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We Choose to Be NPH Neil Patrick Harris is writing a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ book 31
Deep in His Own Head
Broadcast Muse
Comedian Marc Maron mines his personal life for material on his show and his podcast
Unendorsed by C.K. In its fourth season, the comedy “Louie” (10 p.m. Mondays on FX) is brilliant, unconventional and tinged with melancholy. Series creator and star Louis C.K. on life after death: “Lots of things happen after you die. Just none of them include you.” I wonder if “Louie” advertisers know what kind of show they’ve bought into. One ad claims you can “stop working out” and yet “shed the fat and sculpt your body” By Marc by dancing to DVDs. Silver Louie might buy the DVDs in hope of transforming his husky physique. Then he would sit on the couch and watch them while eating an apple pie. An ad asserts that if you have a “structured settlement” it can be converted into cash to pay bills. In one episode, Louie accidentally punches a woman who’s tickling him and harms her eye; her family asks him for $5 million. Louie does not appear to have a structured settlement worth $5 million. An ad for “sleep number beds” that ease back pain ran in an episode where Louie suffers crippling back pain and massages his back with a dildo for relief. The dildo is probably a lot cheaper than the bed. Read Marc’s previous columns at: www.washingtonpost.com/muse
Comedian Marc Maron is one of the best interviewers working today, capable to getting in his subjects’ heads and crafting intelligent conversation. But he says that skill came from a dark place. When he launched his twice-weekly interview podcast, “WTF with Marc Maron,” five years ago, his 20-year career as a standup comic was in tatters and his personal life (that of a recovering alcoholic with two failed marriages) not much rosier. “I started talking to people because I really needed help,” Maron, 50, says, “and I think my interviewing style evolved from a deep need to connect with each of them for that hour.” “WTF,” which will air its 500th episode on Monday, was born in his garage in a Los Angeles neighborhood no one would mistake for Bel-Air or Marina Del Rey. There he interviews fellow comedians, bringing empathy and insight to conversations about their common craft and particular struggles. Each month it is downloaded as many as 3 million times, and has drawn a show-biz who’s-who to his garage for sessions that prove not only funny and illuminating but also serve as group therapy for Maron, guest and audience alike. In addition, Maron stars in his
CHRIS RAGAZZO (IFC)
FX
Television
Marc Maron admits he had given up on TV by the time “Maron” was developed.
own biographical comedy, which since last year has become one of TV’s funniest shows. “Maron,” whose second season is airing 10 p.m. Thursdays on IFC, put him on display in a TV version of his life as a hapless comic with a podcast, neuroses, issues with women and a penchant for getting himself into jams. Maron cops to nervousness as he faced this season’s 13 episodes, which he again co-wrote and coexecutive produced. “The first season was very personal, and I didn’t know how much more I had: I don’t live that big a life,” he says. “Then I learned that
Commute-Worthy You can listen to some recent podcast episodes on the free “WTF with Marc Maron” app. Here are some highlights from what’s available. (E XPRESS)
Episode 461: Christopher Guest’s go-to movie star, Ed Begley Jr., dishes on partying with Jack Nicholson in the 1970s. Episode 479: “Girls” creator Lena Dunham discusses her weird obsession with death. Episode 493: Stephen Malkmus, who brought rock band Pavement to life, chats about Edgar Allan Poe.
if the fictional version is solid, you can build stories on it and make them feel true.” During this season, he buys a pricey “tube amp” sound system with perilous romantic consequences. He bombs big-time as a guest on the AMC fan show “The Talking Dead.” His dizzy mother (Sally Kellerman) lands for a visit. Maron, with little TV experience, rises to the occasion he had stopped hoping for. “By the time this all happened,” he says, “I’d given up any expectation of a TV project, and I didn’t know how to do it. But I knew I was ready.” An Albuquerque, N.M., native whose formative idols range from Don Rickles and Buddy Hackett to Richard Pryor and George Carlin, he recalls how early on he set his sights on being a comedian. “I saw the stage as a way for me to process the [stuff] I have on my mind, where I could do whatever I wanted as long as I got a couple of laughs.” Maron doesn’t string together jokes. He harvests ideas that take on an expository life of their own. Ideas like, “Glad it’s over, ‘cause I wanted to stay,” or, “Nobody is honest because everybody lies to themselves.” Any of them may find its way into a standup bit or a “Maron” plot twist. It’s just part of Maron’s process, teasing order out of chaos. “The bulk of my creativity starts in my garage,” he sums up. A place for thinking and feeling out loud. FR A ZIER MOORE (AP)
C-3PO, I Have a Feeling We’re Not on Tatooine Anymore: A United Arab Emirates media company announced Wednesday that the next installment of “Star Wars” is currently filming in Abu Dhabi. The media company, known as twofour54, said director J.J. Abrams and cast arrived in early May, but made no mention of any specific droids or Jedi involved. The first six “Star Wars” films shot their desert scenes in Tunisia. (AP)