Marc Maron

Comedian, writer, actor, and podcast host Marc Maron's profile rose steadily if not linearly from his days on the New York alt-comedy scene of the '90s. He released his first comedy album, Not Sold Out, in 2002. Whether better known to some over the next decade as the most frequent guest of Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993-2009), a political-radio personality (Air America, 2004-2009), or a popular podcast host (WTF with Marc Maron, 2009-present), his snide, anguished persona endured through humor that is alternately silly, seething, self-loathing, and thoughtful. Maron's first hour-long standup special, Thinky Pain, debuted in late 2013 and went on to reach the Top Ten of Billboard's comedy albums chart. He published the humor book Attempting Normal (2014) as he starred in his own single-camera sitcom, Maron (2013-2016), about a fictionalized version of himself. Another Top Ten standup hour, Too Real, arrived in 2017 as Maron began landing more regular acting roles, including joining the casts of the Emmy-winning series GLOW and the 2019 supervillain film Joker. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Marc Maron was raised partly in New Jersey and, later, Alaska, before his family settled in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when he was in the third grade. After graduating from Highland High School in Albuquerque, he attended Boston University, earning a bachelor's in English literature. Maron began working on his standup act at area clubs while in his early twenties. He briefly relocated to Los Angeles and worked at the Comedy Store before returning to Boston. In 1988, he finished as runner-up in a local comedy competition and committed to supporting himself as a professional comedian. After a brief stint in San Francisco, Maron relocated to New York City in 1993. While establishing himself as a regular on the '90s alt-comedy circuit there alongside performers like Louis C.K., Janeane Garofalo, and Todd Barry, he found work as host of the Comedy Channel's Short Attention Span Theater and guested on the animated series Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. In 2000, Maron had a small but memorable role in the Cameron Crowe film Almost Famous, playing an "angry promoter." Broadway Books published his first humor book, The Jerusalem Syndrome: My Life as a Reluctant Messiah, in 2001. Not Sold Out, his debut album, followed a year later on Stand Up! Records. Tickets Still Available and Final Engagement followed on the same label in 2006 and 2009, respectively, as Maron became a fixture on liberal talk radio network Air America. He parted ways with the network before it folded in early 2010. In September 2009, Maron launched the semiweekly podcast WTF with Marc Maron. Aided by his years of connections in the industry, it began as a series of conversations with friends, associates, and admirers who just happened to be folks like Robin Williams, Conan O'Brien, Ira Glass, and Louis C.K. Maron was riding high on the podcast's success when he released his debut for the Comedy Central record label, This Has to Be Funny, in 2011. May of 2013 saw the premiere of his IFC sitcom, titled simply Maron. His first hour-long standup special, Thinky Pain, aired on Netflix that October. It reached number seven on the Billboard Comedy Albums chart upon its Comedy Dynamics label release in early 2014. April marked the arrival of his second book, Attempting Normal (Spiegel & Grau), and on June 22, 2015, sitting president Barack Obama was his guest on WTF. Maron moved to Epix for his second hour-long special, More Later. Recorded at the Vic Theater in Chicago, it premiered in December 2015. After four seasons that saw guests such as Elliott Gould, Judd Hirsch, and Gina Gershon in addition to numerous comedians, Maron came to a close in July 2016. He soon joined the cast of Netflix's GLOW, which premiered in June 2017. A second Netflix standup special, Too Real, followed in September. Recorded live at the Pantages Theater in Minneapolis, Too Real reached number nine on Billboard's comedy chart following a release by Comedy Dynamics in late 2018. The producer of WTF since its beginning, Brendan McDonald was the guest on WTF's 1,000th episode in March 2019. Later that year, Maron had a starring role in the indie film Sword of Trust and portrayed Ted Marco in the DC Comics film franchise entry Joker.
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