Marc

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Lore & Background

Maron's career is marked by a series of reinventions. After being passed over for the 1995 Saturday Night Live cast overhaul—he attributes this to being high during a meeting with Lorne Michaels—he continued as a stand-up and television host. 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 workshopping another one-man show, Scorching the Earth, which he said 'bookends' his relationship with his second wife, comic Mishna Wolff, which ended in a bitter divorce. That same year, following the cancellation of Breakroom Live, Maron began hosting the twice-weekly podcast WTF with Marc Maron in what he later described as a 'Hail Mary pass.' The podcast, recorded in his garage in Highland Park, Los Angeles, became his defining work. Highlights include a 2010 episode with Louis C.K. rated the No. 1 podcast episode of all time by Slate magazine, a 2012 interview where comedian Todd Glass came out as gay, and a 2015 interview with then-President Barack Obama. The podcast ended in 2025 with Obama returning as its final guest, after 1,686 episodes and more than 600 million downloads.

In Their Own Story

The garage door rolled up, and the microphone clicked on. September 1, 2009: Marc Maron's first-ever guest on WTF was fellow stand-up Jeff Ross. In a freeform discussion, Maron and his guests would touch on the arc of their careers, shared experiences, and stories from the road. The show garnered critical acclaim and notable guests including President Barack Obama, Sir Paul McCartney, Robin Williams, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Lorne Michaels, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Brad Pitt. In April 2021, Maron and his producer Brendan McDonald received the first-ever Governors Award by the Podcast Academy for Excellence in Audio (The Ambies) for their work on WTF. The success of the podcast opened up numerous other avenues on film and TV, as well as giving him a massive boost to audience attendance at his stand-up shows. In June 2025, Maron announced that WTF would end, and he confirmed on the September 29, 2025 episode that it was over.

Reader's Guide

Name: Marc David Maron. Born: September 27, 1963, in Jersey City, New Jersey. Parents: Toby Blum and Barry Ralph Maron, an orthopedic surgeon. Sibling: Younger brother, Craig. Education: Graduated from Highland High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico; graduated from Boston University in 1986 with a B.A. in English literature. First stand-up performance: 1987 at age 24. Professional comedy career began at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles, where he became an associate of Sam Kinison. Key television work: Hosted Comedy Central's Short Attention Span Theater from 1993 to 1994; appeared more than forty times on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; starred in his own IFC television comedy series, Maron, from 2013 to 2016; co-starred in the Netflix comedy series GLOW from 2017 to 2019; had a minor role in 2019's Joker; provided the voice of Mr. Snake in DreamWorks Animation's The Bad Guys (2022) and its sequel The Bad Guys 2 (2025). Radio: Regular on Air America from 2004 to 2009, co-hosting Morning Sedition and hosting The Marc Maron Show and Breakroom Live. Podcast: Hosted WTF with Marc Maron from September 1, 2009 to 2025, releasing 1,686 episodes. Stand-up specials: Marc Maron: Thinky Pain (2013, Netflix), More Later (2015, Epix), From Bleak to Dark (2023), named New York magazine's 'No. 1 Best Comedy Special of 2023.'

Did You Know?

• Maron appeared more than forty times on *Late Night with Conan O'Brien*, more than any other stand-up comedian.
• His 2010 WTF episode with Louis C.K. was rated the No. 1 podcast episode of all time by *Slate* magazine.
• Maron's first-ever WTF guest on September 1, 2009, was fellow stand-up Jeff Ross.
• He was passed over for the 1995 *Saturday Night Live* cast overhaul and attributes this to being high during a meeting with Lorne Michaels.