In celebration of Marc Maron’s stint at Helium this past weekend (and our shared hatred of Gallagher), I wanted to let you guys know that Maron posted his truncated interview with Gallagher today (Gallagher threw down the mic and stormed out after 30 minutes).
You can listen to it here. And you should.
Maron (measured, direct, and fair—I love him) questions Gallagher about his history, the mechanics of comedy, and finally—as the interview builds toward Gallagher’s abrupt exit—some of his more controversial material. Gallagher rants about sub-atomic particles (electrons are giving us cancer) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (apparently they screwed him out of some money—for pizza, probably) for the first ten minutes or so, and then it gets to the political stuff.
You should definitely listen to it if you’re interested in this at all. It’s a really dramatic, sad interview.
Gallagher has eight main defenses—which you can learn about after the jump.
1. The “Jokes Don’t Matter” Defense: “IT’S A NIGHTCLUB.” “I am telling them things they’ll laugh at. And they enjoy it.”
2. The “I’m Just Pandering to My Audience” Defense: “There’s no blacks in my audience. Not one.” “You can’t tell a lesbian joke in Boston, Minneapolis, Portland, or Seattle.”
3. The “But Gays Are Weird” Defense: “Here’s what comedy is—it’s a reversal…so having a female spirit in a male body or a male spirit in a female body is a reversal. It’s God’s joke!”
4. The “I Stole That Joke Off a Racist Hobo” Defense: “I’m repeating jokes I heard on the street!”
5. The “White Men Are Strong and Can Take It, Unlike the Rest of You” Defense: “Let’s say I tell a joke about a white, middle-class man. Does anybody say why do I not like white, middle-class men? It’s that ONE area of our society is sensitive and can’t take a joke!”
6. The “Arabs Are Our Enemy” Defense: “Arabs are our enemy!”
7. The “I’mma Let You Finish but Gallagher Is Like the Greatest Comedian of All Time” Defense: “Most comedians are terrible. They should listen to me.”
8. Aaaand the “Lindy West Broke My Brain” Defense: “I tell five lesbian jokes, and you went and found one article that was written about me, and you decided to put me in a pigeon-hole.”
My bad, Gallagher. My bad. Frowny-face.
I really do feel bad for Gallagher. He is old and bitter and sad. But his ideas are terrible and he has a platform to reach people, so he should be prepared to be called on his shit. Maron does it beautifully.
One last thing I want to mention. At one point, Maron is trying to patiently explain to Gallagher what a stereotype is—why he shouldn’t tell jokes about money-hungry Jews—and Gallagher rebuts with yet another stereotype: “Black comedians ONLY talk about the differences between blacks and whites.” The idea that “black comedians” deal only in stereotypes is a stereotype about black comedians. A dated, untrue stereotype. Maron doesn’t point that out, and I wish he would.
Oh, and one last thing: Apparently you can now follow Gallagher on Twitter. A sample tweet:
Sigh.
Maron’s set on Friday was great. I like that guy.
Fascinating interview! Wow. Cranky grandpa cliches don’t do Gallagher justice. For someone who lays such claim to greatness he sure does quickly dissolve the self when it comes to those “street jokes.”
Maron is awesome but he did lapse into some Air America-style ranting at the end. It’s too bad because he’s got a knack for coaxing the truth out of people (see Mencia interviews), and with a more measured tone, he’d have had Gallagher fully choking on his own vomit.
Yo, Beez-townies! I’m thinking of downloading some more of these WTF podcasts. Got any faves?
Robin Williams
Carlos Mencia
Dane Cook
Louis C.K.
Bob Saget
Janeane Garofalo
Kevin Smith
Judd Apatow
Patrice O’Neal
Maria Bamford
Live with Erin Foley & Jon Daly
Some of those might not be available from his site anymore, though.
What FB said.
Just listened to and dug the Patton Oswalt interview. Moshe Kasher one is great.
Sarah Silverman is good too, and Henry Rollins. And Rob Cordry. The Janeane Garofalo interview is so fucking depressing.
while i love marc, he did seem a bit dickish in this interview. tell someone they are a homophobe and reinforcing hate once or twice. when you repeat this again and again, you become boring.
I enjoyed Gallagher’s idea that every comedian wants to do the state fair circuit.
Sure Maron’s got an agenda, but that’s what makes him stand out. He’s willing to take on serious issues within his comedy. To me that makes him much more interesting than someone who basically is known for smashing fruit.
That Garofalo interview made me sad for her. I know those in the public eye are often plagued by neuroses but I’ve never listened to someone so smart, so talented, so funny ooze so much insecurity.
Garofalo and Gallagher seem like bookends for a really bad library collection, neither is very funny or likeable.
While I love his show Marc Maron is a hypocrite. His PC sensitivity on what is and isn’t comedy is grating if not condescending [for a too-cool-for-the-room-Portlandia-hipster-doofus like Lindy West that’s fine I suppose]. He regularly appears on Opie and Anthony one of the most homophobic, racist and misogynistic (and funny) shows on radio today. Then again when Maron appears he’s promoting his comedy shows and podcast so I suppose its OK by him. And by Lindy West as apparently as well.
Great podcast from Maron, been dorkin’ out on it the past couple days. The Henry Rollins and Kevin Smith episodes are especially fantastic…
Wow, finally listened to this. His disdain for performers who take a drink of water is spot on! Comedians should only drink high proof, low quality hard liquor.