BONUS Ask Marc Anything #22
Okay, here we go.
Ask Mark anything.
The 22nd edition.
Oh my God.
It's fucking nuts.
I didn't even know there were this many questions to be asked.
Okay.
Is there any guests that you wanted to get, but it just never happened or they wouldn't come on?
That's a good question.
I mean, it seems like there's a few directors here and there.
I felt like I really wanted to talk to David O. Russell for a while, but then I heard things that he wasn't necessarily a great interviewer, willing to be interviewed, but
I actually at some point wrote a letter to Bob Dylan.
And again, I didn't know how that would go either.
But Dylan and Tom Waits were ones that I thought I would do well with and I thought would be good and be interesting, even if they weren't that forthcoming.
As many of you know, Tim Robinson was somebody I wanted to get on, but he wouldn't do it.
Nathan Fielder.
I've reached out to a couple of times.
He wouldn't do it or never responded to me, even on a personal email.
Kate McKinnon was another one.
But I think she actually did get back to us and said, you know, there are just reasons.
Some people have reasons for not doing it that aren't necessarily personal.
It's just a matter of what happens once the interview gets out in the world and gets mangled by predatory garbage press.
But I think those are the ones...
really that I can think of right now.
After the podcast is over, what will you use the garage for?
Well, that's a good question.
I don't know.
I think I'll leave it a studio for a little while to see if the spirit moves me.
Maybe I'll make it more of a music studio.
Maybe I'll have to move somebody in here.
Maybe I'll make it into the house that I had to make it to begin with.
It's unclear, but I'm not going to, day after I finish recording, dismantle the entire studio.
How do you think your relationship with Brendan will change after the show is over?
Well, I'll probably annoy him less.
And I'm projecting that.
Well, it will change in that we will no longer have a professional relationship that needs to be engaged differently.
All the time, every week.
He is one of my closest friends in a lot of ways, though we do keep it pretty professional.
But my side of the professional is me kind of dumping myself and sharing myself and figuring out how to think about things.
And he is really...
kind of showed up for me personally when necessary.
And I don't ask too much of them outside of our professional world.
But I imagine we'll check in with each other.
We do tend to, every couple of weeks or so, just get on the horn and kind of talk about what's going on and talk about what we're seeing out there.
Arts, music, news, whatever.
I guess we'll do that probably with less frequency.
It'll be sad.
It'll definitely be sad for me.
I assume for him.
I don't know.
Maybe we're really just going to have to take a time out for as long as it takes.
Has your perspective about what the show is changed over the years or stayed the same?
Well, you can hear certainly in the early days
episodes of the show that it was a different show.
We're trying to figure out what the show was.
Uh, I think that it evolved in a fairly natural way.
The first few episodes had segments, shorter interviews.
Then we moved into, you know, monologue, uh, interview, and then a, uh,
A third act that was usually someone pretending to be somebody.
And then it kind of became what it became.
I think the biggest difference was, as I think I talked about recently, that at the beginning, I just didn't think there was any room for ads.
There was no way to make money.
So why have ads?
I was I thought it would mess everything up.
That changed.
Well, I still...
I still get choked up a lot of times during interviews.
And you could probably hear it in my voice.
And certainly the crying around, you know, grief and loss and a few other things, maybe relationships during the monologue was probably me just letting the feelings happen.
And I guess that was me giving into caring about myself.
It was also me being honest about my feelings.
But I do get choked up a lot during interviews still.
especially the ones that are deeper and emotional.
You know, I don't burst out crying and you don't see me crying, but I definitely am close or holding it in because I don't want to disrupt.
You know, I'm there for somebody else.
Sometimes I'm not there for me.
I know that's hard to believe.
What is something you've learned while doing the podcast that you might not have learned any other way?
Well, I think listening and asking questions, I think that was a big lesson.
Empathy as well, engaging my empathy, being engaged with someone's story, but listening and then, you know, following my curiosity in conversation.
I mean, I guess I did that, but a lot of times we just talk and, you know, it's not that you're polite, but you kind of, you know, go back and forth.
Maybe you make some jokes or, but to really be interested and to follow the curiosity with other people and continue to follow that and see where that goes is definitely something that I probably wouldn't have learned because I wasn't taking this kind of time with everybody I talked to.
The MAGA babysitter from your special was a pretty wild and demented nutcase.
Any chance that you will develop that character?
Well, you know, I make a joke about it in the special that it takes everything I have not to do a one-man show as that guy.
I think that guy's an interesting guy, the broken guy, the sort of morally broken guy that was himself a victim that eventually became a victimizer.
I don't know how I'd explore necessarily that character and
And I don't know.
I mean, it's sort of a stretch to do a one man comedy show about him.
But I did find his manifestation very interesting.
And the idea of a character like that is is interesting.
It's compelling.
I don't know what I would do with it.
But but I did I did think about it.
What was the tag that Chris Rock gave you?
Well, that was a setup for a joke I didn't end up doing on the special, but it sort of stands on its own.
I think it was me talking about I used to I used to do a bit about when I'd enter stuff about talking about Jews.
I said, you know, it's not a great time for Jews, but has it ever been really?
Was there ever a point in the history of the world where a Jew said, wow, what an amazing time it is to be a Jew?
That was all I had.
And it got enough of a laugh.
But then Chris tagged it with maybe the fourth season of Seinfeld.
But that was the end of it, where he just gave me maybe the fourth season of Seinfeld.
I always got a big laugh and I can still use it, I guess.
Do you still lock in on a person in the audience at your stand-up shows?
Not anymore.
Not in the theaters.
I've noticed I've done it a couple times lately, working out new stuff.
But no, I really consciously got away from that.
And I kind of get into a different zone than I used to, where I don't need to lock in.
I don't need to sort of feel like it's landing with an individual person.
I've been able to widen the...
the aperture to really take in the whole crowd, but it was a learned thing and it took me a long time to do it.
Of all the comics you came up with, I'm wondering who was your best friend among them.
Was there a comic who you could really be open with and whom you could share personal stories and experiences with more so than anyone else?
Well, look, there's a few people that I travel with on the, on the road and there's definitely, you know, a few people, um,
in comedy that I was very close to, you know, certainly early on.
Like, as many people know, there was a time when C.K.
and I were close.
I always felt very close to... Russ Meneve is another guy I always liked and felt close to.
I got a kick out of him.
Attell and I were kind of close.
I think it's as close as you can get to Attell.
And then there was a couple of other people...
Ryan Singer was a very close friend of mine.
He used to open for me a bit.
Al Madrigal, we were pretty close, and I was pretty open with him, but somehow that relationship went south, and I'm not even really that clear on why.
It was not my doing.
Delray and I were pretty close, but I don't know.
That was more of a fun thing.
Jim Short and I, Jim Short, the late Jim Short, and I were close for a while, but I don't know.
He...
He eventually, you know, that became a strange, too.
There's definitely been been people over the years who I was I was close to and, you know, in a real way, you know, who I could call and and really Dan Vitale was another guy who I could talk real shit with.
And so there have been a few over the years and.
Elvis Lennon or Bowie, who would you have a great talk with?
I really think out of all of them, it would be Lennon, especially post Beatles Lennon.
I think I could have had a great conversation with him.
Do you have some ultimate favorite guitar tone in your mind?
Some particular guitarist or song?
Well, for me, my tone that I seem to get a kick out of is something a bit dirty, a bit full of tubes, somewhere in between Johnny Thunders and Keith Richards.
I was partial to a fairly clean Strat for a long time, but now I've really started to enjoy a fuller kind of P90 sound that isn't so dirty, you lose the definition, but just kind of dirty enough.
Like the...
The bridge pickup on any P90 guitar is pretty good for me.
What is your favorite guitar amp combination that you like to use?
Well, right now, I've been very partial to this big box Fender big box deluxe.
It's like a 1961.
It's in mint condition.
It's like a 1961.
It's in mint condition.
And I've been getting a good sound out of that.
I use a Blues Junior, too, when I need to play lower because you've got the gain on that one.
But right now it's that Big Box Deluxe, 1961 Tweed.
And I do like to play it with the P90 guitars.
But also lately, my Telecaster Deluxe.
I got a 73 Telecaster Deluxe, I think it is.
And that's with the humbucker in the neck position and the straight fender tele pickup single coil in the bridge position.
It's a very Keith guitar.
I like the middle position of a Telecaster.
I'm still partial to that when I'm not playing the grungy sound in business.
What kind of fretboard do you prefer, rosewood or maple?
Well, I generally, most of the guitars I have are rosewood.
That deluxe is a maple.
I don't mind it.
My first guitar was a Telecaster, so I'm used to the maple, but I do like the rosewood better.
What is your greatest record store find?
Mine is a never-opened copy of the Fleetwood Mac compilation, The Pious Bird of Good Omens.
I did open it because that record should be played.
Well, that's an interesting question.
I think I got...
I think that first Pink Floyd album, what was that called?
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
I found that in a really good condition, in very good shape at a record store.
I don't think I paid a fortune for it, but I was pretty excited about that record.
And oddly excited about finding the first...
for Credence records on Fantasy.
I don't think they're necessarily rare, but they were in very good shape, and those old Credence records really hold up pretty well.
And I was pretty happy to find some of the two Mississippi Fred McDowell records that were kind of back-to-back in pretty good shape.
I tend to find pretty good records, and sometimes I'll pay a lot of money for them, but those were all reasonably priced.
In preparation for your directorial debut, have you been thinking much about the sort of filmmaking that you're hoping to emulate?
I mean, this is in regard to film versus digital blocking lighting color, etc.
Yes, I am thinking about that.
I do.
I am thinking about frames.
I'm thinking about how I want to portray New York.
I'm thinking about, you know, how much handheld versus longer shots.
I'm thinking about shots and I'm thinking about the interiors, you know, being what interiors in New York were like when in the mid 90s, when I lived there, you know, very claustrophobic, very, you know, kind of cluttered, very specific type of living situations.
I'm also thinking about the expanse of the city.
And I'm also thinking about how to shoot the music and get those bars correct for the early to mid 90s.
And I am thinking somewhat gritty, but I'm trying to figure out some sort of hybrid because of
Lip Sight's way of writing dialogue and how we're going to do a read through to see how that plays naturalistically.
I'm just curious about a lot of stuff.
But I am thinking a lot about New York and about how New York has been shot in the past.
And, you know, what I'm trying to say in terms of the city as a character and the characters as characters who live in that city.
I'm unbelievably excited about your upcoming Blank Check episode in their Coen Brothers series.
Did you know a lot about the show going in?
I didn't really.
I'd never listened to it.
Brendan's a big fan.
I didn't know really what I was getting into.
I think I was probably a little over my head in terms of film nerddom.
But I think we had a good chat.
It went on a long time.
They definitely got something out of me.
And we were talking about A Serious Man, which is a very special movie to me.
because it's a very thoroughly Jewish movie and a very sort of suburban Jewish movie.
So it did have an effect on me, and I had a lot to say about it.
I want to learn how to properly smoke a cigar so I can smoke one with my girlfriend's dad.
Where should I start, and what are your favorites?
Well, look, I've been smoking cigars on and off for a long time, and I've always been drawn to the fuller-bodied cigars that are kind of a lot.
In terms of learning how to smoke a cigar, you need to learn how to pull it deeply into your mouth without inhaling it or without inhaling much and then kind of letting it out sort of as you wish to get the full effect or flavor.
But I generally like a Nicaraguan wrap.
Davidoff is making some good ones.
Nicaraguans.
There's this new brand.
Fuck.
I always forget the name of it.
But, you know, if you want to go heavy, you look for a Nicaraguan wrap.
or a Honduran wrap.
But I like very strong cigars.
I would probably start with a smaller cigar, you know, maybe a Robusto with a milder wrap, maybe a Dominican wrap, and just feel it out, at least to get the hang of it.
And then maybe you can pull it off.
As a fellow musician and artist, what do you feel is the smartest move to make to get noticed?
I have a website, but that only does so much.
Plus, I kind of despise social media.
Well, look, man, it's like you got to get it out there however you can.
And whatever your personal feelings about social media, you got to figure just you just got to figure out how to get people to.
Pay attention to it.
And I know it's hard.
The website's probably not enough.
You got to drive people there.
You got to make fun video clips, I guess, of the songs.
I don't like it either.
But at some point, you have to adapt and do what's necessary to get attention to your art.
I'm curious about what your litter box routine is.
What litter do you use?
How often do you scoop slash change the litter?
And what type of box do you use?
It seems that no matter how often we scoop and change the litter, our oldest still ends up peeing in our bathtub.
Well, that's a separate problem.
I use just straight up cheap...
Pine litter, the pellets, they all seem fine with it.
I'll scoop shit when there's shit in there.
And in terms of the pea, you know, it's non-clumping.
So you just kind of wait till all the pellets break down or a good portion of them break down.
You don't want to wait till it gets mushy.
But I guess I'm cheap and I don't like the...
clumping litter or the litter that is in pellets because it gets all over the place if your cats can do the pellets it doesn't bother their feet i think it's the best way because you just you don't do anything but scoop the shit and until the pellets get too uh wet you know you just dump it and start over again
You have been receiving a lot of press and praise recently through your announcement at the end of the podcast, Stick, Panicked, and your statements about modern comedy.
Has this been gratifying for you to experience?
Sure it has.
I mean, I don't think any one of my specials has...
landed as broadly as this one.
So I put a lot of work into it, and I'm glad that through my appearances and places, and also just the basic momentum of all those things you mentioned going on, and the clips from the special,
that it really got out there in a big way.
And it's my best work, and I'm very proud of it, and I'm glad that it got out there in a big way.
So I'm very happy with all of what happened around the special and all those other things that you mentioned.
It has been gratifying for me to experience, especially speaking up about what's going on in comedy in relation to politics.
I talk a bit about that here on the podcast, but to talk about it in a sort of more...
Visible way, primarily through podcasts and that stuff getting out there.
I was happy about it, primarily for the comics and primarily to raise awareness about those connections.
But it was really about, you know, not letting a fairly...
large kind of wrong-minded monoculture, you know, dictate what is and isn't good comedy to the rest of the culture and claim that they have that power.
And because I wanted, it was really for all the other comics that had their own issues with that, who didn't or couldn't speak out or couldn't be heard.
So it was really a community action in my mind.
I'm tempted to go vegan primarily as a protest against late capitalism and factory farming.
Do you have any tips on getting the necessary vitamins slash nutrition?
I'm hoping not to have to take a ton of supplements every day.
Well look, you've got to figure out how to eat.
You know, I would look up my my foundation is really macrobiotic bowls that, you know, in if in my mind for a balanced vegan meal, I have a grain.
I usually have a bean.
I usually have a protein.
I usually have some greens.
If I can get some fermented action in there, like a kimchi or or fermented seaweed salad, I'll try to do that.
But that's the way I think about vegan food balance.
But most of my staples are chickpeas, brown rice, broccoli, cauliflower, kale sometimes.
I do eat a lot of pickled stuff.
There's this amazing fermented seaweed salad that's awesome.
I generally do kimchi.
I'll make my own tahini.
I'll use hot sauces, proteins.
I'm a big fan of tempeh.
Air fried is how I do it.
And if I can get it, I like seitan a lot.
Just straight up unflavored seitan.
Occasionally, I'll do the fake burgers and stuff.
But for me, supplements, you're really concerned about your omegas, which I get through just buying virgin pressed walnut oil, pecan oil,
And pumpkin seed oil or just from grind making a meal or grinding up walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds and Brazil nuts and doing about a quarter cup of that a day.
Or they also have non they have vegan omega supplements.
And what you're really going to need to get is that B12.
So for me, the only supplements I make sure I get are something with the omegas, unless I'm eating the omegas, and a B12 spray I use daily because you can't get B12 from a vegan diet.
And sometimes vitamin D. I'm multi, and I've become very kind of into potassium, magnesium, aspartate.
I think it's good for my gut.
But it's not a lot of supplements.
Have you been approached to do a travel slash cooking slash food show since Bourdain popularized the genre?
I see various actors with these shows and wonder if this is something you would do or have been offered.
You're a foodie.
You cook.
You travel all over.
I would watch it.
Yeah, but I'm pretty limited because I'm vegan.
I mean, there's probably places to go with that, but it's certainly not as fun as slabs of meat of different kinds or fish.
But no, no one's ever really approached me.
I've had a friend ask me before, if you're hanging out with Kit and you fart, do you A, use your comedy skills and make a joke of it?
B, explain it as in, guess I had too much cabbage today.
Or C, ignore it and carry on.
You know, it's weird because Kid and I, we don't live together and we don't really, you know, spend the night together that much because she snores and moves around a lot.
So, you know, we have this weird distance.
So it's still possible not to just blast one off in front of each other.
But, you know, if we have and we've done it, you know, simple excuse me or whatever.
Don't make a big production of it.
You say that you find it hard to experience joy.
When I listen to the show, there are guests, most recently Ben Stiller, that really seem like they spark something legitimately joyful in you.
Is it possible that you just don't recognize it when it's happening?
Oh, look, when I'm talking to people, you know, people make me laugh or we can get something going, you know, busting each other's balls or if I really find somebody funny, I'm thrilled.
I'm thrilled.
And I do enjoy that.
And maybe I didn't think that was joy, but I guess laughter, certainly laughing uncontrollably with another person is joy.
So I recognize it.
Maybe I just call it laughing.
But I guess that if you break it down, it is joy.
Yeah.
Yeah, I definitely recognize when it's happening.
Well, that's it.
There will be one more Ask Mark Anything episode before we wrap things up.
Thank you.