Midway through “Panicked,” his latest HBO special, comedian Marc Maron makes a casual reference to “the show.” He doesn’t explain what he’s referring to, nor does he need to: For more than 15 years, Maron and his producing partner Brendan McDonald have run the podcast “WTF With Marc Maron,” a talk show that catapulted the once-unknown stand-up comedian to fame, an interview with President Obama, and a solid film acting career.
But “WTF” is coming to an end this fall, a fact that looms over “Panicked” even though it was recorded in May, before Maron made the announcement. So much of “Panicked” deals with themes familiar to Maron—his cats, anxiety, and frustration with his fellow “anti-woke” podcasters—that it’s largely distinguished in its catalog by the events that frame its launch.
Director: Steven Feinartz
Writer: Marc Maron
Star: Marc Maron
For a more holistic look at how Maron is handling this crucial juncture, fans will have to wait for "Are We Good?", a documentary about his life that will be released in theaters in October after premiering at South by Southwest earlier this year. (The title comes from Maron's signature question to podcast guests with whom he's had previous beef, which in the show's early days was the majority.) That film's director, Steven Feinartz, also helmed "Panicked," which was recorded at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
The venue is ideal for Maron's NPR-friendly audience of committed leftists, a demographic he affectionately mocks as "empathy whores" who would only attend a stadium concert if it was driven to them from a Whole Foods parking lot. That doesn't stop him from feeding them red meat (from ethically raised animals) as a first comment on how much he hates Trump supporters, especially those who are fellow podcasters. “All they wanted was to use the R-word with impunity,” Maron says. At the time, “they” go unnoticed, though a later joke attacks Theo Von, a recurring character in the male cast.
“Panicked” improves by focusing on the minutiae of Maron’s day-to-day life rather than the bigger picture of current events, even if the former commentator for Air America—the job where he and McDonald first crossed paths—refuses to die. There’s a long, delightful story about Maron’s evacuation from his home during the January Los Angeles wildfires with his pets. (“I have three cats and a carrier. That’s not a porn movie; it’s my life.”)
The material about his elderly father, now living with dementia, is refreshingly candid, especially when discussing the surprising upside of a father who no longer has a filter. And while the sudden death of his ex-partner, director Lynn Shelton, is discussed far less than in his previous special, "From Bleak to Dark," the final anecdote combines incisive observations about the long trajectory of grief with Maron's typically testy take on Taylor Swift.
Though hesitant to take medication, Maron admits to suffering from "intrusive catastrophic thinking," a state of mind increasingly attuned to the world we live in. As the title suggests, "Panicked" continues the comedian's project of finding new ways to articulate his reflexively pessimistic, relentlessly anxious, and very Jewish worldview.
"I don't know if I could distinguish between happiness and 'Damn, that's good coffee,'" he admits. Soon, Maron's audiences will stop hearing his inner monologue. Instead, they'll receive only the most polished and distilled version, delivered onstage between gigs, like the Apple TV+ golf comedy series "Stick," in which Maron excels. "Panicked" may not be a political treatise, but it cements Maron as an unparalleled narrator of his own turmoil, and that of many others as well. From now on, it will have to suffice.
"Marc Maron: Panicked" will stream on HBO and Max on August 1 at 8 p.m. ET.
Comments
Post a Comment