Marc Maron's WTF podcast is one of the essentials out there to listen to, and at first the reason is because of the guests of a wide variety (not just comedians, in the years since it's been on he's also had serious actors like Bryan Cranston and music people like Iggy Pop) - and over time, Maron himself can grow on the open listener. He talks about himself and things going on in his life in the opening segments of the podcast, and sometimes you'll want to skip over these parts because of the neurotic takes on life and the past and family and relationships... other times, it can be very funny and incisive and, for me, Maron has become like one of those radio personalities you can't turn off. You want to hear what he says next, as neurotic it can get it's always interesting.
Maron's stand-up is like that as well, though there is a focus to it if you can pay attention. He appears to just be 'winging-it' in a way, like he just came off the street and is rolling off things in his head. They might be funny, or they might not be so much. But he's really a pro, he's been at it since the 80s, and his humor really does work: he talks about buying obscure records, about the awkward-times on a morning radio show; about the time he spends with his girlfriend and the frustration that comes (from himself, as he coins a phrase "dude brood"); and trying to just live life without worry. Which is hard.
Probably the funniest is how he is so self-reflective and can find the hardcore pain in the comedy of his situations... or, no, the other way around, maybe, you get the idea. When he tells the story, which he's said many times on his podcast, about failing to catch the baseball, he knows how stupid it was, or that it was just very real. But there's humor there, there's a humorous side. Or he sees the side of the pain and terrors that are/were maybe, not really, as severe as they might have seen at the time. He also has a good intimate way of showing this to the audience, which is a small comedy club sized one, not a stadium or big arena like a lot of stand-up comedy concert movies. By the end they, as us, will know Maron a little better, and Maron may know himself a little better too.
Or not. All the same, Maron's observations, scathing wit and power to poke and prod himself and find the absurdity in it makes Thinky Pain a worthwhile watch. I certainly want to see more stand-up from him now that I've got this taste... though on the other hand, you may wonder if there is much more than this. He lays so much here that it's crazy - or even funnier - to think there's more neuroses to un-Earth.
