and might not be coming back. I have to say, it’s a wild mix of desolation and excitement block to block. It’s definitely unique and has its own vibe. I wouldn’t call it charming but it’s intense. New business, artists, boarded up buildings, vacant lots, space. 

The show was at The Masonic Temple which I believe used to be the biggest Masonic Temple in the country or world. It’s this old, gothic complex of theaters and secret hallways. Masonic temples are darkly charged spaces in general. Any ritual space has its own frequency, its own atmospheric hum. I was in the smaller theater. It seats about 1800 and I got about 1200 in there. I could feel the presence of generations of men sitting in the room and doing the rites and rituals, wearing the costumes and hats and holding the sacred objects in bizarre varied acts of witchcraft collected over the centuries from different disciplines and cultures to seal the oaths of the brotherhood. I’m just glad I didn’t have a heart attack and die on that stage. Because even though it’s a defunct space I have to assume that ritual spaces are always in use even if there is no one there overseeing the ritual and I didn’t want to be the final turn of the sacrifice of the Jew rite. 

I made that up but there’s got to be something similar in the Masonic texts. 

I ate a Lafayette Coney Island hot dog. That was after the show. Arguable, if I had eaten it before, the odds of me clutching my chest on stage would’ve been better. 

Toronto was amazing. I got about 2200 into the room. Felt full. Great crowd. Rosebud Baker opened for me and did a great job. 

Chicago is always a great city for me. I sold out The Vic and the show was amazing. Me and my opener Jonah Ray plowed through a medium Lou Malnatis Classic pie in a park before the show. That’s my sacred Chicago ritual. 

Great show. Unhealthy food. Lots of plane travel and mediocre sleep. The life. 

Today I talk to the mystery that is Byron Allen. He started out at The Comedy Store as a teenager and now is a media mogul. He actually owns The Weather Channel. On Thursday I talk to Jeannie Gaffigan (Jim’s wife) about her new book that’s about her brain tumor. Heavy, heartening stuff. Good talks. 

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Space Travel.

People!

No nicotine for two weeks! Yup.

Good morning. How was the weekend? Hope it was fine. Good, even. Mine was pretty good. I did the work. The big work.

Friday morning, I flew up to Vancouver. I love it there. I think I’ve told you all that before. Probably many times. Now more than ever the relief of being out of the psychic pollution and daily assault of American media and behavior is a true fucking relief. Vancouver is pretty too. Something modern and old and craggy island-like simultaneously.

The place I stay up there is one of my favorite hotels anywhere and I can’t even explain why exactly. I’ve stayed there twice and both times I found it to be oddly peaceful and relaxing which is saying a lot coming from me. It’s the Rosewood Georgia. I think it’s an old classic place that has been given new life. Maybe it’s full of good ghosts, I don’t know. I just like the place.

Charlie Demers opened for me at The Vogue Theatre. A beautiful crowd of people showed up. It was a solid show. Funny. Poignant, for me. Without the nicotine, performance seems to be even more immediate to me. Moving. Very engaged.

The folks from Love Jules Leather brought me some sweet new shoes they made for me. I ate some Greek food. Got out. Less than a full day.

Seattle was Seattle. I always like being there. I’ve been going there for years. It’s kind of a magical place. The Pacific Northwest is magic. Sort of a gray magic. Not dark, not light. Gray. Lot of possibilities. I haven’t had coffee much in years now and I had two macchiatos inside four hours and it set my mind on fire. Good times.

The show at the Moore was hot. Literally hot in that old building. I’m not big believer in ghosts but The Moore has them and they’re annoying. El Sanchez opened the show and they were great. Good personal comedy. The crowd was amazing and we all sweat through a nearly two-hour set.

I saw some old friends up there and ate at the same restaurant three times. It was close by. Lola.

Every time I go away, even if it’s just for two days, it feels like I’ve been on a space mission. I kind of have. New town, new food, new people, new place to sleep, then I step out onto the stage and out into my mind and take off. Space travel.

Today on the show I chart the rugged seas of Bruce Dern’s mind. On Thursday, Danny Huston and I talk about his mythic father, growing up in Europe and making a poetic film. Great talks.

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

I'm Wired.

Lit up, People!
 
I’m doing it. I’m in it. I have been off nicotine for a week. I know, I know. I’ve been here before. It’s always exciting though. Manic. Crazy. Wild eyed. 
 
Withdrawal from anything sucks. The challenge of riding out a craving until it passes is crazy. It’s all being generated from your own head and you literally have to wrestle with yourself. Wrestling with yourself as an emotional foundation is a little intense. I’ve been doing it for years over one thing or another and I’ve finally started to relent a bit around general life and brain stuff but everything gets reinvigorated when you pull out that nicotine. Fuck, man. 
 
My brain is trying to fucking function after being starved from all that jacked up dopamine intake. I’m not even sure that is what’s happening. It feels like my brain has to regroove to work on its own juice. My body feels thick. My metabolism just cranked down immediately. Like it was trying to keep up with a machine on the fritz and is now going to operate at its normal speed. Fat speed. 
 
That’s always what gets me back on the shit. That feeling of weight. I’m exercising and eating pretty well but when the machine drops down to normal speed it's challenging. I wish I didn’t give a fuck. I wish it didn’t bother me. I wish I didn’t feel like a piece of shit when I put on weight but… I do. It’s the way I’m wired. I really want to be done with this shit. 
 
I do like when my brain is on fire though. Good times. 
 
I’m really excited about the conversation I posted today with Dale Beran. It dovetails nicely with the Kurt Anderson talk from a couple weeks ago and also with all this ridiculous reaction to the joke I made on Conan about Marvel Cinematic Universe fans: The world of fantasy and the roots of the frustration that pushed it into the mainstream that is manufacturing a creative monoculture in film and a troll-based garbage-scape in politics. 
 
As a middle-aged guy there is a lot about the engines of contemporary culture that I don’t understand, that I am not proficient in. So, it’s very exciting and informative to be given a proper context to understand the fall of our democracy and the homogenization of our entertainment and the adolescent drivers that guide it all. Great talk today with Dale.

On Thursday I talk to Edi Patterson about working with Danny McBride on Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones and other things comedy and acting related. 

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron

Expansive.

Wow, Folks.

How’s it going? I’m off. A little fragmented and jagged. The road. Lack of exercise. The world is on fire. Unhealthy food. Unnecessary troll battles. It all adds up.

I did get some kind of reprieve in the midst of it all. Dean Delray and I had a great little Texas tour. It’s fun to travel and drive with someone you get along with and like the same music. 

 We landed in Dallas on Thursday, rented a car. We did the show at the Majestic Theatre that night and it was amazing. Great audiences in Texas. I never know what’s going to happen but I’ve learned that you can’t quite generalize a state in terms of who you think lives there. There really are good people of all kinds almost everywhere in this country. I’ve had a relationship with Texas forever. I grew up next door in New Mexico. It always seemed like its own country to me and it kind of is. Expansive.

The need to eat barbeque becomes almost overwhelming when I go to Texas. I generally try to do it just once at Opie’s but for some reason the urge was too strong and we found ourselves at the Pecan Lodge in Dallas minutes after checking into the hotel. It’s not an old school place but the meat was serviceable. Good. Meat sweats and meat naps started hours into the journey.

After Dallas, we made the drive to Austin. Well, actually, to Spicewood for some Opie’s BBQ. We share a deep love for AC/DC and we rocked it for almost four hours in a Chevy Malibu through the flats and hills of Texas. It was a perfect drive. I’ve been driving all my life and there is a Zen to hit with the right music and we hit it. There’s was head rocking, air guitar playing, some air drums, maybe a little air bass, some singing. Texas gets short shrift for its beauty but when you are rolling through it and you feel the massive context of what it is, it is a stunning expanse. Only made better by Highway to Hell pounding out from the inside of car. Rock vessel.

 Opie’s always delivers. When you climb out of a rock vessel after hours driving it feels like you’ve just landed on another planet. This was Planet Meat. Kristin, who owns the place, always takes good care of me. We had amazing meal and set out for Austin. That night at the Paramount Theater was stellar. We both had a great show. 
 
The next morning we set out for Houston. Overly meated and a bit heavy and laid back. We cranked up the Grateful Dead station and rode one concert all the way to Houston. I think it was from ’72. It was an entirely different tone, obviously, but it was right. Texas looks different with the Dead blasting. Everything is warm and flowing. 
 
We got to Houston and ate some Indian food at Pondicheri. First thing. I love that place. Then we checked into the hotel. Crashed for a couple hours then headed out a few blocks to the theater at the Wortham Center. Amazing show. Great crowds all over the Texas we covered. 
 
Did some hotel room troll battling after posting what I thought would be a conciliatory tweet to Marvel fans to stop acting like religious fanatics defending their belief system. It didn’t go down well. They responded like religious fanatics defending their belief system. I’m all for having a good time but big business escapism and fantasy shouldn’t be so charged that it affects the core of who you are. But maybe that’s just the raging inner child that can’t accept or understand why everyone doesn’t like what it likes. I know, I’m in the joker movie. Doesn’t erase my opinion. 
 
Today I talk to Betty Gilpin! She’s my co-star on GLOW and has done a lot of acting in a lot of things. I love her. On Thursday I talk to Blues legend Buddy Guy. He tells me a couple of stories that were just beautiful if you’re a blues person. Personal anecdotes about people that were so specific and mind changing. Great talks!

Enjoy!

Boomer lives!

Love,

Maron