Back in April, I wrote about how to go live on Facebook and Instagram without boring everyone. I complained about the all-too-common practice of people hitting the live button and then reading Moby Dick to their cat, or sitting on the couch eating snacks, or casually chatting to their spouse in a directionless manner. I pleaded with a sheltering-in-place America: please stop.
Five months later, I stand by the assertion that nobody should ever go live on social media without first formulating an action plan. But I’d like to amend it now to say that Marc Maronâand only Marc Maronâis exempt from this rule. Marc Maron, it turns out, can do just about anything he feels like, with a combination of being both perpetually annoyed and fearlessly unfiltered.
The comedian, podcaster and GLOW actor has regularly gone live on Instagram since the start of shelter in place. But whereas Maron’s early live sessions were never archived, since mid-July they’ve been saved to his profile, meaning you can watch whenever the mood takes you. And oh, what a gift that is. Because Maron’s curmudgeonly commentary is so consistently dark and cynical, it automatically makes you feel like a sunnier, happier person. (The only time I’ve seen him truly happy on Instagram was the day he made dry ice in his kitchen.)
More than simple catharsis, though, is Maron’s ability to be effortlessly funny about whatever comes up in the chat, however mundane. I already mentioned unfiltered, too, right?
On the bread-baking trend: âItâs so funny. All that has diminished, hasnât it? All those excited fuckinâ hipster dads. âWeâre gonna bake!â What are they doing now? Trying not to kill their family, thatâs what theyâre doing. âIâve mastered sourdough and my family is dead in the basement!ââ
On the last movie he watched: “I donât care how much talent there is in a project⦠If itâs set in the â60s, itâs going to be hard to overcome that hair and those pants⦠Nothing that anyone did that was fun in the â60s looks anything but stupid now.”
On his garden: âThereâs some animal shitting in my yard and I donât know what it is⦠I donât do shit forensics. I do believe that the animal thatâs shitting it in my yard might be omnivorous. Theyâre definitely seeded turds. Which is a very fine name for a band with low self image: The Seeded Turds.â
His videos, usually 45 minutes long, require some patienceâthe first five minutes usually consists of either his feet or his (very cute) catâand there are gaps in delivery as he reads questions from viewers. But the payoff is that his life observations contain the very essence of what it is to be alive in 2020. It’s the opposite of escapism; one grumpy man complaining about the state of the world. But it’s the perfect respite when you want to wallow in whatever terrible thing has just happened, and everyone else you know is trying to find a silver lining.
When Maron’s girlfriend died suddenly in the middle of May, his profile went un-utilized for a month. Then, one of his beloved cats died at the start of August. Since those losses, he seems to be using Instagram Live as a distraction, a means to vent and feel better, and as an escape from his own isolation. The comfort of the open setting can sometimes feel like a help group.
âHey, weâre all alone,â he said in an Aug. 2 video. âIâm alone. Whoeverâs alone out there, Iâm glad we got to hang out.â Same.
Catch all of Maron’s videos on his Instagram.
Copyright 2020 KQED