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- [00:01]
Marc Maron
Hey, sometimes it takes a little push to get you going in the new year, right? And Peloton can give you the push you need to keep you on top of your fitness goals. I'm lucky. I've got mountains outside my window always reminding me that it's time to go on a hike. But if you don't have that, you can have Peloton offering you a variety of challenging classes that can fit into your schedule. You can challenge yourself anywhere with Peloton's All Access membership, work out at home, or take your favorite classes on the go and at the gym with the Peloton app. Find your push, find your power with peloton. Peloton@onepelaton.com Becoming Led Zeppelin explores the origins of rock's greatest band and their meteoric rise in just one year against all odds. Powered by awe inspiring psychedelic, never before seen footage, performances and music, Bernard McMahon's experimental cinematic odyssey explores Led Zeppelin's creative, musical and personal origin story, in the band's own words as the first officially sanctioned documentary on the group. A one week exclusive IMAX engagement starts February 7th in theaters everywhere. February 14th tickets@becoming led zeppelin film.com.
- [01:23]
Mo Welch
All.
- [01:23]
Marc Maron
Right, let's do this. How are you? What the fuckers? What the fuck buddies? What the fuck, Nicks? What's happening? How's it going where you are? What's happening out there? Are you okay? Is everything okay by you? As we head into this final week or so of what is America and into whatever America will become, that's a layer of stress, at least for me and probably half of the people in the country. But I hope you're okay and maybe even being happy. I don't know. I don't know from all that. Today on the show I talked to Mo Welch. She's a comic and cartoonist. Last year she released the special dad Jokes, which is part stand up set, part documentary about meeting her estranged father for the first time in 20 years. The special is now on Hulu. She also co hosts the podcast Sweethearts along with Beth Stelling. And we talk a bit about the experience that we're living through. But I do know that out here it's very trying and still quite awful and harrowing in not only the possibility of more fires, but just the horrendous loss of so many people here. It's almost unfathomable. I've talked to a lot of people, a lot of people that know people that lost everything, a few people that have lost everything. Try to help where I can. Will continue to do that. And I'm grateful. I'm lucky, I'm okay, I'm safe. My house is fine. It's still scary, but I'm okay. And my heart goes out to everybody that has experienced tremendous loss here because this affects everyone. You know, obviously the people that lost everything, it's profoundly affected and destroyed their lives. But for everybody else here, it's a very interesting thing about. What do you want? What do you want to call it? Catastrophe? Overwhelming environmental disaster? Just anything where there's massive loss and a massive collective feeling of powerlessness in the face of what caused that loss. It's just fucking crazy. And look, I was in New York on 9 11. I remember that day very clearly. How could you ever forget it? I woke up that morning, I turned on my AOL homepage, showed one tower standing, and I didn't know what to make of it. I thought, is this a joke? Is this a gag? Then I went up to my roof and I saw the smoke at the end of Manhattan. It was a crisp, clear day. Nothing was going on anywhere. Everything had been grounded. No cars in the street, no planes in the air. And I went back down to my house and I turned on the TV and saw the second tower fall. And then I went back on the roof and I was like, oh, my fucking God. And in that moment where your brain is trying to understand or comprehend or wrap your perception around what is happening, that is when the massive trauma kind of sets in. That moment of realization of, like, nothing will ever be the same again. All those lives lost. Manhattan just incapacitated, was fucking horrendous. And I stayed. And my girlfriend at the time, who had been getting off the train downtown a few blocks from the towers, got out of the subway and was in a storm of Ash, walked 40 blocks uptown, packed her bags and left New York, only came back to leave again. That's what got us out here. That's what got me to LA in the first place. I stayed for quite a bit longer, for months, maybe even close to a year. And she just left because she couldn't. She was totally incapacitated by the trauma of it. But I stayed and I. We performed a few weeks after, and New York was just. Everywhere was plastered with the faces of missing people. People were walking in a. In a state that was almost like an emotional zombie state. All, you know is to sort of try to get back to your routines, but nobody was normal for years. And you could smell it for. For months and months. And, you know, emotions were high and I felt some of that same energy here over the last few days, kind of PTSD that happens almost immediately, the trauma happens. And then you're walking in this zone of, of disbelief and, and sort of a kind of temporary emotional annihilation amidst all this destruction out here. And people who aren't affected by it directly, you know, they try to, you go on with your life, but it was menacing. See, I talked about what was going on on Monday and my feelings of concern and sadness and fear and just the kind of emotional reaction is such tremendous loss on behalf of so many people. And my thought is a natural thought, was like, you know, it's, it's time to get out. And it's interesting why, you know, what you're going to do in your mind, if you're lucky enough to at this point anyways, remain, you know, untouched physically or property wise, is to, you know, fight or flight. And, you know, all the logic in terms of, sure, you know, I love Los Angeles as much as the next guy. I didn't grow up here, but I've certainly spent a lot of time here and I love my house and there's a lot of great things about Southern California. But I got some, a couple of odd, not odd responses, but just from people who were like, you know, how could you just say you're gonna leave? I mean, we gotta, we gotta, we gotta rebuild better than ever. We gotta fight for our city. You gotta stay and fight the fight against what? Against what? What are you gonna fight? The wind? You're gonna fight the erratic wind? You're gonna, you know, kind of like set a timeline for every year that these things might happen? How are you gonna fight the wind? How are you gonna fight the drought if nobody's gonna get collectively hip to the fact that we might be past the point of no return with climate change? And so then it's just a matter of adapting so you know, this isn't gonna get better. Better. And so how many times a year do you see the weather app on your phone? It says gusts of wind. Are you going to be like, fuck, I got to get back on the fire app? I'm still on the fire app. There's no way to get off it now. The last few days have been just horrible. And they were forecasting 60 to 75 mile an hour winds. So then you just sit there and see if it gets close again and get ready, get the cat boxes open, get your go bags together, make sure your kids know what's up. Just this tentative vibe of it's coming it's coming. And these firefighters out here are fucking astounding, amazing, fucking real goddamn heroes. These guys and gals, men and women, all of them from all around the world coming together to try to manage this thing. And neither one of these fires are even half contained. Fight or flight, man. You know, what's the fight? How do you win or how do you survive? I'm in Fort Collins, Colorado tomorrow at Lincoln Center Performance Hall. Then Boulder, Colorado at the Boulder Theater on the next day, Saturday the 18th. I'll be in Santa Barbara, California at the Libero Theater on Thursday, January 30th. Then San Luis Obispo, California at Fremont center on Friday, January 31st. Monterey, California at the Golden State Theater on Saturday, February 1st. Iowa City at the Englert Theater on Thursday, February 13th. Des Moines, Iowa at the Hoyt Sherman place on Friday, February 14th. In Kansas City, Missouri at the Midland Theater on Saturday, February 15th. Then I'm in North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas, South Carolina, Illinois, Michigan. Go to wtfpod.com tour for all my dates and links to tickets. There will be more shows coming up. I'm planning on shooting a HBO special in New York City that'll be coming up. I think I'm gonna be putting getting some dates on the calendar in Vermont, Toronto, New Hampshire, heading into that special, getting this stuff together, you know. Look, it's clear that I've got a lot on my mind right now, but I'm sure wherever you live, there's a lot on your mind too. But something you can do to make sure there's one less thing on your mind is get protection for your house using the home security experts we trust at SimpliSafe. We've been using SimpliSafe for almost a decade and they always provide the best, most up to date methods for protecting your home. For example, SimpliSafe's Active Guard outdoor Protection can help prevent break ins before they happen. They use state of the art AI powered cameras with live professional monitoring agents watching your property to detect suspicious activity. They can also activate spotlights, contact the police, even talk directly to people on your property. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Put that crowbar away you. Huh? And this is before anyone has the chance to get inside your home. Plans start at just a dollar a day with no long term contracts or cancellation fees. Right now head to SimpliSafe.com WTF to get the best value. And in home security, WTF listeners can get 50% off their new SimpliSafe system with professional monitoring and their first month free@simplisafe.com WTF? That's SimpliSafe.com. wTF for 50% off? Look, it's hard to be rational in something so catastrophic and seemingly so irrational. But, yeah, I can't imagine, you know, the kind of menace of fear when you have children. I mean, I've got cats. I mean, and I think on some level, children are probably easier than cats. I mean, they'll do what you want them to do. They may cry, they may freak out, but they'll do what you want them to do. Cats are like, they don't give a fuck. They don't know what you're worked up about. And these poor cats in the last few days, because I was on the edge and we thought these winds were coming, and I was just, you know, waiting for a fire to, you know, hit close enough to where I got to go. I got to go again. I can't wait for the zone to change. And then, like, I just start to think. You know, you sit there and you think, like, well, look, okay, why don't. Why don't you just go out to the desert for a few days until something levels off, you know, so you can feel better, at least feel safe. And then I start to think like, well, then I gotta. It's gonna distress the cats. They gotta box them up, put them in the car, sit in a hotel. They're gonna be freaked out. No, just stay here and wait it out. And that's not. Sit here and wait and fight. You know, I'm not gonna, you know, don a firefighter's outfit and get out there, but there's some part of me that's willing to put my safety at risk so my cats won't be uncomfortable. Yeah, that's. That's a little crazy. Yeah, I gotta get that in perspective. So sensitive to the animals. But they're okay. And for some reason, when I got up today, Sammy was sleeping in one of the crates, the one that I could barely get him into, actually. He was easy. I threw him in the hamper. But today, he's like. I don't know, maybe he wants to go. Maybe I'm. Maybe I should see that as a sign. I need help. This episode is sponsored by Better Help. Sometimes it feels like we don't have much control over what's going on in the world. And that's true. There are a lot of things that are out of our hands. But there's also plenty you can do to write your own story. And a therapist can be a good editor, helping you get from one chapter to another. Right now I'm pretty overwhelmed. Yes. By what's going on in the world. Yes. But I also know that there are certain things I can take care of and certain things I can't. That's a good thing to talk to a therapist about, someone who can help give you a clearer picture of things. And if you need that kind of attention from a therapist, BetterHelp is a great place to start. It's fully online, affordable, and convenient. More than 5 million people worldwide have taken advantage of the benefits of therapy. Through BetterHelp, you get access to a diverse network of more than 30,000 credentialed therapists with a wide range of specialties. And it's easy to switch therapists anytime at no extra cost. Write your story with better help. Visit betterhelp.com WTF to get 10% off your first month. That's better help. H E L p.com WTF okay. All right, do that. All right, look, I, I'd heard of Mo Welch and I, you know, I've. And we have common friends. I've interviewed her friends. I watched her special. I thought it was kind of awesome to kind of track, you know, she's always had this propensity to do dad jokes, but she didn't really have a relationship with her dad for like 30 years. She decided, she decided to, to go find him. And the special is half that, half stand up. It's called dad jokes. It's streaming on Hulu, and this is me talking to Mo Welch. Did you split?
- [16:04]
Mo Welch
Yeah, we went to the desert.
- [16:05]
Marc Maron
And for what? How long?
- [16:07]
Mo Welch
We went for three nights. Well, it's terrible. I mean, it's terrible for everybody in the city right now, but my in laws lost their house in the Palisade. So at that time, like when we were gonna do the podcast, it's like, oh, my God, we just lost our house. And then we're like, we're getting to the desert. Cause it's like it was just smoke that next morning. So we're like, we can't have a kid. I mean, smell like a campfire. It's like, yeah, got a five year old.
- [16:29]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [16:29]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [16:30]
Marc Maron
I mean, yeah. I mean, I split because I got three cats, so I got no kids and cats are harder to get out of a house than a fucking kid. You know? And, you know, I went. But now, like. But the funny thing is, if there's a silver lining at all, it's that I only had one crate and I had to, you know, improvise. With a hamper and a box. And I go into Hollywood. I'm at the Hampton Inn, and then that catches fire. And I'm like, you gotta be fucking kidding me. But now I have three crates.
- [17:01]
Mo Welch
And where would you. So would you go. Would you go further this time if you're gonna head out?
- [17:05]
Marc Maron
Well, yeah, just because, like, now we gotta sit here for three days with winds, just looking at that fucking app, right. To see if anything's close enough to be a concern or if we actually get evacuated. And I'm like, I have no control over whether the house burns. I don't need to be here for that, and I don't need to be here anticipating it. If I could just drive the cats to Vegas or something, right?
- [17:29]
Mo Welch
I mean, that's the thing. It's like, you're like, okay, you go to the desert, you go to Vegas. Yeah, Vegas, three cats.
- [17:35]
Marc Maron
Yeah, I know. Well, that's the thing. But, like, they'll be all right.
- [17:38]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [17:38]
Marc Maron
And if it's going to salvage my mental state or keep us safe, you know, fuck it. But I don't know. I'm crazy anyways. Like, I'm ready to evacuate anytime.
- [17:46]
Mo Welch
Right? I mean, it does, obviously. I mean, I've been here for like 12 years and, you know, we've never seen anything like this.
- [17:52]
Marc Maron
Of course not.
- [17:53]
Mo Welch
Yeah. And it's just.
- [17:54]
Marc Maron
It's just like. Cause it's always like I said before, it's like, I'm not sure where they are, but they seem to be up in the mountains. They're over there. Like, it was always kind of like.
- [18:02]
Mo Welch
Out by Malibu, something like that.
- [18:04]
Marc Maron
Yeah, well, that one was bad, but usually it was. Yeah, it just. It's fucking crazy. And I'm in some sort of. I'm on the trauma spectrum right now.
- [18:13]
Mo Welch
Right.
- [18:14]
Marc Maron
Are you?
- [18:15]
Mo Welch
Oh, my God. For sure. I mean, I think I really am just like living. Living through it right now. And then it's gonna, like, I'm all of a sudden gonna. I'll cry in, like a few months.
- [18:24]
Marc Maron
So your in laws lost their house.
- [18:25]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [18:26]
Marc Maron
How are they doing?
- [18:28]
Mo Welch
Terrible. I mean, it was their dream house. Obviously they're not, you know, my. They're from, like, Texas and Rhode Island.
- [18:35]
Marc Maron
Yeah. That's. Interesting pairing.
- [18:37]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [18:38]
Marc Maron
Rhode Island. Yeah. My car got stolen once in Rhode Island.
- [18:43]
Mo Welch
Yeah, we. I just performed there. And you know when you stay in cities and you're like, on the road and you're staying in the downtown, and everyone's like, don't stay downtown. Like you don't want to stay Downtown, you're like, this is where we're performing.
- [18:53]
Marc Maron
Yeah. And then I can walk to the venue.
- [18:55]
Mo Welch
So like half of the cities in America, I'm like, these are scary.
- [18:59]
Marc Maron
Yeah. Or just kind of like they've attempted to make it something, and then it just doesn't really take. And now after Covid, it's just like all these new businesses that they thought would save downtown are gone. I was just in Sacramento Friday, and it's a little. Downtown there is a little weird. And then I went to Napa and that's all weird.
- [19:23]
Mo Welch
Sacramento. I feel like every time I go there, it's just staying in that hotel. There's like a hotel, and you go from the hotel to the punchline or whatever.
- [19:30]
Marc Maron
Well, that place across from the punchline, across from the mall. Yeah, that condo hotel. It's the worst.
- [19:35]
Mo Welch
Oh, I don't say. I think I just say that like a Hampton Inn sort of situation.
- [19:38]
Marc Maron
Oh, that's good.
- [19:39]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [19:40]
Marc Maron
I mean, I, you know, I started, you know, I lived up there for a couple of years, and I do that punchline a lot. And it was just. It just scarred me. I can't. Like, Sacramento is just. There's so many places, you know, from my comedy history where they're just, you know, they're triggering. They're just trauma sites. Like, how the. Did I ever work here when I was a kid? When I was like, in my 20s, I'm like, how did I do that?
- [20:05]
Mo Welch
I don't like. You do. Like, I hit a point where I'm just like, I don't care if I break even. I'm not staying in a disgusting place. I can't do it.
- [20:11]
Marc Maron
No.
- [20:11]
Mo Welch
Yeah, my back will hurt.
- [20:12]
Marc Maron
I'm like, you never know when your back's gonna hurt. Your back can hurt at a good place.
- [20:16]
Mo Welch
Yeah, yeah.
- [20:17]
Marc Maron
It's just, you know, those beds. Who the fuck knows?
- [20:19]
Mo Welch
I feel like I'm like Eloise of like, Hampton Inns at this point.
- [20:25]
Marc Maron
I used to love the Hampton Inns, you know, because it was like, you know, back when it was sort of more important, I'm like, yeah, I get breakfast. They've got enough plugs in the room. I could plug all my shit in. Because sometimes you go to high end hotels and they're like, they're not prepared for how much shit we have to plug in. Where the fuck's the plug?
- [20:42]
Mo Welch
I know. So, like, yeah, there is a time when your 20s doing stand up where you're just so low maintenance.
- [20:48]
Marc Maron
Oh, yeah, I just need a plug and breakfast.
- [20:50]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [20:52]
Marc Maron
And, you know, and. And then like, you don't even rent a car. And you're just sort of like, every time you get put up by a club, you're like, there's nothing around here. You can't walk to anything. Before Uber, it was a nightmare. Just sad, you know, kind of middle axe, wandering the streets, looking for a coffee shop.
- [21:09]
Mo Welch
Yeah, it's so true. We're just sit. We're not only looking for it. We're just like, there for eight hours.
- [21:15]
Marc Maron
Why not? Where's the cool place? All right, I'll sit there and eat two meals. I always.
- [21:21]
Mo Welch
I always feel that when I go to Denver, because I'm like, okay, I'm going to rent a car. I'm going to go to one of. I'm going to go to a little. I'm going to go to Steamboat or.
- [21:26]
Marc Maron
I'm going to go look at.
- [21:27]
Mo Welch
No, I'm just in that comedy condo with the inflatable clown.
- [21:32]
Marc Maron
I never stayed at that place, but.
- [21:34]
Mo Welch
I love that condo, actually.
- [21:35]
Marc Maron
Well, that's what people always say. They're like, well, that's one of the good ones. That club is pretty good, though. I'm going back. I'm going. I'd never done the. The suburban one.
- [21:45]
Mo Welch
Oh, yeah. South.
- [21:46]
Marc Maron
Yeah. I always went downtown. I was like. Cause I was always scared of, like, you know. You didn't go the one out in the suburbs. That doesn't sound good, but it's fucking great.
- [21:52]
Mo Welch
It is. Yeah.
- [21:53]
Marc Maron
It's crazy that she has somehow managed to make two rooms that are awesome for comics.
- [21:59]
Mo Welch
It's incredible. I started in Denver. You did, so, yeah. I used to do the phone line.
- [22:04]
Marc Maron
Which took, like, really.
- [22:06]
Mo Welch
From my memory, it took 12 weeks that first time where you had to call every single week. If you missed a week, they would drop you off the list because they open mic.
- [22:16]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [22:16]
Mo Welch
And then you get that two minutes on stage.
- [22:19]
Marc Maron
That's really helpful. Yeah, but it is kind of helpful, you know.
- [22:22]
Mo Welch
Yeah. That was because they wanted to make sure that you knew that you were dedicated.
- [22:27]
Marc Maron
Yeah, but where did you come from, though?
- [22:29]
Mo Welch
I mean, I'm from Illinois.
- [22:30]
Marc Maron
Yeah, I watched it. I watched a special. Oh, and I have some questions, though.
- [22:35]
Mo Welch
Yes, of course.
- [22:36]
Marc Maron
But only because, you know, we can go through the whole story. But it was. But it was interesting at the end. You're moving towards this meeting with your estranged father, who is a scary fella, but somehow you made the choice not to include almost any of that conversation into the special proper. We're all moving towards this thing. And sure enough, the guy's alive, and you sit down with him and he answers one question, then that's it. Yeah. A few bits and pieces during the credits, and then, you know, the words come up that he wrecked his bike and. Is he alive?
- [23:15]
Mo Welch
He is alive. Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot of people don't know. There's an epilogue on that, too. That's like 12 minutes. I think I put too much time.
- [23:23]
Marc Maron
Too many epilogues. Oh, so after he's in a coma. Yeah, he came back and. Yeah. But I. Was it clear that, you know, that he was. Yeah, I guess it was clear. I read that.
- [23:33]
Mo Welch
Yeah, he. Yeah, he wrecked his bike. And. I mean, I thought it was. My sister called me, and she's like, he's going to be dead.
- [23:39]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [23:39]
Mo Welch
And so I went to go visit. I went to the hospital in Tennessee.
- [23:43]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [23:44]
Mo Welch
To go see him.
- [23:45]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [23:45]
Mo Welch
And he was not dead. No, but he was, like, in. Yeah, it was like. It was bad, but, like.
- [23:52]
Marc Maron
Okay, so you're in Illinois. You started. Where'd you grow up?
- [23:57]
Mo Welch
Well, I'm from Normal. That's. So I was born in Normal. Have you been out there at all?
- [24:01]
Marc Maron
I don't know.
- [24:02]
Mo Welch
It's like. I mean, it's like a Peoria. Yeah.
- [24:05]
Marc Maron
You know, I don't know. Like, I went to Sacramento the other night. I'm like. I'm pretty sure I've been here to this airport. And then, like, I got to the venue, and I'm like, was I here? And she's like, yeah, you were here a couple years ago. I'm like, oh, shit.
- [24:16]
Mo Welch
You stay in this room. Yeah, exactly.
- [24:19]
Marc Maron
So Normal, Illinois. But the situation was, like, from the beginning of your life, you know, chaotic and dangerous.
- [24:28]
Mo Welch
Yeah. I mean, it was like. It was so chaotic, looking back, but, yeah, it was. It was like central Illinois, so we would just move. So we lived in this small town called Armington, which is in the film.
- [24:39]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [24:39]
Mo Welch
And It's. It's like 350, 400 people.
- [24:42]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [24:43]
Mo Welch
No businesses.
- [24:44]
Marc Maron
So you're in this town where there's nothing. Like, now I'm trying to. I think I just talked to somebody else that grew up in a town where. Who the hell was that? Where there was literally nothing to do. Oh, it was Richard Gad the other day.
- [24:58]
Mo Welch
Oh, yeah.
- [24:59]
Marc Maron
That was in Scotland.
- [25:00]
Mo Welch
Right.
- [25:01]
Marc Maron
And there was. You had to drive, like, a half an hour just to go to the movies.
- [25:04]
Mo Welch
Nothing. Like, seriously, there's no. There are no stores. So when I was growing up, there was a gas station.
- [25:09]
Marc Maron
Okay.
- [25:10]
Mo Welch
And that was The. You know, they had some food there. Snacks, Mountain Dew code bread, that sort of thing.
- [25:16]
Marc Maron
The important stuff for Midwest women. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [25:20]
Mo Welch
And that's it.
- [25:21]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [25:21]
Mo Welch
And now that's closed down.
- [25:22]
Marc Maron
It's gone. And where's your mom?
- [25:24]
Mo Welch
She's in Illinois as well. But she used to work at that. She used to be the gas station. At the gas station. Turner's. Yeah. And she used to always get in trouble. Cause she bring three of us.
- [25:34]
Marc Maron
Yeah. And sit there.
- [25:35]
Mo Welch
And she would be sitting there. Yeah. We just.
- [25:37]
Marc Maron
Behind the counter at the gas station.
- [25:38]
Mo Welch
We'd just be playing around. And it's like, you know, at some point, someone has to draw a line and say, this isn't a daycare as well.
- [25:46]
Marc Maron
Right. But what happened? Like, when does things. How. And you're the middle sister.
- [25:52]
Mo Welch
I'm the second out of five.
- [25:54]
Marc Maron
Five.
- [25:54]
Mo Welch
Yeah, there's five of us.
- [25:56]
Marc Maron
Five with the one dad.
- [25:57]
Mo Welch
Yeah, five with one dad and one mom. And. Yeah. And he went on to have more, you know, probably. Oh, he has. He got married after my mom, and she had three kids. And so he was a stepdad to them.
- [26:16]
Marc Maron
So there's five kids. And what was going on in the house? Do you remember? Like, you have older siblings, and they must know. They must have been directly affected in a conscious way of whatever the hell is going on there.
- [26:30]
Mo Welch
Yeah. I mean, my sister's 15 months older, and so we were basically twins, you know, so we were in the same grade.
- [26:37]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [26:37]
Mo Welch
And so I have the memories where, like, my sister's 10 years younger than me. She doesn't know anything.
- [26:42]
Marc Maron
Right.
- [26:43]
Mo Welch
Cause when we left my dad, she was.
- [26:44]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [26:45]
Mo Welch
And so I have all the memories. And it was. Yeah. I mean, it was just really. It was really poor. It was super poor.
- [26:52]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [26:53]
Mo Welch
Very chaotic. But, like, you know, everyone says, like, kids are resilient. And, you know, it's true. Like, we were just like, if it's your norm, then you're like, this is my life. It's fine.
- [27:02]
Marc Maron
But what was going on?
- [27:03]
Mo Welch
It was. I mean, it was like what I said in the film, too. It was just, like, really? Like, my dad would, like, he would leave sometimes. My mom would call it, like, oh, your dad's going out on a walkabout again. And then he wouldn't come back for two years. Like, that's a long walk. Like, really. Yeah. And like, we were so young. Like four years old. I was four when he went out for two years. And then, you know, we do that all the time. Yeah.
- [27:28]
Marc Maron
So how did your mother Survive just from the gas station or help or.
- [27:33]
Mo Welch
She. I mean, she was on, you know, government aid for a while, and then his family lived down there, like in the country, in Illinois.
- [27:42]
Marc Maron
Your dad's family?
- [27:43]
Mo Welch
Yeah. And so they kind of took care of each other. Like, she was friends with his sister, and then his mom always took us in if we needed it.
- [27:51]
Marc Maron
Oh, really?
- [27:51]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [27:52]
Marc Maron
And they. They knew that he was a problem.
- [27:55]
Mo Welch
Yeah. I mean, it's just so different down there. They were like Jehovah's Witnesses, and so it's like none of them. I don't. I don't know. He just, like, went off the rails, I guess. But I think a few of his siblings did.
- [28:10]
Marc Maron
Oh, really?
- [28:10]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [28:10]
Marc Maron
You don't know them. You're. You're. Your curiosity didn't drive you to, you know, make a broader documentary?
- [28:19]
Mo Welch
It'll be the next one. Yeah.
- [28:20]
Marc Maron
About your dad's family.
- [28:21]
Mo Welch
It's going to be just like some guys, like, sitting in overalls on their porch.
- [28:26]
Marc Maron
Well, they're probably willing to talk.
- [28:28]
Mo Welch
Hey, I'm from Hollywood.
- [28:29]
Marc Maron
Yeah, that's always good with those people. Yeah, they love that right away.
- [28:33]
Mo Welch
I love California.
- [28:34]
Marc Maron
Yeah. Yeah. So you're four and he splits for two years. And then you just get used to him being gone and then he comes back.
- [28:42]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [28:42]
Marc Maron
And what is that?
- [28:43]
Mo Welch
Like, my mom always said, can you bring presents? Sorry, kids. Yeah, he was like, my mom said when he would leave and when he would come back, it would be harder for her. It was easier when he was gone in a lot of ways. And so it's like she had to take care of another person so he would come back.
- [29:04]
Marc Maron
And. But. So you weren't old enough to really know. There must have been, like, fighting. Like, where the fuck were you? Is he staying in touch for the two years?
- [29:12]
Mo Welch
I feel like my mom was, like, very. She's like, super. She was super Catholic and very, like, afraid of conflict. And she was more quiet than anything. Like, I don't think she's. She was, like, instigating.
- [29:23]
Marc Maron
She just leaned into the suffering.
- [29:25]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [29:26]
Marc Maron
So there wasn't a lot of fighting.
- [29:28]
Mo Welch
I don't remember. I mean, like, I remember fights that would lead to, like, throwing hit, like, if he really went. Went for it, you know? And like the day that we. When we left and we moved to Chicago, it was physical. It was. Everything was screaming. I was 12. Yeah.
- [29:45]
Marc Maron
But so he comes back after two years, and then. And then what happens? When does he end up in prison?
- [29:50]
Mo Welch
So he was in prison when my older sister was born.
- [29:54]
Marc Maron
Oh, okay.
- [29:54]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [29:55]
Marc Maron
So when you were younger.
- [29:57]
Mo Welch
Yeah, I don't even remember it.
- [29:59]
Marc Maron
How long was he in prison?
- [29:59]
Mo Welch
And then he's been in, I don't know, maybe three or four years.
- [30:02]
Marc Maron
But your mom didn't drag you all there to see him?
- [30:04]
Mo Welch
Well, she. My mom was pregnant when he was in At Juliet State Prison.
- [30:09]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [30:10]
Mo Welch
Just closed out now. But he. She was pregnant and would go visit him.
- [30:14]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [30:14]
Mo Welch
And then when she was. When my sister Michaela was born, he was in prison. Because I was asking her the other day, she was out here visiting. I was like. I was like, well, was he at least supportive when you were having your babies, like, at the hospital? She's like, oh, no. She's like, well, he was in prison when Michelo. And I was like, okay. So, no, he goes. And he was drunk when you were born. And I was like, okay.
- [30:38]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [30:38]
Mo Welch
And I was like. And you kept going like, this guy. We gotta have more kids with this guy.
- [30:42]
Marc Maron
Yeah. How does she answer those questions?
- [30:45]
Mo Welch
She was just, like, optimistic.
- [30:47]
Marc Maron
How old was she?
- [30:48]
Mo Welch
23, 24. And then she's like, well, I just thought he'd come around. I was like, all right, well, some of this is on you.
- [30:54]
Marc Maron
Yeah. It's weird when you get into that, though, because I've been in those situations where you think people will come around.
- [30:59]
Mo Welch
Right.
- [30:59]
Marc Maron
I mean, it's obviously not that bad, but if you have that personality where you're not hip to the nature of codependency and the fact that you really can't change people unless they want to change. I mean, you're in for a ride for as long as it takes for you to get woke about it.
- [31:18]
Mo Welch
Right. Sometimes I feel like I'm waiting around on myself to change.
- [31:22]
Marc Maron
Yeah. No, I know. Because you feel like you go through these periods where you're like, I think I grew out of that. And then something happens. You're like, oh, no, I'm the exact same.
- [31:30]
Mo Welch
Exactly.
- [31:31]
Marc Maron
But you can choose not to act on it. This is the best you can do. Like, I know what this is. I'm not gonna fucking do it.
- [31:39]
Mo Welch
I've been here before.
- [31:40]
Marc Maron
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't need to act the way I did before that ruined everything.
- [31:46]
Mo Welch
I feel like that anytime I'm on stage and you like. And I really want to go into somebody talking or on their phone or something, and I just go, just. You're not seeing it. Just don't look that way.
- [31:55]
Marc Maron
And no one knows it. So just kind of look above them.
- [31:59]
Mo Welch
Yeah, Yeah.
- [32:01]
Marc Maron
I had that in fucking. In napa. The other night, I, like, you know, in crowd insanity at a theater, like, one woman was just shit faced and wouldn't stop, you know, yelping. And then another woman was sort of obsessed and parasocial with me and decided that she needed to give me a gift about 20 minutes into the show. Wow, Mark, I brought this stuff for you. And people were like, what is happening? And she's like, I love you. And like, she has got. She's holding a bag, she's standing up. They pass it up to me. Some handsome cat toy and a little Ganesh statue. It was all very nice, but it was odd.
- [32:37]
Mo Welch
Yeah. And I think it's because, like, nobody brings me gifts, but I've opened for people where people want to bring them gifts. I think it's because they know you're getting off the stage when you're done with your set. They're like, this is my time.
- [32:48]
Marc Maron
Yeah, they might not get you after. But then it became this long conversation and, you know, it's hard. Your nature with crowd work is, you know, you're gonna shut this shit down. But this woman's being nothing but, you know, open and loving. And I'm sort of like, hey, man, can you shut the fuck up? You know, like, what am I gonna do? You can't do that. So, like, she keeps talking and she's insisting on giving me this gift. And the rest of the crowd is like, hey, shut up. I'm like, take it easy. This is not a. This is not a hostile situation. This is like a person who's somehow doesn't know that she's in a room full of people and she's got a gift. So let's just ride this out. But then the other woman, the drunk woman, then I had to, like, get angry. And that moment where you shift out, like, crowd work's one thing, but there is a moment where you honestly get angry. And you're either gonna show that or you're not. And if you show it, some part of you realize is like, all right, well, now they've seen that, right? And now we've got to get back to nice guy or whatever the fuck person who does his job.
- [33:52]
Mo Welch
Yeah, you're like, let me get back to my act.
- [33:54]
Marc Maron
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I always say, like, all right, so now you see who I really am. Let me try to get back. Let's see if we could. I know everyone's nervous. You know, Daddy yelled.
- [34:05]
Mo Welch
But it's so hard because, like, it's so much more entertaining. And we all know It. Cause we've been in crowds to see what is gonna unfold when a heckler's there. And that's why it's so hard to go back. Cause you're like, well, nothing's more entertaining than what we're seeing now, kind of.
- [34:21]
Marc Maron
But, like, I, you know, I know how to do crowd work. I'm good at it, but I'd rather do the shit that I'm working on.
- [34:27]
Mo Welch
Oh, same. Yeah.
- [34:28]
Marc Maron
So when you get into a crowd situation, if it's cute and it kills, you know, it becomes very real. But if it's managerial, then you just want to get it dealt with. Like, you know, eventually they got that woman out of there, and I could hear it happening. And it's a theater, and everyone can hear it happening. And I just stopped talking, and I just. For like, a good 45 to a minute, I'm just sort of like, we're just gonna wait until she processes what's happening. Cause you could hear that. Like, no. You know, I'm like, all right, I'm not. There's nothing to do here. And just. And no one else does. Let's just sit calmly for as long as this takes.
- [35:07]
Mo Welch
That's actually a really good idea because it's going to be split focus.
- [35:10]
Marc Maron
Yeah. And it's just like, it's being taken care of. So why pretend like we're just going to blow over this, wait till it's done, and just be like, is everyone okay?
- [35:21]
Mo Welch
I still think it's funny. Somebody crocheting a toy. Hey, hey, ladies. Shut up. Just so funny. Fuck your toy. You could have a whole. You could have a whole 15 minutes at the end where you just accept gifts from everybody.
- [35:33]
Marc Maron
Yeah, well, I tried to put a. You know, I tried to put a kibosh on that a little bit because, you know, people don't realize. It's like, I'm traveling. I can't. I carry on my baggage. I can't take the painting.
- [35:44]
Mo Welch
Right.
- [35:44]
Marc Maron
You know.
- [35:47]
Mo Welch
Checking all the cat toys, paintings, some guy.
- [35:51]
Marc Maron
As a joke, because I did an Instagram live about, like, getting the cats out and. And, you know, bringing. Like, when I evacuated, I brought a utility knife. Like, you know, in order to get Buster out of the box, I taped him into. And some guy in Sacramento gave me a new utility knife. And I gotta leave on the plane from Napa the next day. I'm like, well, I hope the house cleaning staff has a use for this, because I'm not gonna try to get this on the plane.
- [36:20]
Mo Welch
You have a knife as A tip. That's.
- [36:21]
Marc Maron
And I take it all. Yeah. Because I don't have the heart to throw it away.
- [36:24]
Mo Welch
I know. Well. Especially if it's homemade.
- [36:26]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [36:27]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [36:27]
Marc Maron
And then it's just another thing, you know, it's nice, but I have a lot of stuff, so I had to kind of limit that.
- [36:33]
Mo Welch
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [36:34]
Marc Maron
So, okay, so what was the scene when your dad. When your mom kind of ran away for good?
- [36:42]
Mo Welch
Yeah. So we were living in, like, in the special, I show the house that we lived in, which was just demolished. And that house was disgusting. And we were living there. It was like, you know, seven people and, like, 14 pets. And.
- [36:57]
Marc Maron
Is that the house in the show you went to that's no longer there?
- [37:00]
Mo Welch
Yeah, exactly. And it was like, you know, outdoor plumbing. Yeah. Just like. There's, like, a well. And it was. It was disgusting. I would never be able to deal with that.
- [37:08]
Marc Maron
And that was in that Illinois.
- [37:11]
Mo Welch
Yeah, that was like, outside Armington, Illinois.
- [37:13]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [37:14]
Mo Welch
Which is, like, mostly where I grew up was. Because it was outside the town. A mile outside the town. So there's nothing to do most of the time. We had nothing going on. No cable.
- [37:22]
Marc Maron
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [37:24]
Mo Welch
But so my dad. I don't know, it must have been drunk or something. I don't remember all of the details. I just remember he. Him going off on a rampage. Throwing. Throwing this, like, huge atlas book. It, like, hitting the tv. He kicked my mom in the back as she's, like, changing my sister's diaper. Like, just really terrible rampage.
- [37:44]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [37:45]
Mo Welch
And as I'm doing to. And. And then my mom was just like, that's enough. She, you know, she just hit it and she goes, we're leaving.
- [37:54]
Marc Maron
Oh, yeah. That was it. Yeah, yeah. That's. It's an interesting moment, that clarity. And you do what you have to do.
- [38:01]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [38:01]
Marc Maron
So your dad's, like, kind of bumbling around the house violently. And she just loads the car up and that.
- [38:06]
Mo Welch
She goes. And. Well, so she gets in the car with all of us. We have one of us.
- [38:09]
Marc Maron
And you're how old?
- [38:09]
Mo Welch
12.
- [38:10]
Marc Maron
Oh, my God. So that's like, real memory.
- [38:12]
Mo Welch
And I'm the helper.
- [38:13]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [38:13]
Mo Welch
You know, so we have, like, that. One of those station wagons. The Woody station wagons.
- [38:17]
Marc Maron
Yeah, Like a Caprice station wagon.
- [38:19]
Mo Welch
It's like a Mercury Grand.
- [38:20]
Marc Maron
Something with the fake wood paneling.
- [38:22]
Mo Welch
Exactly. Yeah.
- [38:22]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [38:23]
Mo Welch
It's like, opens, like, the big back door.
- [38:26]
Marc Maron
Swinging back door.
- [38:26]
Mo Welch
Swinging back door.
- [38:27]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [38:28]
Mo Welch
And so we get in there, he's throwing shit at the car. We're backing up What? Yeah.
- [38:33]
Marc Maron
So you're driving away, and you just see an angry, raging man in the rear view. Yeah.
- [38:37]
Mo Welch
And you're just like. And you know, she's probably two of.
- [38:39]
Marc Maron
You are in the back looking out that back window.
- [38:42]
Mo Welch
Yeah. And it's. And then. So we try to get a hotel that night. We can't get a hotel. She. We end up staying with my granny, who's my dad's mom.
- [38:51]
Marc Maron
Yeah. And then she's like, he's at it again.
- [38:55]
Mo Welch
And then she tries to convince my mom to stay.
- [38:57]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [38:58]
Mo Welch
And my mom's like, I'm getting out of here. Wow. So then my grandpa comes down and he starts raging. Yeah. So then he starts throwing shit at us. My grandma gets in on it. There was a few things. Wow. But he helped my grandpa from my mom. My mom's dad came down from Chicago.
- [39:18]
Marc Maron
Oh, okay.
- [39:19]
Mo Welch
Drove down, packed us all up, and then we moved in with them.
- [39:23]
Marc Maron
Oh, thank God.
- [39:24]
Mo Welch
Yeah. And we lived happily ever after.
- [39:26]
Marc Maron
Oh, good. Did you. Was there a room? Did you, like.
- [39:30]
Mo Welch
Yeah, I lived in the attic. I mean.
- [39:32]
Marc Maron
Right.
- [39:33]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [39:33]
Marc Maron
But at least you're in a relatively loving environment.
- [39:36]
Mo Welch
Yeah. I mean, her family loves us.
- [39:38]
Marc Maron
Like.
- [39:38]
Mo Welch
Yeah. It's. I mean, it was. It was rough.
- [39:40]
Marc Maron
Grandparents.
- [39:41]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [39:42]
Marc Maron
Right.
- [39:43]
Mo Welch
Right.
- [39:43]
Marc Maron
And then. So then what happens? You got to change schools. You got to do all.
- [39:47]
Mo Welch
Yeah, we change the school. But I was. You know, I feel. I don't know if I'm, like, psycho or not, but I just didn't feel any trauma at this point or, like, I was excited to leave. I was excited to like, possibly be popular at this next school year. Yeah.
- [40:01]
Marc Maron
It's not like, rebrand. Yeah. How do you. I mean, you don't register that kind of trauma unless someone beats the shit out of you or does something awful.
- [40:08]
Mo Welch
Right.
- [40:09]
Marc Maron
You're just sort of like, oh, grandma.
- [40:11]
Mo Welch
Oh, this is fun.
- [40:12]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [40:12]
Mo Welch
Right near the city. Yeah.
- [40:15]
Marc Maron
And did you. How was that new school?
- [40:18]
Mo Welch
I mean, it was a lot, but, you know, I'm going from a rinky dink school to, like, straight up. I mean, the thousands of kids.
- [40:28]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [40:28]
Mo Welch
And you're just. But it was fine. I mean, like, looking back, I made friends really easily, so I was like. I had friends, did terrible in my school.
- [40:35]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [40:36]
Mo Welch
Made friends, went on, you know, joined the basketball team, that sort of thing.
- [40:40]
Marc Maron
You did the jock thing?
- [40:41]
Mo Welch
Yeah, I did a little bit of the jock, a little bit of the art, you know.
- [40:44]
Marc Maron
What was the art?
- [40:45]
Mo Welch
Just drawing.
- [40:46]
Marc Maron
Yeah. Yeah.
- [40:47]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [40:47]
Marc Maron
But you had friends.
- [40:48]
Mo Welch
Nothing real.
- [40:49]
Marc Maron
And I was in band.
- [40:50]
Mo Welch
I was in marching Band.
- [40:51]
Marc Maron
Oh, really? You did the full spectrum from jock to dork?
- [40:54]
Mo Welch
I did, yeah.
- [40:56]
Marc Maron
With a little art in the middle.
- [40:58]
Mo Welch
Yeah. I guess I was trying everything, see.
- [41:01]
Marc Maron
What would fit what you fit in.
- [41:02]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [41:03]
Marc Maron
Well, what'd you play in marching band?
- [41:05]
Mo Welch
Trumpet. Oh, yeah. And I was also a flag. Like color guard, flag girl.
- [41:09]
Marc Maron
You spun the flags around, the baton stuff?
- [41:11]
Mo Welch
Yeah, that's right, man.
- [41:12]
Marc Maron
You just. You attacked it from all angles.
- [41:14]
Mo Welch
I did.
- [41:14]
Marc Maron
For the friendship, Seeing what would stick then. Did you maintain friends in all different factions?
- [41:22]
Mo Welch
Pretty much, yeah. I mean, I don't think any of my friends ended up really doing any of those things. They were all. We were all just drinking.
- [41:29]
Marc Maron
No one stuck with the flag stuff.
- [41:31]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [41:32]
Marc Maron
As a life.
- [41:33]
Mo Welch
No. Can you imagine?
- [41:36]
Marc Maron
Yeah. I'm still spinning the, you know.
- [41:38]
Mo Welch
Oh, my God.
- [41:40]
Marc Maron
You're really locked in, huh? What is the market for something like that? How do you. I do corporate stuff, you know, I do open mics.
- [41:47]
Mo Welch
Yeah. I do the improv.
- [41:50]
Marc Maron
I've got a big following on social media. What is this now? Oh, okay. Nothing.
- [41:58]
Mo Welch
We're being evacuated.
- [41:59]
Marc Maron
No, no, it's just. It's just a. A friend, you know, nothing like. But that's so weird how vigilant you get, like. Oh, God.
- [42:07]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [42:08]
Marc Maron
Okay, so now when do you. Like you. So you just stayed with your grandparents through high school?
- [42:15]
Mo Welch
We stayed. No, we stayed for maybe six months or a year, and then we moved to a domestic violence shelter. For, like.
- [42:24]
Marc Maron
Because he came after you?
- [42:26]
Mo Welch
No, because they have. I mean, they had like a great program, and so we had to apply for it.
- [42:30]
Marc Maron
For people that flee.
- [42:31]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [42:32]
Marc Maron
Okay.
- [42:32]
Mo Welch
And then nobody. Like, you can't. The building's like, unmarked, obviously. It's just like a brick. It looks like a brick apartment building.
- [42:38]
Marc Maron
Like a hiding place.
- [42:39]
Mo Welch
Yeah, yeah. And so. But they gave us. It's a full apartment. It was three bedroom. It was nice.
- [42:44]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [42:44]
Mo Welch
Yeah. Especially after living with your grandparents, you're just like, happy to. But we weren't allowed to have. Because everyone in there was like, you know, it was a mom and her kids. Like, there were like four or five apartment buildings.
- [42:58]
Marc Maron
Right.
- [42:58]
Mo Welch
So we couldn't have, like, boys right. Outside. Outside boys. Men in that apartment building. So, you know, I'm like. Even eighth grade.
- [43:08]
Marc Maron
Yeah. Even to. Oh. So not quite dating, but still, they were boys over. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Somewhere you got to have a place to go make out.
- [43:17]
Mo Welch
Yeah, yeah. Meet some of these boys on the marching band field. Bring them over. So. Yeah. We used to sneak boys in.
- [43:24]
Marc Maron
Oh, yeah?
- [43:24]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [43:25]
Marc Maron
But they were eighth graders.
- [43:26]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [43:27]
Marc Maron
So they weren't that threatening.
- [43:28]
Mo Welch
Yeah. They still weren't allowed, but we, you know, we're just rebels like that.
- [43:32]
Marc Maron
And how you stayed there for 18 months.
- [43:34]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [43:34]
Marc Maron
See, like, isn't that interesting when social services works and, you know, people are actually, you know, taken care of.
- [43:39]
Mo Welch
And we had to go. I mean, it was required that we went to counseling. So we had to go to, like, counseling as a child every week.
- [43:47]
Marc Maron
And did you. Do you remember making friends with the other kids who were traumatized?
- [43:52]
Mo Welch
I mean, it was. At first, I was in the. The kid group because I was, like, 12.
- [43:56]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [43:57]
Mo Welch
And then I was moved. I was like, please put me in the teenage group. Get to the teenage group. And those girls had, like, the stories. I was like. It was a whole awakening for me because, I mean, they had a lot of trauma, but they also were, like, already, you know, they were sexual and, like. Yeah. And I was like, whoa.
- [44:15]
Marc Maron
Right.
- [44:16]
Mo Welch
Like, this is too much for me.
- [44:18]
Marc Maron
Right. At 13.
- [44:19]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [44:19]
Marc Maron
Yeah. And then you kind of like, I think I want to go back with the kids.
- [44:22]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [44:23]
Marc Maron
Too much information.
- [44:24]
Mo Welch
Yeah, it was. I was like, I just want to go back and play that game. The games we were playing.
- [44:28]
Marc Maron
This spin the bottle and whatnot.
- [44:30]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [44:30]
Marc Maron
Oh, my God. So, like. Okay, so you stayed there for 18 months and were.
- [44:35]
Mo Welch
Then. So then we get section eight housing.
- [44:38]
Marc Maron
Okay.
- [44:38]
Mo Welch
And we live on awesome Boulevard in Oak park, which is Austin.
- [44:45]
Marc Maron
Okay. I was gonna say awesome Boulevard. That's a good sign.
- [44:47]
Mo Welch
We went to awesome. Living on awesome Boulevard. And it was. You know, it's the border between Chicago and Oak Park.
- [44:56]
Marc Maron
How old are you? You're 13 when you move.
- [44:58]
Mo Welch
Yeah. Well, we were 12 when we moved to Chicago.
- [45:00]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [45:00]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [45:01]
Marc Maron
And then everything changes.
- [45:02]
Mo Welch
Everything changes. Yeah.
- [45:03]
Marc Maron
Life gets real, and it's a different school. So you're going to high school different.
- [45:07]
Mo Welch
I'm having fun.
- [45:08]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [45:09]
Mo Welch
Yeah. I made all new friends immediately.
- [45:11]
Marc Maron
And the dad's completely gone.
- [45:12]
Mo Welch
He's. Yeah, he.
- [45:14]
Marc Maron
You know, it doesn't reach out.
- [45:16]
Mo Welch
The next summer, we went to, like, as part of the agreement.
- [45:21]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [45:21]
Mo Welch
We go to his house.
- [45:22]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [45:23]
Mo Welch
And then that's the only summer we ever went there. We went. We went for, like, two weeks.
- [45:27]
Marc Maron
And was it a nightmare?
- [45:28]
Mo Welch
I mean, we were. We know we were having fun. He was just working the whole time. He had a girlfriend, right? Yeah, that's the summer I got my period, as I mentioned in the special.
- [45:38]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [45:39]
Mo Welch
So it was a big. Yeah, it was pretty exciting for me.
- [45:41]
Marc Maron
How do you handle that?
- [45:42]
Mo Welch
Well, I told him I lied, and I was like, I think Sandra got her period. We have to go get her some pads.
- [45:50]
Marc Maron
I just can't, like. I can't imagine that guy, you know, who, you know, you see at the end of this journey in the documentary was capable of anything.
- [45:59]
Mo Welch
Yeah. It was not somebody you wanted to talk to. He's a scary guy. Yeah.
- [46:04]
Marc Maron
I mean, he reads scary.
- [46:05]
Mo Welch
Yeah, he was scary. But, I mean, I guess he had his moments. He's very, like, quiet.
- [46:11]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [46:11]
Mo Welch
You know that.
- [46:12]
Marc Maron
Yeah. Maybe that's why he didn't include the full interview.
- [46:15]
Mo Welch
You find out he's a great guy.
- [46:17]
Marc Maron
Well, it's definitely when he sat down, he's like, all right, so what. What. What are we doing?
- [46:21]
Mo Welch
Yeah. Yeah.
- [46:22]
Marc Maron
I guess. Because he saw the camera there and he didn't.
- [46:25]
Mo Welch
Well, he knew there was going to be cameras because we mic'd him.
- [46:28]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [46:28]
Mo Welch
And. But I didn't see him until the moment that I see him in the film.
- [46:31]
Marc Maron
Right, right.
- [46:32]
Mo Welch
And so he's like.
- [46:33]
Marc Maron
So he's got to deal with that. Right.
- [46:35]
Mo Welch
He was like, what's happening? Right. And he.
- [46:38]
Marc Maron
So you didn't tell him when you were coming, when he was coming to meet you, that you were going to be recording it?
- [46:42]
Mo Welch
No, he knew.
- [46:43]
Marc Maron
Okay.
- [46:43]
Mo Welch
Yeah. Because I had a few friends that were doing the project with me that were in touch as well with him, and we're like, okay, we're going to get you mic'd up. And he. So he gets in there and he's like, y'all got a beer? And they're like, we got seven up.
- [46:59]
Marc Maron
I'm gonna need to take the edge off for this.
- [47:01]
Mo Welch
I was like, I wish I had one at that point.
- [47:02]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [47:03]
Mo Welch
And then so I was like, obviously so nervous. We go. That is the first question I ask him. The whole point of the thing. I always thought it would be funny, a funny joke to myself, to do all this work and ask him a stupid question at the end.
- [47:17]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [47:18]
Mo Welch
And so I did that. And then we ended up going to a bar, like, later that night, and we had a drink. Yeah.
- [47:26]
Marc Maron
Oh, okay. But you asked him the favorite color and stuff. I thought that was kind of funny.
- [47:29]
Mo Welch
Yeah. Yeah.
- [47:30]
Marc Maron
Because, like, you could almost see something childlike in there, but he couldn't quite access it. But he played along.
- [47:38]
Mo Welch
He did. And then I was like, okay. That's it. And he was like, okay. And then we actually played catch. We didn't put that in there, but I wanted to play catch with him in that field.
- [47:48]
Marc Maron
Why didn't you put that in there?
- [47:49]
Mo Welch
It just looked wild. I mean, I was on adrenaline or something and I was too tweaked. Yeah, I was. Well, then he thought, like, oh, are you just trying to make fun of me? Oh, right, Because I can't. Because you can throw further than me. Oh.
- [48:04]
Marc Maron
Then it became like a scary issue again.
- [48:07]
Mo Welch
Then we're, like, competitive.
- [48:08]
Marc Maron
Well, that's very telling. I mean, that, you know, that mindset, like how, like, in that situation, even that simple. How is that not volatile?
- [48:19]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [48:19]
Marc Maron
And had to have always been that way. That sense of being threatened.
- [48:22]
Mo Welch
Right.
- [48:23]
Marc Maron
Because of your, like, whatever. Insecurity or whatever.
- [48:26]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [48:27]
Marc Maron
Huh. So in high school, do you continue with the band and the trumpet and everything?
- [48:32]
Mo Welch
Yeah, I did all that throughout high school and I did, like, basketball and no theater. No theater? No. I mean, I did a play in the summer once, but I was really. I mean, I had terrible stage fright. Like, it was hard for me to say my name in. In class. Very.
- [48:50]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [48:50]
Mo Welch
But then outside of class it was fine.
- [48:52]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [48:52]
Mo Welch
Friends, everything. But, like, I was like the sweaty kid. That was.
- [48:56]
Marc Maron
It's interesting that when you're like that and then we end up here. I mean, I was a smart ass, but if. If asked to or. Or, you know, if I had to do something public, like, I could crack jokes and, you know.
- [49:07]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [49:08]
Marc Maron
And disrupt. But if it's sort of like tomorrow you're gonna get. You're gonna have to get up in front of everybody. Like. No.
- [49:14]
Mo Welch
Yeah. No, I was the same. I could disrupt and I could be funny and I would be at the disciplinary center. But like, I. If they're like, you have to say your name and what you did this summer, I'm dead.
- [49:24]
Marc Maron
Yeah. It's a fucking nightmare. So when do you. But what about the thing with. When do. When does the boys thing crap out on you?
- [49:32]
Mo Welch
Yeah. I mean, looking back, it's hilarious because I'm just like, I don't need. I was like, I feel like everybody says they need, like, intimacy and sex, and I'm like, I don't need this in my life to survive. And it's like, oh, yeah. Well, it's because.
- [49:47]
Marc Maron
But you didn't. You didn't have any inclination that you were gay early on?
- [49:51]
Mo Welch
No, I. It was. Really happened when I started comedy.
- [49:55]
Marc Maron
Oh.
- [49:56]
Mo Welch
It was almost like it broke me open.
- [49:58]
Marc Maron
So when you were with boys, you were just sort of like, I guess this is supposed to be like.
- [50:02]
Mo Welch
Yeah. Like my college boyfriend, I dated him for two years.
- [50:05]
Marc Maron
Oh, my God.
- [50:06]
Mo Welch
And I had a high school boyfriend four years.
- [50:08]
Marc Maron
Yeah. And you're having sex.
- [50:09]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [50:10]
Marc Maron
And it was just sort of like. I don't know.
- [50:12]
Mo Welch
I mean, I could count the amount of times on my hand I was right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [50:16]
Marc Maron
But it was sort of like. It was sort of like, this is supposed to be good. I'm not.
- [50:20]
Mo Welch
Right. I'm just like. This is. I'm like, all right. I guess some people need this. I mean, I could go my whole life without this. I guess I'm just stronger than everyone.
- [50:32]
Marc Maron
Yeah. This seems crazy and messy and I don't know what he wants.
- [50:36]
Mo Welch
Yeah. Like you again.
- [50:38]
Marc Maron
Yeah. What do I do? Didn't you talk about it like that sad hand job? What was that in the special?
- [50:46]
Mo Welch
Oh, yeah. You're just like. You're like. I don't know. Nobody tells you how hard you're supposed to pull. There's no book.
- [50:51]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [50:53]
Mo Welch
You're just competitive with yourself.
- [50:54]
Marc Maron
Yeah. You assume that that's a memorable thing for the wrong reason for that guy. Yeah.
- [51:00]
Mo Welch
Don't you like getting a hand job from a lesbian?
- [51:02]
Marc Maron
Yeah. What's the matter with you? This is a rare gift.
- [51:04]
Mo Welch
Yeah. So my wrist. So strong from that color guard.
- [51:11]
Marc Maron
Yeah. I'm surprised you didn't use both hands, but okay. So after high school, did you go to college?
- [51:19]
Mo Welch
Yeah, I went to the University of Wyoming for no damn reason. Really?
- [51:23]
Marc Maron
Just because you got in?
- [51:24]
Mo Welch
I got in. It was like, basically 97% of the people that apply get in.
- [51:29]
Marc Maron
Yeah, right.
- [51:29]
Mo Welch
And I was like, all right.
- [51:30]
Marc Maron
All right.
- [51:30]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [51:31]
Marc Maron
You didn't live there, so did you have to pay? Was it state school?
- [51:33]
Mo Welch
I mean, yeah. Yeah. But it was less expensive than any other, like, for out of state tuition.
- [51:38]
Marc Maron
And is that where you start doing comedy?
- [51:40]
Mo Welch
So I. I'm going there. I'm like, every other semester I'm failing out because I am just. Don't. You know, I have two jobs. I'm working at the radio station, working as a photographer. I don't. I'm working, like, all these jobs.
- [51:52]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [51:53]
Mo Welch
Trying to keep up. I don't care about school that much. And then basically one semester from graduating, I was just not going to school and I was working.
- [52:03]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [52:04]
Mo Welch
And then I was. And then I started comedy. I was like, you know, I just.
- [52:07]
Marc Maron
In Wyoming.
- [52:09]
Mo Welch
Well, I. I decided, oh, I think I could do that. And, like, watching SNL stuff, it's like, oh, I wonder how they started. And then I go, oh, they did improv.
- [52:18]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [52:19]
Mo Welch
So I called the improv theater in Denver, which is three hours away.
- [52:22]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [52:22]
Mo Welch
And I was like, hey, I'd like to sign up for Classes. So I start improv classes once a week. Yeah.
- [52:29]
Marc Maron
Driving down the road, driving three hours.
- [52:31]
Mo Welch
And the first time I did improv, I was like, I'm gonna do this for the rest of my life. Keep in mind I'm terrible at improv.
- [52:39]
Marc Maron
But you, like the community, seem fun.
- [52:42]
Mo Welch
I just was like, I can't believe that this is what people do.
- [52:44]
Marc Maron
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [52:45]
Mo Welch
And then pretty quickly into that, somebody told me, you should try stand up. I mean, probably five weeks in.
- [52:51]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [52:52]
Mo Welch
So then I started doing stand up in Denver and I. So I'm driving from Wyoming, bombing. So I'm going over my set for the open mic. The whole way down, completely bombing and driving up at like 2:30 in the morning. And I do that for, I don't know, a year.
- [53:09]
Marc Maron
Once a week.
- [53:10]
Mo Welch
Yeah. And then I move. And then I was like, that's crazy.
- [53:14]
Marc Maron
And what were you. You were writing jokes?
- [53:16]
Mo Welch
Yeah, I was writing jokes, trying to figure it out.
- [53:18]
Marc Maron
Yeah. And just going up and tanking.
- [53:21]
Mo Welch
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Because it was that thing. I had that thing where it was like, first 10 times, I'm like, I'm not bad at this. And then at least two years straight, just like really bad. Really. But I never. I just kept going.
- [53:34]
Marc Maron
Do you. Did you. When you look back on it, is. Does the style make sense? Were you still doing kind of like straight jokes and just holding this? Yeah. Just waiting. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [53:48]
Mo Welch
Like, isn't something supposed to. Aren't people supposed to laugh during this period?
- [53:51]
Marc Maron
This is where I thought the laugh was gonna happen.
- [53:54]
Mo Welch
I'm still. Wait, that. No, you would do that recording yourself going down. You really would. Give it time. You're like, okay, good. Give a little time just to make sure you make your time at the open mic.
- [54:04]
Marc Maron
Yeah, right. Oh, yeah.
- [54:05]
Mo Welch
When you get there, it's done in 25 seconds because no one's laughing.
- [54:09]
Marc Maron
Yeah. And you're like, that's all I got.
- [54:11]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [54:12]
Marc Maron
Do you remember when it first started to click.
- [54:17]
Mo Welch
Man? Well, I just did it all the time. It just became such an open micr. And sometimes I feel like I'm still waiting for it to click, but it's like, you know, it took at least 10 years, you know, maybe like, maybe five years in Chicago. I was like, okay. I get like, people sort of tell you who you are as a performer. I go, okay, I guess that makes sense.
- [54:43]
Marc Maron
I forgot that one part of the doc that was like a great part. The graveside of that girl.
- [54:49]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [54:50]
Marc Maron
What was that story again? So you used to go. Because there was Nowhere to play in that house with the outhouse. And you just go to the cemetery.
- [54:58]
Mo Welch
So we basically crossed the highway to get to the cemetery. We played in it all the time. We found our cat there. Yeah.
- [55:04]
Marc Maron
You took a graveyard cat?
- [55:06]
Mo Welch
Yeah. She would, like. You'd go to her, like, little bowl. She'd have, like, a bird head in it.
- [55:10]
Marc Maron
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, graveyard cats are there for a reason. Yeah, but you took it.
- [55:15]
Mo Welch
We took it. It had five kittens. It was. Yeah.
- [55:19]
Marc Maron
It's weird that cats live in graveyards, but they always do.
- [55:22]
Mo Welch
I know. It was such a cute cat, though.
- [55:24]
Marc Maron
So what was the story with that gravesite?
- [55:26]
Mo Welch
So this girl died. This is actually when I stopped going to church. So we were part of the Lutheran church. This girl died when she was 16. And the doc, too. I call her the Michael Jordan of the graveyard. Cause she played three sports in high school.
- [55:40]
Marc Maron
And that's all you remember? So you were in. You were not in high school.
- [55:42]
Mo Welch
No, I was a kid. I was in grade school.
- [55:44]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [55:45]
Mo Welch
And she died.
- [55:45]
Marc Maron
And you heard about it at church?
- [55:47]
Mo Welch
No, I just heard about it in the town. Cause it happened in one of those, like, roads.
- [55:50]
Marc Maron
How'd she die?
- [55:51]
Mo Welch
She died in, like, a car accident.
- [55:53]
Marc Maron
Oh, my God. Yeah. Okay, so.
- [55:55]
Mo Welch
And so her tombstone has her etched in it, playing the three sports.
- [56:00]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [56:00]
Mo Welch
And so I was always sitting by that thing. I was always, like, visiting her. And that is truly why I stopped going to church. Because I was like, that's when I realized, like, there's. There's nothing.
- [56:10]
Marc Maron
How could they kill this girl?
- [56:11]
Mo Welch
Yeah. How they let this angel die?
- [56:13]
Marc Maron
Yeah. Yeah. And you would go sit there and, like, you have a relationship.
- [56:18]
Mo Welch
We play. And I always remembered her. And I always, like, would look, you know, even when then you get Google and stuff, and I'm, like, looking it up. Exactly. Did she die? And I was like, I think. I think about her like I'm a family member.
- [56:30]
Marc Maron
It's like a mild obsession that, you know, was a key to the universe somehow.
- [56:35]
Mo Welch
It is. Yeah.
- [56:36]
Marc Maron
Yeah. And, like, so, because you couldn't wrap.
- [56:39]
Mo Welch
Your brain around it, innocence was lost in a way.
- [56:42]
Marc Maron
Yeah. Because you weren't doing anything. And this girl did everything. It seemed like she was, like, a perfect person.
- [56:48]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [56:49]
Marc Maron
And just gone.
- [56:50]
Mo Welch
Right.
- [56:51]
Marc Maron
And you're like, oh, my God, Hope is dead.
- [56:53]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [56:53]
Marc Maron
What happens now?
- [56:55]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [56:55]
Marc Maron
And you never went back to church?
- [56:57]
Mo Welch
I was supposed to do my, like, confirmation at the church, and I'm like, I'm not going. My mom never even fought me on it.
- [57:02]
Marc Maron
But the move to Chicago? You just did that on your own?
- [57:05]
Mo Welch
Yeah. So I moved back to Chicago. Cause it was rough after.
- [57:08]
Marc Maron
Oh, after Wyoming.
- [57:09]
Mo Welch
Right. I was like a hostess at a steak restaurant. I was like, I gotta get the fuck outta here.
- [57:14]
Marc Maron
What part of Wyoming?
- [57:15]
Mo Welch
Well, that was in Denver, but I was in Laramie, Wyoming.
- [57:19]
Marc Maron
Okay.
- [57:19]
Mo Welch
Yeah. Which I did a bunch of shows there. Yeah, it was actually pretty fun. Cause they don't have any comedy.
- [57:24]
Marc Maron
Well, yeah, I mean, if you're gonna cut your teeth somewhere. I mean, when I was younger it was different. It was all club driven and whatever. But you know, it's good to be able to do it anonymously.
- [57:34]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [57:34]
Marc Maron
And just nothing's anonymous anymore.
- [57:37]
Mo Welch
Right.
- [57:37]
Marc Maron
You know, people were posting their videos of their first set and putting them up. And I'm like, I think you might regret that.
- [57:42]
Mo Welch
You. You are going to. Because I had a really early set in Wyoming and I remember somebody with a. I mean, you had a professional camera, like the news guys and the vhs.
- [57:52]
Marc Maron
VHS cameras?
- [57:53]
Mo Welch
Yeah, the big one. And I remember contacting them years later. I was like, you don't have that tape still, do you? Can you burn that?
- [57:59]
Marc Maron
Yeah, yeah. Did it end up somewh.
- [58:01]
Mo Welch
No, thank God.
- [58:02]
Marc Maron
But did he have it?
- [58:03]
Mo Welch
No, he never did anything. No, he probably lost it or something.
- [58:05]
Marc Maron
I have fucking tapes of me on Evening at the improv from like 89. I have like club tapes from 87 and 88 that some guy's making a doc on me that I gave to him and I'm like, wow, like, look at me.
- [58:17]
Mo Welch
At least if you're like, if it's televised, at least it's your best stuff. These people are posting like absolute garbage.
- [58:24]
Marc Maron
Well, they were club sets. But the most interesting about seeing that stuff is like, for years you can't look at it. You're like, I don't even wanna see it. But when you kind of get grounded in what you do, you can look at it and be kind of like, oh, I was myself. I just wasn't good at it.
- [58:39]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [58:39]
Marc Maron
And that's relief that you have a personality that somehow keeps going on and on.
- [58:45]
Mo Welch
I'm always impressed with how I, you know, how I was so like word for word with my jokes. And I was like, well, there was like. I really had like a work ethic to that where like, now I'm a little loose even from this dad jokes. It's like, I'm so much looser on stage even from that.
- [59:01]
Marc Maron
Yeah, well, I think that happens where you have no other way to do it at the beginning than to write jokes.
- [59:09]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [59:10]
Marc Maron
There's nothing else you can do. And that's how you figure out how to do it in a way. I don't think I really broke loose of that totally until the mid-90s when alt comedy started to happen and Luna Lounge started to happen, where we were sort of told. Told to try to come up with new stuff every week.
- [59:29]
Mo Welch
Right.
- [59:29]
Marc Maron
So then I started to, like, angrily, you know, talk about my day. And it changed everything. Then San Francisco changed everything. Where you realize, like, you own the space up there and, you know, you can. If you can hold them, you can kind of do whatever you want.
- [59:43]
Mo Welch
Right? Yeah.
- [59:43]
Marc Maron
It's just the skill of holding an audience without them being like, all right, so this is. I guess she'll be done soon. There's more. Right?
- [59:55]
Mo Welch
The amount of people that have been there with their, like, work backpacks that clearly got free tickets from the hotel and they're like, is this the whole thing she does?
- [60:03]
Marc Maron
It's gonna be the whole show.
- [60:05]
Mo Welch
Is it all lesbian?
- [60:06]
Marc Maron
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my. So. So when you go to Chicago, where are you working?
- [60:11]
Mo Welch
So. So I start to do everything. I do like IO, I do Second City, I do all the improv theaters. And then I just.
- [60:18]
Marc Maron
As a stand up.
- [60:19]
Mo Welch
No. And then I just. And at the same time, I'm doing. Which helped me because I had such terrible stage fright.
- [60:24]
Marc Maron
Right. And were you getting any better at improv?
- [60:28]
Mo Welch
Probably not. Like, I really were taking classes at I.O.
- [60:31]
Marc Maron
And stuff. Yeah.
- [60:32]
Mo Welch
I went through the whole program, but then I never would make the Herald team at the end.
- [60:36]
Marc Maron
But it must have given you some confidence.
- [60:39]
Mo Welch
It did. It helped me on stage. I really needed to get comfortable on stage because I was like, so nervous. I mean, I think about it the entire day.
- [60:47]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [60:47]
Mo Welch
Be going to the bathroom like three times, like, oh, my God, I got a five minute set.
- [60:51]
Marc Maron
You know, the dread of it, like. Because I was thinking about that with the fires and with, you know, different points in my life. But when you start out as a comic and, you know, for whatever reason you have this commitment to it. The. You know, when you've got a set next week at an open mic, your whole week is fucked.
- [61:08]
Mo Welch
It is. Yeah.
- [61:09]
Marc Maron
Because all you're thinking about is like, I gotta go up and do that thing, the five minutes.
- [61:14]
Mo Welch
That's why you have to have a mindless job. You have to just have a job you don't care about.
- [61:19]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [61:19]
Mo Welch
Because if you're a doctor, which there have been some. But like. No, you have to focus on your job.
- [61:24]
Marc Maron
Yeah, yeah. No, I'm trying to remember what I was doing when I was doing those. I worked at a coffee shop and I worked at. You know, but it was. I can't even. It becomes hard to. To. To sort of understand what the commitment was.
- [61:39]
Mo Welch
Right.
- [61:39]
Marc Maron
Because, like, you know, when you're doing it, you're like, I'm not. I don't want to do anything else. That's insane. Because it's the most uncomfortable, fucked up, anxiety inducing thing in the world.
- [61:48]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [61:49]
Marc Maron
I still. I don't have an answer to it other than like, I need to be seen.
- [61:52]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [61:55]
Marc Maron
For who I am. This is me.
- [61:58]
Mo Welch
It's my turn.
- [61:59]
Marc Maron
Exactly.
- [62:01]
Mo Welch
That is. No, I feel the same exact way. I was like, I don't know. I have given my life to comedy and I have been so, like, you know, I just think about my bank account going negative so many times in Chicago and I'm like, it's all like. And I'm buying these wigs and I'm doing it all.
- [62:19]
Marc Maron
Wigs?
- [62:19]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [62:20]
Marc Maron
Cause you're doing characters.
- [62:21]
Mo Welch
I'm doing sketch. I'm doing as a student, I did everything. Yeah. I would sometimes go on the show and instead of do stand up, I would like, dress as Larry Bird and like, just pretend like I'm Larry Bird.
- [62:33]
Marc Maron
As your stand up set.
- [62:34]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [62:35]
Marc Maron
Wow.
- [62:35]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [62:36]
Marc Maron
That's ballsy.
- [62:37]
Mo Welch
I just tried everything.
- [62:38]
Marc Maron
I didn't do any wigs. I never did wigs. I was always sort of like, if we can get to me, whatever I am now is not really me. So that's the character.
- [62:48]
Mo Welch
Yeah. I actually, I mean, I think I.
- [62:49]
Marc Maron
Was angry guy for years.
- [62:51]
Mo Welch
I feel like that's smarter in a lot of ways though. Cause I don't think I really was. I don't think I was like, really improving as a standup until I let go of the wigs.
- [63:01]
Marc Maron
And I wouldn't have never had the confidence to believe that I could sell that.
- [63:05]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [63:06]
Marc Maron
Like, you know, I can barely be up there myself. I'm going to put a hat on and pretend to be a guy. There's just no way.
- [63:12]
Mo Welch
It's weirdly so much easier though, because you really get lost. Like, I get lost in Larry Bird and I'm like, I'm so funny as Larry Bird. I'm so quick.
- [63:19]
Marc Maron
Well, that's like, that must be from improv.
- [63:21]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [63:22]
Marc Maron
That must have, like, what gave you the confidence to do that?
- [63:25]
Mo Welch
Right.
- [63:25]
Marc Maron
Because like, to me, like, getting into a character that is like completely clowning, I'm like, you know, immediately I'm like, this is Stupid. I look stupid. There's no way.
- [63:34]
Mo Welch
I still think that I'm still like, this is fucking stupid. But it is somehow funnier than my actual self on stage.
- [63:42]
Marc Maron
So when do you give it up? The wigs and the.
- [63:44]
Mo Welch
I did that show like six months ago. Sometimes I bring out Larry Bird.
- [63:50]
Marc Maron
You do?
- [63:50]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [63:51]
Marc Maron
Does anyone know who he is anymore?
- [63:53]
Mo Welch
I don't know. Some people are like, who is that?
- [63:55]
Marc Maron
So I explain it, and that can't help the bit.
- [63:58]
Mo Welch
And I say I'm. Well, I go like, I'm Larry Birda. I'm not shy anymore. And then I just like, kind of try to recruit five players to my new Celtics team.
- [64:07]
Marc Maron
Okay.
- [64:08]
Mo Welch
And then I have.
- [64:08]
Marc Maron
So it's a crowd work device.
- [64:11]
Mo Welch
Yeah. And I mean, it's really fun. But even the last time I did it, I was just like, I don't know what that was. I don't like that. I was like, I gotta get. I gotta put my clothes back on.
- [64:23]
Marc Maron
It's weird when you grow up in some sort of chaos or emotional void in terms of parents that you know that you. There's some part of you that deeply craves that discomfort.
- [64:34]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [64:35]
Marc Maron
Because it's familiar, you know, like, oh, this is exactly. I'm a strange person. Alienated from most people emotionally. And let's honor that tonight.
- [64:46]
Mo Welch
And everyone has to watch it. I do love that you drag them.
- [64:50]
Marc Maron
In to your discomfort.
- [64:51]
Mo Welch
It's in my childhood.
- [64:52]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [64:53]
Mo Welch
Yeah. There was. I mean, I love the cringe moment. Like, if somebody's doing comedy and there's that cringe in my stomach is like turning for them. I fucking love that so much. It's not that I want so much of that in my act, but I'm like, if I could get one moment where it's like, oh, I don't.
- [65:08]
Marc Maron
Well, like, eventually you get to the point. I know you're there because I think I kind of saw you do it where, like, you have an idea. Like, I'm doing this now because I'm trying to, you know, kind of regroove an hour where I have post its and I have things and as opposed to like, structure a joke, I'll have what I think is funny that I have to work with on a post it and I'll just read it. And a lot of times they'll get laughs and I'll be like, oh, I'll work on that. But sometimes I'll read it and nothing. And I'm like, all right, well, that one's, I guess, not going to go in. So you get adept enough to. When something tanks like that, that you can bounce back with some humility and just be like, hey, look, not all of these are gonna go.
- [65:53]
Mo Welch
I feel like that's something I've always had on stage is being able to bounce back. Cause so many of my jokes would not go.
- [65:59]
Marc Maron
Yeah, yeah.
- [66:00]
Mo Welch
And so at least I was funny in the. Like, that didn't work. You know, I learned that pretty quick. Most of my act was like. So that one also didn't work.
- [66:09]
Marc Maron
Well, that's actually a great character. I don't know why someone. I'm sure someone has tried that where you just have these mediocre to lame jokes. And as the arc of the set goes, you get more frustrated. Like, I'm working. God damn it. What the fuck is wrong with me? Why do I even do this? And you're getting the laugh from that guy responding.
- [66:31]
Mo Welch
This is the last one. This is the last one. I'm out of here.
- [66:36]
Marc Maron
Oh, God. So when do you, like, start featuring? How do you get to the point where. Where. Which clubs? And you work in Zany's eventually, and that kind of.
- [66:46]
Mo Welch
Yeah, I was doing all those popping around, but then I left Chicago before I even did anything. I mean, I wasn't like a big fish.
- [66:53]
Marc Maron
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [66:53]
Mo Welch
And.
- [66:54]
Marc Maron
But you were doing real sets.
- [66:55]
Mo Welch
Yeah, I was doing real sets.
- [66:56]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [66:57]
Mo Welch
And. And then I moved to here. Moved to la. And then. And then I started a few years in. I started to go on the road with Jeselnik and then kept getting like opening gigs like that. Like theater tours.
- [67:11]
Marc Maron
Yeah, yeah.
- [67:12]
Mo Welch
And then.
- [67:12]
Marc Maron
And so you're solid.
- [67:14]
Mo Welch
And I love. It's the best job in the world. Like, I'd rather. Like, I was. Yeah. I've been featuring like this whole last year on a theater tour, and I'm like, I love it. With Brett Goldstein.
- [67:24]
Marc Maron
Oh, okay. That's a good one.
- [67:25]
Mo Welch
For 14 months.
- [67:26]
Marc Maron
Well, then at least, you know, you have a attentive, sophisticated audience with him. Certainly.
- [67:32]
Mo Welch
Oh, yeah. I mean, it's. All of those audiences were really different and they were all amazing to like, navigate. But, you know, Anthony used to just say it was so funny because, like, I bombed once or twice. Like, definitely in London with Jeselnik.
- [67:47]
Marc Maron
Oh, you went to London with Jeselnik?
- [67:49]
Mo Welch
Yeah, and I bombed. And he was like. I was like, God, I'm sorry it was so bad. He was like, I don't care. It doesn't matter. He's like, I'm gonna kill anyway. And I'm like, that's actually really helpful for Me.
- [68:04]
Marc Maron
No sympathy for your plights because it's my show.
- [68:07]
Mo Welch
Yeah. He's like, it doesn't matter if you do good or bad. I'm like, that's actually really helpful for me.
- [68:12]
Marc Maron
But did he say it at least in a caring way?
- [68:16]
Mo Welch
I'm sure he felt empathy when I came off with my tail between my legs.
- [68:22]
Marc Maron
Yeah. Well, I think he had to have been a guy that bombed his fair share trying to put that thing together back in the day.
- [68:28]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [68:29]
Marc Maron
I didn't see him early on, but, you know, you've got to figure that particular angle out.
- [68:34]
Mo Welch
Oh, yeah, that's rough. That's hard.
- [68:35]
Marc Maron
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you bombed with Jezelnick?
- [68:39]
Mo Welch
Yeah, I did a few bombs. Like, most of them were good, but there were. You know, each tour would be like two or three.
- [68:46]
Marc Maron
Well, his audience is weird because, you know, they don't really know him or what he is, but they know that, you know, in terms of being a person, like, you would know him or I would know him, but they know the character and they have expectations. And the expectations are like, this is going to be fun.
- [69:00]
Mo Welch
Up. Yeah. And then. And then I come on and I'm like, so I'm a lesbian. You know what I mean?
- [69:06]
Marc Maron
And it's like, real person.
- [69:08]
Mo Welch
Who is. Who is this? But they were. They were very nice. Like, when we were on our. Like, we went. We went on a European tour and stuff, and we did America, and it was like, we. We had so much fun and. And his audience was so good to me.
- [69:21]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [69:22]
Mo Welch
And it was definitely harder. Like, it was a hard audience, but in a good way, where, like, they were. I only had a few shows that were like, sorry.
- [69:29]
Marc Maron
Yeah, Right. Well, I mean, a lot of times they're just not focused. Or sometimes when you're opening, they're still seating.
- [69:35]
Mo Welch
Right.
- [69:36]
Marc Maron
And, you know, it's just. It's the nature of that position, but it's the best.
- [69:39]
Mo Welch
I think it's the best gig in comedy. I know a lot of people know. Yeah. Because it's like, you don't have to get anybody out. You're staying in nice hotels, you're eating.
- [69:48]
Marc Maron
It's all just about the job.
- [69:50]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [69:51]
Marc Maron
And you have. You're set up just perfectly, and they.
- [69:53]
Mo Welch
Feel like you're a treat. And they're like, oh, that's great. Like, there's this person. Yeah. Going for 15 minutes, 20.
- [70:00]
Marc Maron
Right. Exactly. And they're there for a reason. They didn't just wander in. It's not a free ticket. And, you know they're, you know. Okay. They know that you'll be done soon if they don't like you.
- [70:10]
Mo Welch
Right? Yeah.
- [70:11]
Marc Maron
And they're going to see the person they came to see. Oh, boy. So when do you meet your wife?
- [70:17]
Mo Welch
We met in 2014. We met at a bowling alley. We met at a bowling alley and at this event called Les Bowl.
- [70:27]
Marc Maron
I was gonna say. How does is that? I'm glad it was a specific event and it was sort of like there's a lesbian. That's a bowling thing.
- [70:34]
Mo Welch
Yeah, We've moved from softball to bowling. It was like a rotator cuff sort of thing. We're like, we gotta go under him.
- [70:42]
Marc Maron
Yeah, yeah. Our shoulders are hurt. Yeah, yeah. I remember field hockey somehow being a sports.
- [70:50]
Mo Welch
I remember calling it dyke hockey when I was completely in the closet.
- [70:55]
Marc Maron
Yeah. I just. Okay, so you meet her. What does she do?
- [70:59]
Mo Welch
She is a writer. She writes. She. She started as a performer, like improv sketch. I didn't know her when she was a performer. And she's a writer. She does like kids, kids tv, kids movies, kids musicals.
- [71:12]
Marc Maron
Oh, really?
- [71:12]
Mo Welch
Sort of thing. Yeah.
- [71:14]
Marc Maron
Who's that? What's her name?
- [71:16]
Mo Welch
Oh, Samantha Martin.
- [71:17]
Marc Maron
Oh, I. Who did I talk to that was started in kids stuff? Oh, Robbie. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [71:24]
Mo Welch
Robbie Hoffman. Yeah, yeah.
- [71:25]
Marc Maron
Like she was like big. Like that's her. That was her big thing is that kids show in Canada.
- [71:31]
Mo Welch
I mean a lot of people I know that work in kids tv. Sam too. It's like she's never stopped working. Where all of us have all these years of gaps of shows we've been on or whatever.
- [71:41]
Marc Maron
Yeah. I think that kids expect less.
- [71:43]
Mo Welch
Yeah, I could use some of that.
- [71:46]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [71:47]
Mo Welch
Low expectations.
- [71:48]
Marc Maron
Sure. Like if it works for the kids, they're like, let's do it for. For a decade.
- [71:51]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [71:52]
Marc Maron
You know, I mean they're not gonna be like, I don't know, this character arc, right.
- [71:56]
Mo Welch
Yeah, this really does.
- [71:57]
Marc Maron
They really jumped the shark on that last puppet thing.
- [72:00]
Mo Welch
You want the same thing over and.
- [72:02]
Marc Maron
Over because there's always a new generation of kids.
- [72:05]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [72:05]
Marc Maron
Yeah. Well, that's exciting. And how long before you got married?
- [72:12]
Mo Welch
A few years, maybe two or three years.
- [72:14]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [72:15]
Mo Welch
Yeah. And then we got married at her parents house and IP.
- [72:18]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [72:19]
Mo Welch
And. Yeah. And we've been together forever now. 10 years.
- [72:22]
Marc Maron
That's good. You work it out.
- [72:24]
Mo Welch
Yeah, it's actually. It is good. We had a kid and you know, there were some rough years in Covid for both of us just having to be on top of each other. But I feel like we made it out somehow.
- [72:36]
Marc Maron
Yeah. Well, it's either gonna bring you closer or destroy it eventually.
- [72:40]
Mo Welch
Yeah, we'll see. If we survive the fire, like every few years LA gives us something.
- [72:44]
Marc Maron
Well, yeah, but when you're locked in, you know, you got to figure it out. And you had the kid during COVID How old?
- [72:50]
Mo Welch
She was 5 months old when CO hit.
- [72:53]
Marc Maron
Oh my God.
- [72:54]
Mo Welch
And I just went back, I was working on Anthony's show. Good talk. And we were there for maybe a week.
- [72:59]
Marc Maron
You wrote on that something?
- [73:00]
Mo Welch
Yeah. And I was like, I'm out. I'm going to get a gym membership.
- [73:04]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [73:04]
Mo Welch
You know, I'm back cuz I had the baby. So I'm like, okay, my.
- [73:07]
Marc Maron
You had it.
- [73:08]
Mo Welch
Yeah. I'm like, I'm going to get my body back and stuff and no shut down.
- [73:12]
Marc Maron
Really?
- [73:12]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [73:13]
Marc Maron
How was that experience having the baby?
- [73:16]
Mo Welch
It is really wild. It was really difficult for me because it's not my identity to be pregnant. Like I didn't do that thing where I was like always rubbing the belly or something. Like so nurturing. And you know, when photos, women go like this when they're, you know, they cup the top just so you know I'm pregnant, you know, that sort of thing. I was always armed all the way out. Cause I was just like, I don't like that.
- [73:39]
Marc Maron
Yeah, I have an alien inside me, I need it out.
- [73:43]
Mo Welch
Yeah, it was. Yeah. I mean the.
- [73:45]
Marc Maron
What was the decision process on who had it?
- [73:48]
Mo Welch
So I'm four years older. But also, I mean, I joke that it's cause I'm taller, but I do think that it's like, I felt like my body could take it better because her mom is petite and Sam's more petite than I am. And so I was like, I think actually I can hold this better. And we got tested and my. I was like more fertile than her.
- [74:09]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [74:10]
Mo Welch
Which made sense. Cause my family couldn't have kids. Like, no problem.
- [74:13]
Marc Maron
Yeah, yeah. Plenty of kids.
- [74:15]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [74:15]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [74:16]
Mo Welch
And so. Yeah. So I was like, okay, I'll do it. And then she does the second one. And I have a joke about this, but it is true that like she saw me have the baby and she.
- [74:24]
Marc Maron
Was like, no, this is it.
- [74:26]
Mo Welch
Yeah. Cause she was like, I. I'm backing.
- [74:29]
Marc Maron
Out of the deal.
- [74:29]
Mo Welch
Which is funny because when dads see it, they're like, oh, if I could, if I could. And she actually did get to see it and had the opportunity to do.
- [74:36]
Marc Maron
It and she was like, no, yeah, just. I think you talk a bit about that.
- [74:41]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [74:43]
Marc Maron
Was it a 911 joke, I think.
- [74:45]
Mo Welch
Oh, yeah, yeah. Because we told our doctor she was supposed to be born on 9 11.
- [74:50]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [74:50]
Mo Welch
And we really did tell him. We were like, I want to get this out as soon as possible. I don't want her to be born on 9 11.
- [74:55]
Marc Maron
So you were induced or you had cesarean?
- [74:57]
Mo Welch
I was induced, yeah. And he did. He was like, let's do this.
- [75:00]
Marc Maron
Yeah. Let's get it out of there.
- [75:01]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [75:02]
Marc Maron
So the kid's how old now?
- [75:03]
Mo Welch
She's five.
- [75:04]
Marc Maron
Oh, and it's good?
- [75:05]
Mo Welch
Yeah, she's great.
- [75:06]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [75:07]
Mo Welch
And we are. I mean, having one kid is good. I. I would feel kind of weird leaving on the road. Leaving like a newborn and a five year old, you know?
- [75:15]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [75:15]
Mo Welch
It's a lot.
- [75:16]
Marc Maron
I. It must have been in some way beneficial that Covid happened in terms of attention.
- [75:21]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [75:22]
Marc Maron
To the kid. You know, as difficult it might have been, you didn't have to go. Right. Everyone's totally bonded for three years solid.
- [75:31]
Mo Welch
Yeah. To be honest, it's like you're never ready to leave and go back to work. I wasn't ready. I mean, mentally, sometimes I was, but I was emotionally. It was hard to be away from her.
- [75:41]
Marc Maron
And what are you doing? Like, what's on the plate here? How's that special doing? What do you got going?
- [75:49]
Mo Welch
The special's good. It has like a, like small audience that's watched it and now it's on Hulu, so maybe more will watch.
- [75:56]
Marc Maron
Okay.
- [75:57]
Mo Welch
I.
- [75:58]
Marc Maron
It's called Daddy Jokes.
- [75:59]
Mo Welch
Called dad Jokes.
- [76:00]
Marc Maron
Dad Jokes.
- [76:01]
Mo Welch
Yeah, Daddy Jokes.
- [76:02]
Marc Maron
And the whole premise is that you were doing dad jokes but you had no relationship with your dad, so you thought you could, you know, either broaden them or make them more honest if you had a relationship with the guy. Yeah, yeah. So it was intercut with this documentary of you going to meet your estranged dad. Yeah. Now like, then when you think like, what's. Is he. Well now, I mean, is he functioning?
- [76:27]
Mo Welch
Yeah, he's functioning. And. But any. We were texting a little bit, but then I think he saw the film and was like, oh, he hasn't texted since.
- [76:36]
Marc Maron
That's it.
- [76:36]
Mo Welch
So now it's back to normal. I mean, it doesn't matter to me.
- [76:38]
Marc Maron
Yeah. So there's no sort of like, you gotta meet your granddaughter kind of shit.
- [76:42]
Mo Welch
No. Yeah. I don't. You know, he's just not a nurturing fella.
- [76:47]
Marc Maron
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [76:50]
Mo Welch
I don't think he was ever supposed to have children sometimes.
- [76:53]
Marc Maron
So. He had five.
- [76:53]
Mo Welch
So he had five with my mom.
- [76:55]
Marc Maron
Just because she's Catholic.
- [76:57]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [76:58]
Marc Maron
And there was no other way.
- [76:59]
Mo Welch
There's nothing to do.
- [77:00]
Marc Maron
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Here comes another one.
- [77:01]
Mo Welch
And she always was like, well, he was so good looking. He was hot. And I was like, mom, I don't want to hear about how you were horny. That's why you made all these mistakes.
- [77:11]
Marc Maron
Well, how are you with your mom?
- [77:13]
Mo Welch
Great.
- [77:13]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [77:14]
Mo Welch
Yeah, she's. No, she's. We talk all the time.
- [77:17]
Marc Maron
And is she able to. And she's got a good relationship with the kid and everything.
- [77:20]
Mo Welch
Oh, yeah, yeah. She. I mean, she loves her kids so much. She loves all of us. She thinks all of us can do no wrong. She's like, every day she's just like, I just don't understand why you're not on snl. Or like, she'll be like, I saw Fortune with a Netflix special. How come you don't have a Netflix special?
- [77:34]
Marc Maron
Yeah, it's never, It's. It's always something. You know, your job isn't justified until something on their radar shows them that you've made it.
- [77:44]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [77:45]
Marc Maron
And meanwhile, most people, no matter whether they have a special or not, are out there pounding the pavement trying to keep the thing going. Right, but what is the plan though? You just touring?
- [77:54]
Mo Welch
Yeah. So we ended the tour and I was writing and performing on the Office spinoff this whole last year.
- [78:02]
Marc Maron
Oh, that's a good gig.
- [78:03]
Mo Welch
Yeah. And at the same time, I was touring on the weekend. Cause luckily they still let me keep a lot of those dates.
- [78:09]
Marc Maron
Now. When does that show come on?
- [78:10]
Mo Welch
I think it's coming out in the spring.
- [78:12]
Marc Maron
And how was that experience? How do you think it was? Was it funny?
- [78:16]
Mo Welch
I hope so. I mean, yeah. I mean, it's a big cast. It was like super fun. The writers room was like really fun. I met a ton of great people.
- [78:28]
Marc Maron
What's the angle of it? How's it a spin off?
- [78:30]
Mo Welch
It's basically the same. I mean, it's the same tone. It's like the same.
- [78:34]
Marc Maron
Yeah, but is it the same office?
- [78:36]
Mo Welch
No, it's like a different place.
- [78:38]
Marc Maron
It's not Dunder.
- [78:40]
Mo Welch
No, no, it's. It's like. It's a completely different. Just like spitting off to new business.
- [78:45]
Marc Maron
And it's gonna be called the Office?
- [78:46]
Mo Welch
No, I don't think so. Like, it's. I don't know if they're gonna keep it, but they were reporting that it's going to be called the Paper. But I. I mean, I have no idea if they're gonna change it last week.
- [78:55]
Marc Maron
So is it even affiliated Development wise to the office. No, it's not the same showrunner or the same.
- [79:03]
Mo Welch
Oh, yeah, yeah. No.
- [79:04]
Marc Maron
Okay.
- [79:05]
Mo Welch
So it's Greg. Greg Daniels.
- [79:06]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [79:07]
Mo Welch
And then Michael Coleman.
- [79:09]
Marc Maron
Oh, good. Well, that's a good gig. Get your WGA insurance.
- [79:12]
Mo Welch
It was a lot. Yeah, it was. Yeah, it happened. It was one. It's like any job I get that's not stand up is like, the interviews on Friday. Hey, you start on Monday. So I was like, well, it's a.
- [79:23]
Marc Maron
Good loop to be in.
- [79:24]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [79:24]
Marc Maron
A comedy writer that can do it.
- [79:26]
Mo Welch
Right?
- [79:26]
Marc Maron
Well, good. Congratulations.
- [79:28]
Mo Welch
Thank you.
- [79:28]
Marc Maron
It was great.
- [79:29]
Mo Welch
Thank you so much.
- [79:30]
Marc Maron
Great talking to you.
- [79:31]
Mo Welch
It was so great. I hope we survive these. God damn it. Getting our cars.
- [79:34]
Marc Maron
God damn it. I'm literally just sort of like, should I just go to Vegas for three days so I don't have to sit here in the winter?
- [79:42]
Mo Welch
We go to Palm Springs, Joshua Tree.
- [79:44]
Marc Maron
I thought of that. But, like, right now, it's flagged right up to Palm Springs.
- [79:49]
Mo Welch
Oh, God. Because that's where we went. And it was like, I don't know, blue. It was like this wasn't happening.
- [79:55]
Marc Maron
Yeah.
- [79:55]
Mo Welch
Yeah.
- [79:56]
Marc Maron
There's west to burn, I think, out there. No.
- [79:58]
Mo Welch
Yeah, that's what it seems like. A lot of rocks.
- [80:00]
Marc Maron
Yeah. But, like, you know, everyone becomes an amateur meteorologist. Like, well, the foliage, the vegetation doesn't seem to. All right, well, we'll see what happens.
- [80:08]
Mo Welch
All right.
- [80:13]
Marc Maron
There you go. I like her again. Dad Jokes is streaming on Hulu, and her podcast with Beth Stelling is called Sweethearts. Hang out for a minute.
- [80:28]
Mo Welch
People.
- [80:28]
Marc Maron
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game, shifting a little money here, a little there, and hoping it all works out? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can be a better budgeter and potentially lower your insurance bill, too. You tell Progressive what you want to pay for car insurance, and they'll help find you options within your budget. Try it today@progressive.com. and now some legal info. Progressive Casualty Insurance company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. Okay, folks, if you want more details about what's been going on in my life and in my head during these fires out there, I talked about it for a bonus episode on the full Marin feed this week. This was always part of the agreement you make with living here. You know, whether it be earthquakes or this, that these Santa Ana winds have been a reality for centuries. And, you know, this was always a possibility. And there was always fires every year. All along the California vegetation all the way up north. You know, I was in San Francisco, you know, decades ago, where, you know, Point Reyes and, you know, a big chunk of massive acreage burned. And I was in Napa the other night and that place burned down a couple years ago. And, you know, it's just reality and you can rationalize it however you want. It's like, yeah, well, the earth does this and sometimes burning's good and yada, yada. But, but you know, the menace of human loss and, and tragic loss of property and, and, you know, possessions, you know, it's. It's, it's a reality on a major scale. To get bonus episodes twice a week, sign up for the full Marin by going to the link in the episode description or go to wtfpod.com and click on WTF Plus. And a reminder before we go, this podcast is hosted by Acast. Here's some guitar I enjoyed.
- [82:35]
Mo Welch
Sa It Sa Sa.
- [85:22]
Marc Maron
Boomer lives monkey and La Fonda cat angels everywhere.