BONUS Ask Marc Anything #16
Guest:how's it going folks it's time for another edition of ask mark anything this is the 16th
Guest:Of these questions from you, our premium listeners.
Guest:By that, I mean these questions are all from Fullmarin subscribers.
Guest:Here we go.
Guest:What's it been like traveling the country in 2024 in a world where Trump has a real chance of becoming president again?
Marc:Does it freak you out knowing that everywhere you go, many of the people you encounter want that fuck to win again?
Marc:Well, yes, it freaked me out in 2016, and it freaks me out now to a certain degree.
Marc:But what I've learned over time when I choose to go to places that are clearly either full-on red states or...
Marc:are particularly isolated, which isn't that often.
Marc:But even anywhere, I can feel the presence of the divisiveness of the country.
Marc:And in 2016, when I was speaking full-throated out against a Trump presidency, I would go to places and I would be very afraid.
Marc:I mean, we live in a country where someone just tried to shoot that guy and people with guns are everywhere and people with emotions are everywhere and people who are loaded up in their mentally ill brains are everywhere, ready to go.
Marc:It just becomes a true fear.
Marc:That, you know, you go out there as a comic alone.
Marc:I still go out primarily alone.
Marc:And there were times in during the first Trump presidency where I wanted security to be a little a little more efficient.
Marc:I wanted scanners.
Marc:Because you don't know at what point someone wants to make a myth out of themselves by doing something violent.
Marc:And also, I think it's the liability of another Trump presidency in general.
Marc:Who knows how that will really unfold in terms of how the authorities or how the federal government works in any given state.
Marc:But...
Marc:What's worse is that you start to become so afraid yourself that you don't talk, which I think is one of the unspoken things that people don't really address.
Marc:In an authoritarian country, just out of fear of whatever your brain is creating or actual possibilities of how that government will manage power, you shut up.
Marc:And that's a fundamental freedom that is taken away from you by you out of fear.
Marc:It's already happening.
Marc:So the answer is, yeah, absolutely.
Marc:And it's not going to get any better.
Marc:And that's one of my bigger fears about a Trump presidency outside of everything is that people with different points of view or different ways of life will be stifled in a lot of ways out of fear for their own safety.
Marc:Not because the feds are going to come in or it's going to be like the obscenity laws of the 50s and stuff, which might come back, but that the dominant point of view has no tolerance and people will be afraid.
Marc:But on the other side of that...
Marc:I know, not unlike before Trump existed as a president or as a force of evil to be reckoned with, is that no matter where you go, whether it was a red state or not, I know that there are people, like-minded people who know me, who are my fans, and generally I'm performing primarily for them because it's advertised as such and it's at a theater, that they will come out.
Marc:They still live out there, and they're scared.
Marc:I mean, that's really the most difficult thing about thinking about a Trump presidency is just how terrified and hopeless and depressed a good part of my audience will be.
Marc:And their need for me to...
Marc:kind of relieve that through comedy or speak their mind through what I do will be, you know, almost desperate.
Guest:And then it becomes this service that needs to be provided and not just an entertainment option.
Guest:What do you think of Boise?
Guest:Have you not come here before because it's such a conservative area or does that not factor into where you tour?
Marc:It factors in a bit but not so much conservative but just sort of like what is really my audience there?
Marc:Am I going to go to Boise to perform for 100 people?
Marc:Probably not.
Marc:You know, I'm pretty busy, but I liked Boise.
Marc:I liked the town.
Marc:I liked the people.
Marc:We had a good show there.
Marc:But a lot of times, you know, I just don't know what my audience will bear there.
Marc:But yeah, I mean, I look at markets like markets and there are some states like I've never been to.
Marc:I've never performed in Arkansas.
Marc:I've performed once or twice in Oklahoma City, but there are some states where I just know that the draw won't be that good, and I'm sorry if you live in those states that you might have to come see me somewhere else.
Marc:Do you schmooze with your fans before or after your shows?
Marc:I used to do a meet and greet, but that could take up another extra hour or so, and COVID kind of killed a lot of that.
Marc:But yeah, I mean, I'm around.
Marc:Sometimes after shows, I'll come out, and if there are stragglers and stuff, I'll do a few picks.
Marc:But I don't do any planned schmoozes generally anymore.
Marc:But I'm kind of around.
Marc:When you are in Detroit, do you do anything?
Marc:Well, the last time we were there, I stayed at that, I think it's called the Foundation.
Marc:It's an old firehouse hotel, and I like it very much.
Marc:And I like to get out a little bit in Detroit and walk around.
Marc:Before I stopped eating meat, I went to Dearborn.
Marc:and had some of the food of that area.
Marc:I can't remember exactly which type of Muslim-based cuisine I had or what ethnicity.
Marc:I think it was probably Pakistani or... I can't remember, but I do generally want them in places, try to find what's unique to that area and indulge with it.
Marc:I remember the first time I...
Marc:it wasn't the first time, but that time I played at the Masonic Hall in Detroit, I think it was, I don't remember, it was, Detroit was still pretty beat up, and I guess it is still kind of beat up, but I did go to some food hall nearby the Masonic, and it was, it almost seemed, it wasn't quite together, but it did seem very organic to the area, it was a lot of these food
Marc:halls have the same restaurants now because it's kind of a big business for certain cities, a big gentrification business.
Marc:But this one seemed pretty rough.
Guest:And I do remember being introduced to a Pad Thai burrito.
Guest:That happened in Detroit.
Marc:Who are your favorite new comics to watch?
Marc:Well, I'm a big fan of Fahim Anwar, who we've had on this show, and I always get a kick out of him.
Marc:His brain's just on fire, and he's always generating.
Marc:He's always like he's just got that sort of young, hungry, intelligent comic thing in his brain where everything he looks at
Marc:Everything he looks at has to process into a joke.
Marc:And it's kind of funny to see him work that stuff out because he's very good at physicalizing and he's a bright guy.
Guest:And I do get laughs from him.
Guest:And I also like this new relatively new comic, Blair Saki, who is also going to be on the show.
Guest:I get a real kick out of her.
Guest:What advice would you give to an alienated progressive comic going to open mics in an area where the most popular comics are right-wing evangelical Christians?
Guest:Do you think I should share my liberal perspective on stage or maybe go to a bigger city with more like-minded comics and audiences?"
Guest:Hey, look, man, that's up to you.
Guest:I have generally always been more a shit starter.
Guest:I've always been in the mode of pushing buttons.
Guest:But as I addressed earlier in these questions, the risk of that
Marc:In certain areas, especially if you live there and you're working with a group of other comics, you have to accept and thrive on the alienation you experience and also the real fear of being taken to task one way or the other.
Marc:I mean, that's one of the things that gets lost in the culture right now is that people are just afraid to talk.
Marc:And if you do speak out, who are you really speaking out to?
Marc:And will it change anything?
Marc:And does it matter?
Marc:And is it an unnecessary risk?
Marc:Look, those are all personal questions and they're real questions.
Guest:If you want to grow as a comic and it's stifling your ability to do that, then, yeah, you should probably go somewhere where you can grow as a comic and then return fully armed with a point of view that you have confidence in.
Guest:Have you had any ideas for the show that Brendan shot down or has Brendan ever proposed anything that you thought wouldn't work?
Guest:Sure.
Guest:That happens.
Guest:Brendan and I have a very effective and long and fully respectful business relationship and friendship that comes from that.
Marc:So it's not like there's arguments.
Marc:I'll generally defer because he's better at thinking like me than I am.
Marc:And he also knows the ramifications of certain
Marc:ideas or guests.
Marc:The one thing that Brendan has over me, which is good, is that when I do monologues, I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants at the beginning of the show and thinking out loud.
Marc:And a lot of that stuff doesn't make it in for one reason or another.
Marc:And I have full trust and confidence in his editing skills and why he does that.
Marc:And there have been times with guests where I've had an idea and we've talked it through and we just wonder, is it an hour of conversation?
Marc:Is the conversation worth it for whatever reasons?
Marc:What will be taken out of context and used to start shit?
Marc:Or whether or not is it really interesting or good for the show to engage a certain...
Marc:guest.
Marc:So there are those questions with certain guests, but not often.
Marc:We're usually on the same page, and a lot of people come, they're pitched to us, and we think about it.
Marc:And if Brendan has had any ideas about guests that I've not necessarily shot down, but wondered about, it's usually things that are out of my...
Marc:you know, wheelhouse in terms of interests.
Marc:But even those have worked out pretty good.
Marc:You know, there are interests that Brendan has that are different than mine.
Marc:But a lot of times after a conversation, he, you know, he'll kind of illuminate the fact that even if I'm not particularly interested in it, it will be an interesting conversation.
Marc:And that's happened with wrestlers.
Marc:It's happened with stunt performers.
Marc:It happened with Rick Baker, the makeup artist.
Marc:I mean, there's a lot of things that Brendan will introduce me to and sort of guide me in a way of thinking about it that I wouldn't have thought to do.
Marc:But there's never, ever been any real contention or arguments.
Marc:You know, I remember even when Hunter Biden was on to approach that in the same way that we approached Obama or anybody that has a public profile that is loaded with
Marc:with politics, that the idea to talk to Hunter Biden specifically about drug addiction was a good idea and an interesting idea and an honest idea to remove it from the political spectrum and address it from the point of view of a drug addict, which I am and he is, and kind of keep the conversation around that.
Marc:But I didn't know if that was a great idea at first.
Marc:So anytime we have any, there's no shooting down of ideas or guests.
Marc:And there are many times where I think things won't work, but that speaks to my insecurity more than anything else.
Marc:But it's always a conversation and it's always respectful.
Marc:And there's a very long and deep kind of understanding we have from working together for so long.
Marc:And usually it works out one way or the other.
Marc:I mean, a lot of times Brendan will just go, are you interested in this guy?
Marc:Without any opinion of his own.
Marc:And I'll say, well, not really.
Marc:And he'll say, well, you know, but there is this and I'll be like, oh, well, that's interesting.
Marc:So it's always a conversation.
Guest:You've said in the past, a lot of your talks are in the moment and they don't stay with you.
Guest:Are there any that have stuck with you longer or perhaps some fragments that return to you?
Guest:Sure, there are.
Marc:There are many for different reasons at different points.
Marc:Specifically, sometimes I'll recount moments like the David Harbour moment about stage fright and about to go on stage.
Marc:I love that.
Marc:The Friedkin arc was kind of amazing.
Marc:There are people that I've met over the years, Mel Brooks, and just kind of remembering my feelings about that conversation.
Marc:There are people that I've been in awe of that I've been able to sit down with and talk to, Keith Richards.
Marc:There have been moments where I didn't necessarily feel confident and had amazing experiences, which is most of them.
Marc:Bruce Springsteen at his house.
Marc:These are more than things that are said a lot of times if something is special and you never thought it would happen.
Marc:Obviously, talking to the president at my house, I still can't quite wrap my brain around that.
Marc:Uh, but, but they're, they're just the idea that I've sat down with these people and it's to the point now where, you know, I can't even remember a lot of them, but there were definitely guests that filled in big gaps in my life or in my thinking that have changed, uh, you know, my life and my thinking, you know, sitting down with Lorne Michaels over two days was, was, was kind of, uh, got me a lot of closure.
Marc:Uh, and that happened a lot with a lot of other comics and, um,
Marc:There's weird moments, like when Anna Faris had to go to the bathroom and we talked while she was in the bathroom.
Marc:I remember I fed Kristen Bell.
Marc:I remember I fed Roseanne Barr.
Marc:I remember I fed John Glazer.
Marc:I remember Albert Brooks, when I had to go answer the door, saying, do you want me to keep talking?
Marc:I remember, you know, there's just odd moments.
Marc:Yeah, I mean, if I really sat down and thought about it guest by guest, that's an interesting exercise.
Marc:And maybe I'll do that.
Marc:You know, just go back over the almost 1600 interviews I've done just to see what I actually do remember.
Marc:Oddly, Brendan has a much better recollection of all of the conversations than I do because he sits with them for longer.
Marc:You know, my experience with these conversations is I have them and then I send them to Brendan and then Brendan sits with them for hours.
Marc:kind of uh you know you know forming it and and making it have uh a sort of flow and and editing and stuff so his memory of my conversations is much better that might be a good question for him but there have been there have been many times where i've i've i've learned things where i've spoken to my heroes where i just can't believe it's happening and and more so than anything else uh
Marc:The experience and the feeling of having that moment stands out in my mind a lot of times more than what's said because not unlike anybody else who has a conversation, you have it and then it's behind you.
Guest:Can you explain your process for working with guest bookers?
Marc:Yes, guest bookers present us with a list of people who are available at a certain time for whatever reason.
Marc:And then we have to, you know, we get pitched to those people and Brendan sends me a list and I go over the list and we talk about it.
Marc:And because, you know, at this point, you know, I've talked to most of the people I really want to talk to.
Guest:Yeah, it's just, you know, you get lists of people and you figure out whether there's something there for us and for the show and for me.
Guest:And, you know, I'm always kind of surprised.
Guest:And that's how that generally works.
Guest:What does ACAST do for the podcast?
Marc:ACAST is a platform that we are in.
Marc:a uh a contract with and they and they put the the the podcast up uh you know they it's their platform that we exist on and uh you know we do the bonus this content for them and they promote us through their arm and they're a big uh podcasting platform out of uh out of europe and it was just the right fit and the right deal in terms of how we want to do the podcast and they provided us with the freedom to do it uh
Marc:with it, what we want.
Marc:And, and, and with that, we, uh, you know, we are, um, distributed by, by a cast there are platform.
Guest:Do you ever feel empty or devoid of things to talk about in the monologues?
Marc:How do you get out of writer's block if so?
Marc:Yeah, I do a lot because I do feel that a lot because I do these twice a week.
Marc:And sometimes it's only two days since I last talked to you.
Marc:And my engagement with the culture at large is limited to my interest.
Marc:So a lot of times, as you know, if you listen, I end up talking about my day.
Marc:And usually when I get started talking, it's a little different than writer's block, but not so much.
Marc:But I am talking.
Marc:I'm not, there's no, the middleman is not the keyboard, you know, or there's no, I'm not mediated by that, by that thinking.
Marc:I'm speaking out loud and all of a sudden things will unfold as I talk about them.
Marc:But yeah, I do get writer's block, I guess, or talker's block.
Marc:Do you have a beef with Jeff Altman?
Marc:He's never been on the show despite being a pretty big 80s comedian.
Marc:No, no.
Marc:I used to love Jeff Altman when I used to watch him when I was a doorman at the comedy store in the 80s.
Marc:No, I love Jeff.
Marc:I don't know really what he's up to or what an hour with Jeff would look like or where he's at in his mind.
Marc:But I don't have anything against him.
Marc:Absolutely not.
Marc:Sweet guy.
Marc:I love the repeat guests that have shown up more frequently over the last year.
Marc:Are there any people you'd consider having over on a yearly basis?
Guest:Yes, that's happening because many of the people we talked to the first time were young people and now they're middle-aged people or approaching it.
Guest:So they've had a whole life in between that.
Marc:And yeah, there are some guests that are starting to unfold as good repeat guests for yearly guests, guys I like talking to, usually comics.
Marc:Which interviews taught you the most about interviewing over the years?
Marc:Well, that's an interesting question.
Marc:because I'm still wary to think about what I do as interviewing, and I don't approach it that way.
Marc:I think as a job title, I'm a conversationalist, and what I'm looking for is a conversation, and I load up with information in hopes that that conversation will unfold.
Marc:And I think what's interesting in terms of what I do is the most difficult thing
Marc:conversations that I have are ones it doesn't happen as much as it used to when people show up to be interviewed in a way that they are used to being interviewed people expecting questions and I guess in some way that's probably taught me the most is is how do you get from there to
Marc:someone who is expecting to be asked questions and engage in that way and have that unfold into a conversation.
Marc:And there's been a few of those that are difficult.
Marc:And because of my experiences with them, depending on whether or not I know that someone's maybe not a big talker, I'll do more research than necessary, but I'm always trying to provoke a conversation.
Marc:Like recently with Geezer Butler, he's the bass player of Black Sabbath, and it became apparent fairly quickly that it wasn't going to be a free-flowing conversation just by nature of who he is as a person, but also about what he's grown to expect as a guy who doesn't do a lot of that stuff.
Marc:So in that case, I read the whole book, so at least I knew the life I was going to be talking about, and I would have...
Marc:more of the answers, which I think is kind of an old interviewing maxim that you should know the answer to the question that you're asking.
Marc:I don't abide by that, but when I think it will be respectful or important to be more informed because either I'm not confident that the conversation will unfold or I don't know a lot of the person, I'll load up in a different way and, again, still hope for a conversation to unfold.
Marc:What are your two or three favorite guitars and what about them makes them special?
Marc:Well, I just bought a, I think it's a 73 Telecaster Custom.
Marc:And my first guitar ever really outside of the Les Paul copycat I had, which was a Goldtop, I had a Tele because Keith had a Tele.
Marc:And over the years, I've grown to understand more about the sounds that guitars make and what I prefer.
Marc:But this Tele Custom I bought, I love it.
Marc:It's got the Fender humbucker in the rhythm position and a Fender single coil in the lead.
Marc:And it's just like the sound of it, the Telecaster sound, especially the middle position.
Marc:And if you want some more bite in the lead position is something I like and I like the sound of.
Marc:But I've also shifted a bit more towards P90s.
Marc:And I really like the Les Paul.
Marc:I got an old Les Paul sound.
Marc:Junior with one P90 in the lead position, which is dirtier.
Marc:I like that one because it gets pretty messy.
Marc:Over the last couple of years, I've been a real P90 guy.
Marc:That Goldtop, that 56 Gibson Custom Shop reissue of the Les Paul Deluxe has two P90s.
Marc:And I just like the kind of distorted sound that it gets.
Marc:So I would say, you know, right now,
Marc:That Les Paul Jr.
Marc:I bought, which I think is a 1960, and that 73 Tele Custom I bought, I really like.
Marc:And I do like that gold top that I bought that I broke the head top off of.
Marc:But those seem to be the ones that I play the most right now.
Marc:So those are my favorites.
Marc:And I don't have a ton.
Marc:And a lot of the ones that I have, I've finagled off of people, Gibson or otherwise.
Marc:But those seem to be where I'm at with that.
Marc:What's your experience with Brian Eno's music?
Marc:I was turned on to Brian Eno by a guy named Steve LaRue, who was in a band called Lash LaRue and Jungle Red, an experimental noise band.
Marc:Back when I was in high school, he worked at the record store next to the bagel shop I worked at.
Marc:And he turned me on to a vast...
Marc:variety of of more experimental music john haskell fred frith brian eno the residents come to mind um and i was like you know in my teens and and it kind of stuck with me and brian you know as a guy i had the frip the frippin eno record the evening star record i have all of brian eno's records
Marc:So my experience with him as I get older and as I've moved through different – my evolution as somebody who enjoys music and just to know that he was so moved and provoked or inspired by the Velvet Underground and then he produced some David Bowie records and some –
Marc:a U2 record and he continues to make his ambient music and it's just like I just think he's of his own and the effect of his music it really sits well with me and I like the the earlier records where they have sort of a goofy not a necessarily a pop sensibility but almost a childlike sensibility lyrically
Marc:against his experimental use of synthesizers and keyboards and guitar, and also in Roxy Music.
Marc:He's one of those guys that I knew was special, and he's definitely appreciated, but I felt like I was onto something that was unique.
Marc:And he's still kind of like... I'm very...
Marc:tuned into him in terms of almost his impact on music and whoever he produces or whatever he does.
Guest:So it's an experience that has evolved and continues to evolve and grow since I was in high school.
Guest:Have you ever considered having Yngwie Malmsteen on?
Guest:I have not.
Marc:What are your thoughts on Nine Inch Nails and Trent Reznor?
Marc:I love him.
Marc:I love him.
Marc:Downward Spiral is a big record for me.
Marc:And I like his soundtracks.
Marc:I like everything about him.
Marc:He's a very...
Marc:Daunting figure to me, and I still listen to those records.
Marc:I'm a big Nine Inch Nails fan.
Marc:What are your thoughts on conjunto music?
Marc:I'm from San Benito, the birthplace of the genre.
Marc:I love it.
Marc:And I kind of grew up with conjunto music because I grew up in New Mexico, and there was always a station...
Marc:playing that... And I was always curious about it, and then as I learned more about it, that a lot of those horns and that polka sound came in from Texas through the Germans in Texas, as did barbecue.
Marc:So, you know, it's tied into a whole cultural thing that I never knew about.
Marc:And we did an episode in Austin where me and Lucas Melandes actually ended up at a conjunto festival and talked to a conjunto...
Marc:historian.
Marc:The music has been in the back of my brain and on the AM radio since I was a kid in New Mexico.
Marc:Do you ever get concerned or frustrated that you may never reach a point where you feel like you can truly, truly relax or turn off the agitated voice in your head?
Marc:Well, I guess I get concerned and frustrated, but unfortunately or fortunately, a lot of that is what drives me.
Marc:But as I get older and a little more wise, a lot of that has settled down.
Marc:Will you ever go on another vacation?
Marc:I hope so.
Marc:What's the funniest thing your dad has said recently?
Marc:I think I told you, didn't I?
Marc:My dad is married to an evangelical Christian Trumpy person, but I don't want to put her in a box.
Marc:She's a very good person, and she takes care of my father.
Marc:She loves him, and I love her, and it's one of those things.
Marc:But she does need to spend some time on her own.
Marc:And my dad's very adverse to having an in-house caregiver.
Marc:So she just sticks him in front of Fox News and leaves him on the couch for a few hours.
Marc:So that kind of
Marc:folds into my dad's relatively apolitical brain that is now addled with some form of dementia.
Marc:And so, you know, the what filters through is always kind of interesting.
Marc:Like he asked me on the phone not long ago, he goes, what do you think about all these blacks coming in over the border?
Marc:You know, and there's a lot to unpack there.
Marc:Not too much, but, you know, there's nothing good about it.
Marc:But I do think he was conflating two separate racist ideas.
Marc:What TV show from the 70s would you have liked to guest star in?
Marc:There's a couple, I think, now that I think about it.
Marc:Mary Tyler Moore, that would have been fun.
Marc:Barney Miller, I think, would have been great to just be in the jail cell for whatever reason, be a nice comic.
Guest:Have you tried any mocktails?
Guest:Thoughts?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Some of the fancier bars that do interesting things with bitters and juices and things.
Marc:I've tried a couple of those.
Marc:I don't really like the non-alcoholic gins or wines or any of that stuff.
Marc:I do enjoy non-alcoholic beer.
Marc:And I've been drinking a lot of it up here because there's this brand.
Marc:I think it's Nani.
Marc:uh that like it's great like uh down the states if you feel like having a beer you know it's never been my thing i don't feel uncomfortable in bars not drinking but occasionally the taste of beer is kind of nice i like beer uh and now there's some pretty high-end non-alcoholic beers that taste great and these ones up here they have a pilsner an ipa and another one and
Marc:They're not highly caloric and they taste really good.
Marc:So, yeah, I've tried them, but I don't drink them much because they're just more like a juice thing.
Marc:But if it's a fancy bar that does interesting things with the little mashers where they mash things and the little mortar and pestles and they're doing spice and things like that, those are fun.
Marc:But I'll have the non-alcoholic beer here and there.
Marc:As I've gotten older, I've surprisingly found that getting a good solid night's sleep is one of life's biggest challenges.
Marc:How are you sleeping these days?
Marc:Well, you know, I get up to pee, but generally I don't sleep long, but I sleep deep.
Marc:And I do hear you, man.
Marc:But on some level, it doesn't seem like I need the amount of sleep I used to need or that I can do it.
Marc:But I'm fortunate in that even if I get six hours, five or six hours, that it's usually pretty satisfying.
Marc:But the getting up to pee thing, you know, that's just something I guess that you got to live with.
Marc:Will you actually move to Canada?
Marc:I moved to Germany about six years ago after the first Trump presidency.
Marc:And while it's not always easy, I still think I made the right call, especially with Trump being the nominee again.
Marc:Well, look, you know, I've put in place a process that has not yielded anything yet to have permanent residency up here if I need it.
Marc:I don't really know what that means for me.
Marc:In terms of really making a move, I do love America.
Marc:It is my country.
Marc:But I think the cultural ramifications outside of the political ramifications of authoritarianism, which is very possible, might be a lot to live with.
Marc:So I'd like to have the option.
Marc:I haven't made any decisions, but the reason I applied for it was to get some relief and know that somehow or another I've got a legit way out.
Marc:And it might be all rooted in fear, but I do think the cultural ramifications of authoritarianism and minority rule are already happening.
Marc:And but for me to move to Canada would mean, you know, this was me doing something at a retirement age where I want to be I want to have my own freedom and mind.
Marc:to exist in the world without a constant fear of my government or the people that inhabit my country.
Marc:So I don't know to what degree that would have to escalate for me to be like, I got to get the fuck out of here.
Marc:But that's really my concern, is to have the option on paper and...
Marc:If I need to do it, do it as opposed to end up a refugee of one kind or another.
Marc:If asked to do so, would you ever host an award show?
Marc:You know, I'm not great at that kind of stuff, but, you know, usually it's pretty prompter heavy and I might be able to make it my own.
Marc:But, you know, I generally think I'm not I wouldn't give what people wanted.
Marc:You know, I'm not really a song and dance man.
Marc:I'm not particularly everyone's idea of a good time.
Marc:So and it would cause me a tremendous amount of stress.
Marc:I saw Patton do it once at the Independent Spirit Awards, and it was a horrible gig.
Marc:But he showed up for it and manned up for it.
Marc:But it's a specific job, and I don't need it.
Marc:How many Zins do you use a day?
Marc:I'm on at least a can.
Marc:Got to stop.
Marc:Yeah, I'm pretty hooked on the nicotine and Zins all of a sudden are hard to find, but I'm doing a combination of Zins and Nicorette.
Marc:Yeah, I got to get off it.
Marc:I'm pretty saturated, but I've been here before, pre-Zin.
Marc:I'm just happy that I'm not doing any tobacco products.
Marc:And I seem to think that the pure nicotine is good, though it's fucking with me and it's a pain in the ass.
Marc:Addiction's a pain in the ass.
Marc:Are you willing to audition for roles?
Marc:Absolutely.
Marc:Do you feel like that's how I got glow?
Marc:Do you feel like you've accomplished all you want from acting or are there other characters or challenges you'd like to take on?
Marc:No, I would like to challenge myself more.
Marc:And, you know, after to Leslie, you know, I kind of broke through into something else where I did the work and I put something in place that.
Marc:felt like real work.
Marc:And I'm getting a little of that on this project I'm working on now.
Marc:It's a little lighter than Two Leslie.
Marc:It's a bit more of a comedy.
Marc:But there are scenes that are emotional, and I am sort of consciously making choices in most of those scenes.
Marc:So there is more to get from it.
Marc:It's really just a matter of am I getting something out of it?
Marc:Do I enjoy it?
Marc:And, you know, we're learning.
Marc:But yeah, there is a movie that I'm attached to that would be great for me and challenging, but also within my wheelhouse that hopefully that'll happen and I would be the lead in it.
Marc:Someone tried to break into my car this weekend.
Marc:Both my front door handles are busted, so I have to crawl from the back into the driver's seat, which is admittedly hysterical.
Marc:Have you ever been burglarized?
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Marc:When I lived on the Lower East Side in New York City in the late 80s, you know, it was like you really had to just not give a fuck about your car because it got broken into several times for nothing, for like a nickel and four pennies.
Marc:you know, on the console or in that little thing in between the seats.
Marc:I mean, it used to get broken in constantly.
Marc:CK used to do jokes about it.
Marc:We all did jokes about it because it was just so common.
Marc:I think his joke was that he just went ahead and broke his own window.
Marc:But yeah, the cars would get burglarized constantly.
Marc:Years ago, my house got burglarized in Highland Park.
Marc:That was a scary thing because my wife at the time was sleeping and the door was open.
Marc:There was a lot of fault on our part.
Marc:But
Marc:yeah so yes i have been burglarized and you should probably get your door handles fixed you you you'll get exhausted of climbing in from the back eventually what song or songs would you want played at your funeral also what's on the menu
Marc:I don't know, dude.
Marc:There are songs that move me.
Marc:Pale Blue Eyes, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.
Marc:I don't know what it is about eyes.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:I haven't put a lot of thought into it, and maybe I should have for this question, but it is a little morbid, and I am going to be cremated.
Marc:So I don't know really what would happen at that ceremony.
Marc:Maybe I'll look at my frequently played songs and try to figure it out.
Guest:I don't think it will be taking care of business by Bachman Turner Overdrive.
Guest:But I guess that's another thing.
Guest:You put your will together.
Guest:Maybe I should put the service together.
Guest:Thank you for the suggestion.
Guest:Are you a morning person or evening person or what?
Guest:And how do you deal with it, if at all?
Marc:Yeah, I function pretty good in the morning and I function pretty good in the evening.
Marc:I mean, I'm up now.
Marc:It's like eight in the morning and I'm doing the work.
Marc:And then it's sort of like having two jobs on any given day.
Marc:I have the day work where I interview or do this.
Marc:And then I have the evening work where I do stand up.
Marc:So I function pretty good in both zones.
Marc:I'm an all day person, man.
Marc:Do you rinse your rice before you cook it?
Guest:I do not.
Guest:I have rinsed it before, but I don't see any real difference.
Guest:You mean in terms of dirt or whatever?
Guest:I generally don't.
Guest:Occasionally I do.
Guest:How do you contextualize the higher power in the program?
Guest:Was your path to recovery at all spiritual?
Guest:I am a little stuck on the second and third steps myself.
Guest:look, dude, you just got to get over it.
Marc:You know, it's like a God of your understanding, you know, whatever it is.
Marc:I mean, you know, look, I have prayed, you know, I have thought about the concepts of the universe or whatever, but I mean, it's all part of the equation.
Marc:The act of prayer is humbling and it connects you to something.
Marc:It doesn't matter what it is.
Marc:And you can call it God or not.
Marc:I mean, you
Marc:do you have to believe?
Marc:I mean, the equation is really to get you to a point of accepting powerlessness when it comes to, at the very least, whatever your addiction is, whether it's alcohol, it's, it's really about the idea to buffer the idea of powerlessness that, you know,
Marc:It seems to help when you have some sort of universal or force bigger than yourself to realize that you are not in control of everything.
Marc:And you can still be in control of whatever it is your life is, but it's just the idea of getting to a place
Marc:of powerlessness and humbling yourself enough to get it into your head that you're powerless over alcohol.
Marc:And a lot of people are like, well, it's all willpower.
Marc:I guess.
Marc:But in order for somebody to understand in a deep way that they can't
Marc:drink or use drugs safely or manageably or occasionally and that you know anytime you do it it's going to lead you down the same path uh and to really get that into your fucking bones is is hard and you know letting go of that control for a lot of people it helps to have a higher power
Marc:It's comforting or it makes it humbles you.
Marc:So it doesn't matter what it is and it can be vague.
Marc:But to get hung up on it, I mean, look, that first step is all you're fucking gunning for.
Marc:Like if you want to and this is just me talking from my own experiences, you know, you get two and three into a place where you can accept it.
Marc:The higher power could be AA.
Marc:It could be some music.
Marc:Whatever it is that gets you into the zone of it isn't you.
Marc:There was a little...
Marc:A saying I heard once in AA, God doesn't wake up and think he's you.
Marc:So, like, whatever it is, it's really a trick.
Marc:The spirituality of it really comes through the kind of, you know, making your amends, making, you know, your fourth step and seeing who you are characterologically, you know, and being of service.
Marc:I mean, you know,
Marc:Spirituality is a fairly broad thing, and being of service is a big part of it.
Marc:It's not all sort of mystical garbage, but it's really just there to get you humble enough to understand your problem, and however you want to do it, of your understanding.
Marc:But don't get stuck on it, because as they say, that's just your disease, man.
Guest:Trying to hold you in control.
Guest:You've got to get to a point where you realize you're powerless and have very little control over just about everything.
Guest:Okay, that's it, folks.
Guest:Thanks for your questions.