Marc Maron on the Joke That Made It OK to Address the Death of His Partner, Lynn Shelton, in His Latest Special
Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Marc Maron’s recent HBO standup special “From Bleak to Dark,” yes, touches on subjects that might be considered bleak and dark. But of course, it’s much more than that. Sure, Maron opens the special by pointing out that society seems to be on a collision course with disaster, and there’s little that can be done about it. But, as the comedian, actor and podcaster tells Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast, he’s just being a realist. “There’s a truth to it,” he says. “And I think that the first 15 or 20 minutes of that special addresses a lot of things in in a fairly broad way, because I wanted it to have some longevity. The negative things I talk about aren’t going anywhere. But also framing the special like that, like ‘I don’t want to be negative, I don’t think anything’s ever gonna get better ever again,’ is an acceptance. If you have acceptance around that, it gives you a bit of freedom of mind. There’s a sort of ‘zero fuckness’ to it.”