Transcript
Marc Maron (0:01)
Sometimes when I travel now, I get to a place and I don't really want to do much of anything while I'm there. I want to be there, but I don't feel all the pressure to do things, you know, like I was in Chicago, and I've been in Chicago a lot. And, you know, I used to go to Chicago and I do go eat the meat. I go to the museum, and I go all to, you know, all the interesting places. But the last time I was there, I was just sort of like, dude, you've done it. Just you like the city. Just, you know, enjoy the poetry of the place. And look, if you go away and decide to do nothing now, you can still host your home on Airbnb while you're away and not have to worry about doing anything. That's because a co host can do all the hosting for you. You can get a high quality local co host to take care of your home and your guests. They manage all the hosting details and even send messages to your guests. Then they're available to be on hand when your guests are at your place just to help out with anything that might come up. So do nothing while you're away and still make some cash. Find a co host@airbnb.com host all right, let's do this. How are you? What the fuckers? What the fuck, buddies? What the fuck? Nicks, what's happening? I'm Marc Maron. This is my podcast. Welcome to it. You're just getting here. It's not that you're too late, but there's a lot to catch up on. How's everyone doing today on the show? I talked to David Cronenberg. David Cronenberg. The impact of that dude's stuff. I mean, I'm sure many of you have seen the movies if you don't know who he is. Maybe you saw Scanners, the Dead Zone, the Fly, A History of Violence. Eastern promises many, many movies. He's got a new film out. It's called the Shrouds. Some of his movies are challenging for different reasons. Some of his movies are challenging for narrative reasons. Some of his movies are challenging for graphic kind of, you know, grotesque body horror, which is just a subgenre imposed by critics on Cronenberg. I think he's just a filmmaker that has a thematic kind of. I wouldn't say obsession, but, you know, he is working out life through art in the way that he does, and a lot of it is a bit on the gnarly side. The new film is. Is. Is really Kind of a complex meditation on grief and mortality. And I enjoyed it. I rewatched some of his movies, and I watched some for the first time, and some of them, like the ones I hadn't seen. I'm like, why? How the fuck did I not know about this movie? I mean, I never saw Cosmopolis. Did you even hear of it? Cosmopolis, with that guy. What's his name, Pattinson? It's kind of a great movie. And it's based on a Don DeLillo book. And I'm like a Don DeLillo guy. I mean, I haven't. I kind of lost touch with don after the 911 book. The Tower. I can't remember what that was called. But early on, I'd read all his books. I was obsessed with Libra. I was obsessed with White Noise, Great Joan Street, Ratner, Starr. I mean, they were great books. And he's got a very specific tone. And when I watched Cosmopolis, which is based on a DeLillo novel, I was like, oh, my God. It's all, like, DeLillo language. And it made me miss reading DeLillo. But it's kind of a great examination of that first wave of tech, money and these young men who became filthy rich. There's kind of an element of American Psycho in there, but not the violent element. And there's an amazing performance by Giamatti, who kind of comes in at the end. But I watched that, and I watched Maps to the Stars again, which is based on a Bruce Wagner book. And Bruce Wagner wrote the screenplay. And I had watched the movie before. And Bruce Wagner is a genius. He's a fucking seer. He's a mystic. I had him on here. His books blow me away. And I remember watching that movie, but I don't remember the movie. And then I watched it again. I'm like, this is a dark, amazing movie. Kind of rides the edge of. Of satire of Hollywood and just kind of tragic arc to that story. And I watched the Brood. I watched. I watched History of Violence recently. I watched. I didn't rewatch the Fly. I watched some very early. I rewatched Scanners fairly recently, but some very interesting and challenging films. It was kind of an honor to talk to the guy. I'm at Dynasty, typewriter tomorrow. That's April 29th. Then I'm in Toronto at the Winter Garden theatre on Saturday, May 3rd, for two shows. Burlington, Vermont. I'm at the Vermont Comedy Club for two shows on Monday, May 5, and one show on Tuesday, May, May 6. Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I'll be at the Music hall on Wednesday, May 7. Then I'm in Brooklyn for my HBO special taping at the Bam Harvey Theater on May 10th. Two shows there. You can go to wtfpod.com tour for all my dates and links to tickets. Go there, get the right ones. And here's something that was brought to my attention by Kit. And you know, we can only do what we can do and I hope you're doing it, whatever that may be. Ultimately it's not going to be satisfying because we are up against a lot of a tsunami of authoritarian bullshit. But here in la, and this is local, but the latest budget proposal is set to close multiple animal shelters and reduce more than 120 staff positions. And look, you know, I am a cat guy, I'm an animal guy. You know, Kit is a cat person and a dog person and you know, she was involved with Pasadena Humane for a while. And I mean this just means less care for sheltered animals, fewer adoptions and more killing of animals that can't be taken care of. And it's tragic. This is the, the, the, the killing of true innocence. If you live in LA, there's a gathering today at 3pm downtown at City hall to speak out against the funding cuts. You can also call your council member and tell them why they should restore. The funding organizing on this is being led by Beezy's Rescue in la. So shout out to them. Let's, let's, let's, let's help the animals. I mean, if you can't do anything else or you haven't figured out a way to. If you live here in la. I mean, this is a, it's a very tragic, sad thing. I get very emotionally invested in animals. As you know, with Charles the, the ever evolving story of Charles. Yeah, that's taken a big turn. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. When you run your own website like we do, life is easier thanks to Squarespace. We never have to worry about updating the site or dealing with bugs. Squarespace handles all of that. Plus, Squarespace gives you everything you need to offer services and get paid all in one place. From consultations to events and experiences. Showcase your offerings with a customizable website designed to attract clients and grow your business. You, you'll get paid on time with professional invoices and online payments. Plus streamline your workflow with built in appointment scheduling and email marketing tools. And with blueprint AI, Squarespace helps you design a fully custom website in just a few steps. Check out squarespace.com wtf for a free trial and Then when you're all set to launch your new site, use offer code WTF to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.com WTF offer code WTF. So, Charles and I, I did go to the fish show on Saturday. I'll tease that right now. All right. But I'm going to talk about Charles for a minute because I know people are dug into this particular arc. The fish arc is sporadic, but there. There was anticipation on the behalf of fish fans and people who don't like fish. My listeners, in terms of. After I talk to Trey, would I indeed go to my first fish show? And I did. But first, Charles. Charles. Charlie. Charlie Beans. Charlie Beans. Roscoe has been problematic as of late. And as you know, we had a massive diarrhea event, a very large and ongoing aggressive behavior events where Charlie was experiencing stress and anxiety and beating up on the other cats. And when I was away, he was shitting all over the house. And it got to such a. A. A level of chaos that I put him on Prozac. And two weeks into that, I felt awful and I took him off the Prozac. And then I just kind of waited it out, and he was still beating up on the old guys. And then I came across. Well, my vet came across something, or, I mean, she knew. I mean, she didn't come across it. She had given me some. Prescribed some gabapentin, which is a painkiller, and a doofus maker, which I still have on tap. I haven't used it yet, but I tried this other stuff. She said zilkene or Xylkene, and it's some sort of supplement, you know, derived from bovine milk. And I was ready to try anything. And this was easier. It was capsules, but you could open them up and mix them with the food. She prescribed two a day for Charlie. And I just was. The other night, a few nights ago, I was like, I'm going to try this at night, because that seems to be when he goes nuts and gets really kind of crazy. And I gave him this zilkeen in his food, and within a couple hours, he returned to normal. He was, you know, loving and kind of warm and sweet and connected. All the aggravation had left. He wasn't aggro. He wasn't beating up on the cats. He was just having a nice time. And it was a fucking miracle. And I just hope it sticks and the weight off of my back. I mean, when you live in a house with animals and they're fucking out of their minds. It is stress all day long. I can't even imagine. I mean, with kids it's gotta be crazy. But I'm not a kid guy. I'm a cat guy. And it was just causing me so much anxiety, as you guys knew. And I gave him this stuff. Oh, yeah, And I bought a cat tree. I put together a cat tree. And that's now taking up space. But it's not as terrible. And he's into it. He's like back to his old self, sleeping with me, being sweet. You know, he's still an asshole and he's still a troublemaker, but that. That fundamental aggravation is gone. And it was such a fucking relief. I just hope it sticks, you know? Cause I gotta take one more trip out there on the road and I guess we'll see. You know, I've got the gabapentin on backup and this. This zilkin stuff. She said I could give him twice a day and may maybe we can keep him level. But it was almost like it reconfigured his brain, you know, back to who he used to be. It feels like he was stuck in this aggravated space. And God knows I relate to that. I mean, you know, you don't know what's going to make something pass. But I feel like I don't know if this is the direct effect of administering the medicine, the supplement, or whether, you know, he's just kind of re engaged with himself and with me. And now I'm going to disrupt that this week. So we'll see. But what a relief for me and for those of you who are going through that with me. So, okay, most of you know that I interviewed Trey from Fish not long ago. And all of you knew that I was entering that interview after years of people pestering me to do it. Not really being a Fish fan, but not really knowing anything about Fish either. I was judging the phenomenon. I was comparing it to, you know, the jam band that was around when I was younger but already old, the Grateful Dead. And I just assumed it was this sort of proto hippie stuff, which I don't really have a problem with. But, you know, my joke was, you know, I don't have. I don't know how much time I have left, you know, in terms of letting another jam band into my heart. But nonetheless, after I talked to Trey and listened to some Fish, I realized it was a completely different music in a lot of ways. And the jam band I grew up with to a degree, and I Used to live with Deadheads, and I'd been to a few shows. I was never a guy who traveled with them, but I, I can get into the Zone pretty easily. And I lived in the zone for, you know, a couple of years with these guys. And so I, I knew the groove in terms of what a jam band show should be or what a jam band event is and what jam band music does and how it works. I, I, I can lock into it. I didn't know what to expect from it, but Trey said, I told him I'd never been to a show. He said, you gotta come to a show, and I'll get you into the show when you wanna come to the show. And they were here in la, so I reached out and he got me a nice box over at the Hollywood bowl to see my first FISH show. Now, look, there's no doubt that they're great musicians, okay? But what I didn't expect going to the Fish show, and I guess I should have, is there's, you know, obviously a lot of Fish fans listen to that Trey episode. And most of them, I would say 99% of them loved it, and Trey loved it. But I didn't really realize, stupidly, that this community is so interwoven and so tight and so specific that I was walking around and they were like, ah, you made it, huh? He got you here. Yeah. I mean, a lot of people are like, hey, man, this is it, huh? The first Fish show. Have a good set, man. You know, and it was, it was kind of overwhelming. I was like. And I felt pressure. I felt a little pressure, you know, like all eyes were upon me when they weren't on Fish, but they weren't. But there were some people watching me. And so I got set up in the box and, you know, Kit came about, you know, half hour later, she had gotten off work. And the groove of the Fish community was exactly what I anticipated in the way of, like, come, let's get, let's do this, you know, let's get into this groove and see where it takes us. The lights were amazing. The sound was amazing. It's not too loud at, at the bowl, and, and the, and it was good. You know, the first set was, it was kind of, you know, songs with not a lot of exploration, and then there's a nice break and then they come back and they do the other thing, which is the journey, I imagine. I don't know. I'm just, I didn't do any research into how one speaks about these things. And I wouldn't say I'm part of the Fish fam at this point in time, but I understood how it worked. And it was good. It was good. But the odd thing about a jam band world and the jam band community is that, you know, if you have. If you know the songs and I knew none, so that level of excitement was not there. And if you are part of these experiences, these shows, and you go too many of them, you're waiting for different versions or comparing versions of songs or versions or sort of experiences with the second set, with other second sets, and I know all that exists, but I knew none of the music. But I was. I was able to walk into the. To the songs and kind of, you know, I did the jig, I wiggled, I did the. I grooved a little bit, I rocked back and forth. I got into it. The headspace was, I know how to get there without weed, without shrooms, without that help. There was enough weed around me to where I'm sure I got a little buzz, but. But the music itself will get you there. And I understood, you know, how it worked. You know, I knew we were building towards something in that second set. But, you know, I think that once you know the songs, if you know the songs and you wonder what's going to come next or what they're going to put together, I get it. I get the Journey. I was on the Journey, but I got to be honest, I left early, and I don't want to be judged for that. It's just. It's my anxiety, it's my age. And in my defense, I left the Stones early. I do not want to be caught in traffic. I do not want to be caught in some sort of massive exodus. But I stayed for about an hour and a half of the second set and the full first set, and I was there an hour before. I hung out. I talked to people, saw a lot of people I knew there, and. But my experience was good and I enjoyed it. I get it. The music was great. The Journey was good until I stopped it on my own to take my own journey home before everyone else did. But I did feel. I felt like I was sneaking out because I felt like there were some eyes upon me, like Marin left early. But, no, it was great. And I thank Trey, and the guitar playing was amazing. But that's my takeaway. Great show. Great set. I don't know the Fish fam language, but my mind is now open. Okay, everybody. Good guys. Close your eyes and imagine what you'll look like six months from now. Even if you've got thinning hair, maybe you think it looks the same or maybe you picture even less on top. 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So look, folks, as I said earlier, David Cronenberg is on the show today, and I think we got a good conversation out of our experience here. The Shrouds, the new movie, is now playing in theaters. This is me talking to David Cronenberg. Bruce. So I, Yeah, I texted Bruce because I was watching, you know, I kept watching your movies and I'm, I'm a huge Bruce Wagner fan.