Episode 67: Robin Williams

In this episode of WTF, Marc pays Robin Williams a visit to talk about his four decade long career in comedy. He starts out reminiscing about Richard Pryor and comedy in the late 70’s then the subject changes to sobriety. Williams was 20 years sober before a relatively recent relapse. What caused this? Alaska. He says he was up there shooting a movie and felt isolated. It started with a tiny bottle of Jack and a week later he was hiding big bottles. He battled with alcoholism for three more years after that.

This episode also addresses accidentally stealing material when improving, Williams’s heart surgery, vulnerability, how coming up with new ideas is like a high, how Williams pissed off the prime minister of Australia and it comes to a close with a brief conversation between Robin and his conscious. 

Episode 37: Bill Burr

Bill Burr is a stand-up comedian that has been in the business since 1992. He currently has three specials out on Netflix (Why Do I Do This?, Let It Go, You People Are All The Same) and one CD (Emotionally Unavailable). He has also starred in Breaking Bad as Kuby, one of Saul Goodman's goons.

On this episode of WTF, Bill Burr talks about fighting as a kid, his respect for good dentistry and hatred for hack dentists. His philosophy is that dentists are neurosurgeons that got alligator arms half way through medical school, bailed and became dentists.

He goes into how he got his first acting gig on a show that was canceled within three months, how that brought him from level one to one hundred and back down to the bottom and how it made him reevaluate his life for the next three years which put him on a path to becoming the comedian he is today. Burr also talks about when he moved from Boston to NY. He says it was horrific, seeing terrible comedian after terrible comedian then he saw Maron destroy and it made it seem not so bad anymore.

They talk about things from dentists, to sociopath bankers, to deregulated media, blame displacement and people distancing themselves from their actions and not taking responsibility. It gets a little crazy towards the end and is definitely worth a listen. 

I chose to share my favorite episodes of the WTF with Marc Maron Podcast. A podcast that's hosted by standup comedian Marc Maron where he interviews a wide variety of comedians and other people in entertainment from his his garage which he's dubbed "the Cat Ranch". In these podcasts, Maron delves deep into the lives of his guests, discusses their origins, where they're at now and everything in between. At the moment there are around 420 episodes all ranging from one to two hours long including such guests as Chris Rock, Robin Williams, Ben Stiller, Mel Brooks, Conan O'Brien, Bryan Cranston and many many more.


Here's a link to his site: http://www.wtfpod.com/