MARC MARON LEAPS FROM THE GARAGE TO THE STAGE. |
A decade ago, Marc Maron didn’t know where his career was going. A veteran of the stand-up comedy scene, the man went through everything from drug addiction and failed marriages to getting fired from his gig at the now-defunct Air America Radio Network.
With nothing else to lose, Maron started a podcast called “WTF With Marc Maron.” Recorded from the garage of his LA home (aka “the Cat Ranch”), it originally began with Maron interviewing his comedian pals and talking, mostly in-depth, about comedy and their lives. As time went on, his guests soon included actors, actresses, musicians, authors, filmmakers, and icons of the big and small screens. He has conversed with two members of the Rolling Stones and one Beatle. He even got Barack Obama for a memorable episode.
With over 1,000 episodes in the can, “WTF” is undeniably one of the most popular and influential podcasts out there — and Maron still continues to drop episodes. “Look, we’re coming up on 10 years of that thing,” says Maron, calling from a stop in Raleigh, N.C. “And we put up a new show, no matter what, every Monday and Thursday, with a different guest.”
You’d think he wouldn’t have time to do “WTF,” considering his busy schedule . For four seasons, he was the star and creator of “Maron,” a semi-autobiographical scripted comedy that aired on IFC, where he played — surprise! — a cantankerous comedian who does a podcast out of his garage. After that, he moved on to the popular Netflix dramedy “GLOW” , where he plays the cranky, fictional director of the real-life, ’80s women’s wrestling promotion.
It’s gotten to the point where if a fan approaches Maron on the street and showers him with praise, he has no idea what the accolades are for. He says, “Like, if they come up and say to me ‘I’m a big fan!’ or ‘I like your show!’ I don’t know if they’re talking about ‘Maron.’ I don’t know if they’re talking about ‘GLOW.’ I don’t know if they’re talking about the podcast.”
Things may get even more complicated now that he has been doing movies. Just this summer, he starred in the indie comedy “Sword of Trust,” now on streaming platforms after a brief theatrical run.Maron plays a curmudgeonly Alabama pawnshop owner who gets into some risky business when a lesbian couple (Jillian Bell and Michaela Watkins) approaches him with a sword that is allegedly proof that the South won the Civil War.
“Sword” is the latest project Maron has done with writer/director Lynn Shelton (“Humpday, “Your Sister’s Sister”). Their working relationship began when he interviewed her on “WTF” in 2015, which led to her directing Maron in “Maron,” “GLOW” and his 2017 Netflix special “Marc Maron: Too Real.” (She’ll also direct his upcoming Netflix special in October.) “We started writing a script together that never really got done,” he says. “We’re gonna finish it, but she was getting impatient and she wanted to work with me in a movie. So, I told her, ‘Go write one!’ And she did.”
Maron can also be seen later this year in the much-anticipated “Joker,” the latest blockbuster to give us a version of the iconic Batman villain. Directed by Todd Phillips (“The Hangover” trilogy), this one has Joaquin Phoenix starring as the clown-faced antagonist, with Maron in a supporting role as his agent. “It was a relatively small part, but it’s very exciting,” he says.
But even with all these projects, he still continues to perform stand-up. He’ll be in town this weekend at the Wortham as part of his “Hey, There’s More” tour, where he’ll once again do his trademark neurotic ranting and riffing on such things as his personal life, trying to be culturally woke and the state of the country. As Maron puts it, it’s “me, like usual, kinda freaking out about things.”
He’s certainly not freaking out much about his career, which he owes to taking a chance a decade ago and starting a podcast out of his house. “I’m very grateful and very surprised, you know, and kind of amazed at what’s unfolded, all because of what happened in that garage,” he says.