Marc Maron

Marcus David Maron (/ˈmærən/ MAR-ən; born September 27, 1963) is an American stand up comedian, podcaster, writer, actor, musician, director, and producer.
He has been host of The Marc Maron Show and co-host of both Morning Sedition and Breakroom Live, all politically oriented shows produced by Air America Media. He hosted Comedy Central's Short Attention Span Theater for a year, replacing Jon Stewart. Maron was a frequent guest on the Late Show with David Letterman and made more than forty appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, more than any other standup performer. He was also a regular guest on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and hosted the short-lived American version of the British game show Never Mind the Buzzcocks on VH1.
In September 2009, Maron began hosting a twice-weekly podcast titled WTF with Marc Maron in which he interviews comedians and celebrities. Highlights have included Conan O'Brien, Robin Williams, and an episode with Louis C.K. that was rated the #1 podcast episode of all time by Slate magazine. In June 2015, Maron interviewed the President of the United States, Barack Obama, at his podcast studio and home, in Highland Park, Los Angeles, California.
From 2013 to 2016, he starred in his own IFC television comedy series, Maron, for which he also served as executive producer and occasional writer.

Maron was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, to orthopedic surgeon father Barry R. Maron and real estate broker mother Toby Maron.

Maron is from a Jewish family. He lived in Wayne, New Jersey, and Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, until he was six. Maron's father joined the U.S. Air Force for two years for his medical residency in Alaska, and so Maron and his family moved there. When his father left the Air Force, he moved his family to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and started a medical practice. Maron lived in Albuquerque from third grade through high school. He graduated from Highland High School.

In 1986, Maron graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in English literature.

Maron first performed standup in 1987 when he was 24 years old.

Maron started his comedy career at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles and became an associate of Sam Kinison. He later moved to New York City and became part of the New York alternative comedy scene. During the summer of 1994, he appeared a few times on Monday open-mic night, coordinated by Tracey Metzger, at the now-closed Greenwich Village location of the Boston Comedy Club. He auditioned unsuccessfully for the 1995 Saturday Night Live cast overhaul and attributes being passed over to being high during a meeting with show creator and producer Lorne Michaels.

Maron continued to be a standup performer and also began to appear on television; his voice was used in episodes of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, and he hosted Short Attention Span Theater for a time. He also recorded half-hour specials for HBO and Comedy Central Presents as well as comedy showcases like the Cam Neely Foundation fundraiser, which also featured performers such as Jon Stewart, Denis Leary, and Steven Wright. He frequently appeared in the live alternative standup series he had organized with Janeane Garofalo called "Eating It," which used the rock bar Luna Lounge in New York's Lower East Side as its venue, from the 1990s until the building was razed in 2005.

His only major film credit to date is a small part—credited as "angry promoter"—in the 2000 Cameron Crowe film Almost Famous, in which he is first seen fighting with Noah Taylor's character and then yelling at and chasing after the main characters as they drive away on a bus, at which point he yells, "Lock the gates!" which is now used in the intro to his podcasts. He was also featured at the Luna Lounge in the 1997 mockumentary Who's the Caboose? starring Sarah Silverman and Sam Seder.

His first one-man show, Jerusalem Syndrome, had an extended off-Broadway run in 2000 and was released in book form in 2001. In 2009, he began work shopping another one-man show, Scorching The Earth. According to Maron (in Scorching The Earth) these two shows "bookend" his relationship with his second wife, comic Mishna Wolff, which ended in a bitter divorce. Moment Magazine produced a piece on Maron in which he was interviewed about his experience with Jerusalem Syndrome. When asked if he really came down with it, Maron responded, "The premise of my book is that not only did it happen during a short trip I took to Israel, but it’s been happening to me all my life."

Maron performing in 2010

In May 2008, he toured with Eugene Mirman and Andy Kindler in Stand Uppity: Comedy That Makes You Feel Better About Yourself and Superior to Others. In January 2009, a collaboration with Sam Seder which had begun in September 2007 as a weekly hour-long video webcast became Breakroom Live with Maron & Seder, produced by Air America. Until its cancellation in July 2009, the show was webcast live weekdays at 3 pm Eastern, with episodes archived for later viewing as well. In its final incarnation, the show was quite informal, taking place in the actual break room of Air America Media, with the cafeteria vending machines just off-camera. This meant occasional distractions when Air America staff and management alike would occasionally come in for food and drink. Maron and Seder held court in an online "post-show chat" with viewers, in an even less formal continuation of each webcast, after the credits had rolled.

Marc Maron (left) and Zach Galifianakis (right) participating in a Doug Loves Movies podcast at the 2012 Los Angeles Podcast Festival

Maron's standup comedy act is marked by his commitment to self-revelation and cultural analysis. He is particularly known for relentless on-stage exploration of his own relationships with family, girlfriends, and other standup comedians that he has known and befriended over his many years in the business. In October 2013, Maron released his first hour long special via Netflix titled, Marc Maron: Thinky Pain. Maron would follow this with another special titled, More Later, which he released in December 2015, on the website Epix.

In 2012, he provided the voice of Magnus Hammersmith in three episodes of Metalocalypse. Maron has made two guest appearances as himself on Louis C.K.'s show Louie, first in the third season episode Ikea/Piano Lesson and then again in the fourth season episode Pamela: Part 3.

Maron, a television series created by and starring Maron for a 10-episode first season, premiered on IFC on May 3, 2013. The show is loosely autobiographical, revolving around Maron's life as a twice-divorced sober comedian running a comedy podcast out of his garage but establishing many differences between the real-life Maron and the version of him on TV.

Radio

From almost the first day of the liberal talk radio network Air America's broadcasts in 2004, Maron co-hosted Morning Sedition, a three-hour early-morning radio show with Mark Riley that aired weekdays from 6 am to 9 am Eastern time. The show was unique in the Air America lineup in its heavy reliance on both live and preproduced sketch comedy, utilizing the talents of staff writers as well as the on-air hosts. The format was a left-leaning near-satire of typical morning "Buddy" radio programs, including recurring characters, interviews, and listener call-in segments, and it attracted a loyal fan base.

As 2005 waned, it became known that Maron's contract would not be renewed on its December 1, 2005, end date because of problems with then Air America executive Danny Goldberg. Goldberg reportedly did not "get" the comedy or agree with the satiric and often angry tone set by Maron and other writers (Jim Earl and Kent Jones) for a morning drive-time show. On November 28, 2005, it was officially announced that Maron's contract had not been renewed. His last Morning Sedition broadcast was on December 16, 2005, and the show was discontinued shortly thereafter.

On February 28, 2006, Maron began hosting a nighttime radio program with Jim Earl as sidekick for KTLK Progressive Talk 1150AM in Los Angeles called The Marc Maron Show from 10:00 pm until midnight PST. The program was frequently delayed (sometimes for over an hour) owing to KTLK's contractual agreement to broadcast local sports events that would often go into overtime. The Marc Maron Show was never nationally syndicated by Air America despite reported contractual clauses promising such. The show was streamed online live, but the show was not publicized, and the existence of the stream was not well promoted.

On July 5, it was announced that Maron's final episode would be on July 14. A few days before that date, Maron bluntly discussed his long struggle with Air America Radio's executives on-air. In 2008, Marc and Sam Seder expanded their prior collaboration on a weekly hour-long video webcast (streamed at The Sam Seder Show website) into a daily show (and "post-show chat") produced by Air America Media called Maron v. Seder. The show became Breakroom Live with Maron & Seder starting in 2009 and could be viewed on Air America Media's website. On July 15, 2009, after less than one year, Air America Media canceled Breakroom Live. According to the show's hosts, the cancellation was for financial reasons. Ironically, the day before the cancellation, the show got some of the first real publicity it had ever received when MaximumFun.org posted its podcast of an interview with Maron on The Sound of Young America.

On the final Breakroom Live webcast, Maron said that this marked the third time since 2005 he'd been told by an executive at the network that his services would not be required in the immediate future. Co-host Sam Seder pointed out that this would be the end of his fourth show at Air America since the troubled network's inception.

WTF with Marc Maron podcast

WTF with Marc Maron

On September 1, 2009, Maron began a twice-weekly podcast called WTF with Marc Maron. Released Mondays and Thursdays, the show features interviews with fellow comedians, both old friends and acquaintances. In a free-form discussion, Maron and his guests touch on topics like the arc of the interviewees' careers, shared past experiences, and stories from the road. The show was originally produced after-hours in the Air America offices, to which Maron and his producer still had keys. Around the 20th episode, Maron temporarily moved to Los Angeles before announcing that the move would be permanent in the 22nd. WTF is currently recorded in his garage, with the bulk of the guests meeting him there, though he does have a mobile setup to talk to guests. WTF has reached No. 1 on iTunes comedy section numerous times. Though it is a free podcast, it has a number of rotating sponsors and accepts donations.

On May 17, 2011, it was announced that a version of WTF with Marc Maron is now available for noncommercial broadcast via Public Radio Exchange. The initial offering is ten episodes edited from previous podcasts and is designed, according to co-producer of the broadcast package Jesse Thorn, "to capture what makes WTF special and communicate it to folks who aren't comedy nerds—or even necessarily comedy fans." Initial station pickups include WBEZ Chicago and the Public Radio Remix service on SiriusXM. On May 6, 2012, 'WTF with Marc Maron' won the award for "Best Comedy Podcast" at the 2012 Comedy Central Comedy awards. On December 14, 2014, Slate declared Maron's 2010 interview with Louis C.K. on WTF as the best podcast episode of all time.

Television

Maron has appeared on several episodes of Girls in season four, playing New York City councilman Ed Duffield.

Music

In 2013, Maron contributed a guitar solo to the protest song and charity single "Party at the NSA" by electropop music duo Yacht. Inspired by the 2013 global surveillance disclosures, "Party at the NSA" critiques the state of governmental surveillance programs in the United States. Proceeds from the single benefit the international non-profit digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation. Previously, Maron said he was a fan of the band.

In an interview with KCRW, Maron stated "I have no idea why they asked me to play guitar on the track. I'm only good at one thing on the guitar. It just so happens it was exactly the thing they needed."

Reviews for the solo were positive. IFC's Melissa Locker said "Marc Maron plays a mean guitar." Spin's Chris Martins called the guitar solo a "shredfest" as well as "angular." The Stranger called it "a frequency-fraying guitar solo that's better than you'd expect, although it won’t make J Mascis jealous."

Maron lived in Astoria, Queens, through the 1990s and most of the 2000s but moved back to Los Angeles in the fall of 2009. Maron also speaks openly of his caring for numerous stray cats that he takes into his home. This has led to him to refer to his home, on the WTF Podcast, as the "Cat Ranch." Maron lives in Highland Park, Los Angeles, with his three cats, Monkey, Boomer, and LaFonda. After Boomer went missing, Maron began incorporating the catchphrase "Boomer lives!" into various portions of the podcast.

Maron has spoken openly, both in his act and on his podcast, about his alcohol and drug abuse during the 1990s. Maron has been sober since August 9, 1999.

Maron has been married twice, once to Kimberly Reiss and once to Mishna Wolff, a former standup comedian. Both relationships have figured prominently in his act at various times. During numerous appearances at the Edinburgh Fringe festival in 2007, Maron riffed on his then-recent separation and divorce from Wolff.

On the October 14, 2013 episode of his podcast, Maron announced that he had broken up with his former fiancee, Jessica Sanchez.

On the February 10, 2014 episode of his podcast, Maron confirmed he was dating Moon Zappa, not long after she had been a guest on the podcast. However, on the May 1, 2014 episode of his podcast, Maron revealed that he was no longer dating Zappa.

On the March 2, 2015 episode of his podcast, Maron announced he was dating artist Sarah Cain.

Maron is an atheist.

Books

• Maron, Marc.The Jerusalem Syndrome: My Life As a Reluctant Messiah. New York: Broadway Books, 2001. ISBN 978-0-7679-0810-8
• Maron, Marc. Attempting Normal. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2014. ISBN 978-0-812-98278-7

Comedy albums

• Maron, Marc. Not Sold Out. Minneapolis, MN: Stand Up Records, 2002.
• Maron, Marc. Tickets Still Available. [Richland, MN]: Stand Up! Records, 2006.
• Maron, Marc. Final Engagement. [Minneapolis, Minn.]: Stand Up! Records, 2009.
• Maron, Marc. This Has to Be Funny. [New York?]: Comedy Central Records, 2011.
• Maron, Marc, Lance Bangs, and Kathy Welch. Thinky pain. Burbank, CA: New Wave Dynamics, 2013.

Comedy Specials

• Comedy Central Presents [1] New York City, New York: 1998
• Comedy Central Presents (2007) [2]
• HBO Comedy Half-Hour (1995) [3]
• Thinky Pain (2013) [4]
• More Later (2015) [5]

Podcasts

• WTF with Marc Maron

Film

Television