Marc Maron reacts to Gallagher's WTF storm-off, Gallagher's rep responds

That was bad prep work on Marquardo’s part. Anyone familiar with WTF would know that Maron’s success is based on his ability to dig into the mind of his interviewees, and that he has no fear of getting there through discussion of unpleasant public perceptions. Had anyone even read the NYT article on Maron they would have been alerted to his outstanding set of interviews with Mencia, as well as his probing of Robin Williams.

I thought Maron was more than fair with Gallagher in the interview, asking follow-up questions but not pressing directly on the inconsistencies and straight up contradictions in Gallagher’s responses. I think Gallagher must have realized that he was only going to dig himself in deeper if the interview continued, and ended it to cut his losses.

A recent Willamette Week (Portland, Or – http://bit.ly/gMLtBS ) article discussed Gallagher’s refusal to put on a performance, instead spending his evening “interacting” with passersby in the street… I suppose this is the sort of “fan swarming” his manager would suggest.

Maron was more than fair. His style of interview can be confrontational, but he treated the interview rather gently comparatively. As for “pushing,” Gallagher behaved like a lunatic and a child and forced Maron into a more forceful stance just to keep the conversation moving at all. I would urge everyone to ACTUALLY LISTEN to the podcast before making a judgment. If everyone had heard it, no defense of Maron would be remotely required. Also, what kind of incompetent and ridiculous manager calls someone “douchey” in the press? The kind Gallagher deserves, I’d wager. Maron will not be the one who comes out looking “douchey” when the smoke clears from this.

I’ve always hated Gallagher so I have no place to form and opinion. BUT I really think that Gallagher knew what he was doing. How do you not know Maron’s method? The guy interview Mencia, Robin Williams and Dane Cook?

This is the first time Gallagher has been talked about since that Chappelle spoof. Now he’s on tour(sans melons) and has a little buzz around his name. Though I don’t know who’ll buy Gallagher tickets based in this event, I call shenanigans.

I hope Gallagher is embarrassed when he hears the Mencia interviews. Compared to Gallagher, Mencia handled himself like a man. What a racist, homophobic child. I’m embarrassed that I liked him as a kid…

Gallagher kept saying he was just “repeating a few jokes he hears on the streets.” Is that really a thing? People walking around the streets just telling jokey jokes to strangers in striped sweaters with melon hats?

I recently interviewed Louie Anderson over the weekend and we had a similar conversation about not being as relevant to newer/younger fan bases as compared to the 80s when he was huge. I sort suppose physically, he’s sort of still huge. . . in contrast to Gallagher, Louie was self aware and not offended.

Seemed like Gallagher encountered a few too many electrons before this interview.

Ya Know,
Gallagher was a big name before any of these guy’s that are camping out on the “Gallaghers a hack” doorstep. He’s making audiences happy and good money, Gee, what a concept!! Who cares about Gallagher…his fans who flock to see him. Maron admitted he didn’t want Gallagher as an interview…you don’t think he might have been a little biased? I might not like, Larry the cable guy…but he has a much larger audience than me…so I guess he appeals to someone…alot of someones.

Before Marc started to ask about the racist aspect of his work, Gallagher had already lost the plot.Claiming to be a great scientist and the man behind the ninja turtles – it was as if he realised that his stage career was not one he could be proud of.

He tried to bluster and talk down to Marc, something he is no position to do and quite frankly, I was amazed that Marc managed to hold his composure when faced with such arrogance and stupidity.

I hope that people who may be new to WTF will listen back to some other episodes. Bringing on people to attack them is not Marcs style.

I’m gonna have to beg to differ with a lot of people here. Why would anyone want to stay in an interview where the interviewer keeps going after you no matter what you say. It is like talking to a brick wall. To me Gallagher just said to himself “I have too much dignity for this, I’m just gonna walk out”. I agree with his decision to do this.

We’re saying he’s homophobic? over a joke like “what does Sigfried and the tiger have in common-they both know what Roy Tastes like”

That’s the big controversy? a joke that a college student would say to his buddies? That’s not homophobic, it’s juvenile, it’s immature, it’s a street joke. It’s like berating a kid for half an hour for saying “that’s gay”. It’s not saying it out of hatred for homosexuals, honestly the dude just thinks it’s funny.

Could you have gone after him for being a hack?-Yes, for saying unoriginal jokes?-yes. But for for being homophobic? I think you’re stretching.

It’s quite apparent that Mr. Maron, and Mr. Gallagher come from different comedy thinking. Mr. Gallagher comes from an older school of comedy where the jokes are tailored to the audience, hence yes he’ll change them from city to city, from venue to venue, so yes, he will be able to play a state fair, and do a comedy club another night. This is bad?

It is an older way of doing comedy, it’s a different mentality. A lot of modern comics talk about themselves, then a niche audience follows them. It is a different way, but let’s not champion it. It is just one way of doing things.

In Mr. Maron’s side though, I have to admit that Gallagher was being really friggin loud. He was hurting my ears. Is he losing his hearing? If there was a real reason to not interview Gallagher it would be that if you are in the same room as him he’ll burst your eardrums.

When I listened to the podcast, I got upset that things turned out the way they did. It was obvious that Gallagher did not know what to expect from Marc. I could see that Gallagher was starting to assume Marc was one of those people who make “gotcha” shows. I would like to see them do another show where Gallagher apologizes for not doing his homework, and Marc apologizes “for his part” (as a professional courtesy), and they could have a nice discussion.
I am a social researcher who does amateur stand up comedy. I was hooked on the fact that Gallagher had an active relationship with the scientific community. I would like an interview where that is the highlight of the interview, and not the storming-off.

Seriously Marc..you baited Gallagher the entire time…if you were that worried about reaffirming prejudice would you stop doing jokes about Christians? No, you would not, because it gets a laugh. Holy shit, I am not necessarily a Gallagher fan, buy I sure lost a lot of respect for Marc Maron after this interview. You saw what you thought was an easy mark Mr. Maron and you didn’t stop unitl you chased him from the room. I hope you got what you needed you vampiric media whore. Much love TW.

Gallagher is a bully and when he went up against someone who wasn’t going to back down he left.

That’s being a coward as well.

I have listened to nearly all of the WTF podcasts. Marc Maron had steadily improved his style and confidence until he decided to attack Gallagher. Maron stalked and slowly destroyed Gallagher – now an old man trying to hang on to the past. Marc should have been more compassionate. Marc should have trashed the interview, but instead decide to publish and once again, self sabatoge.

Am I the only one who thought that Gallagher sounded drunk? (And, somewhat ironically, like one of the Middle American female characters that Drew Droege does on Glitter in the Garbage). Maybe Gallagher always slurs his words – I honestly have never heard him speak before. This could also be the reason that Marc wanted to get him some coffee before the interview.

Listen to the podcast. Maron didn’t instigate, he called gallagher out on his bull shit, “they’re the enemy”. I would hope Marc would not let anyone get away with that kind of uneducated ignorance on his show. The only way gallagher would have stayed for that whole interview was if marc just knodded his head and asked easy questions. Thank gallagher he didn’t.

I love WTF but what Tom Peterson said is correct, Gallagher is a prick douchebag.

See how that works?

Also, to be clear, I agree with Maron – Gallagher is a dick (and delusional).

In Marc’s intro he describes Gallagher as out of touch, desperate, etc. and then he goes on to bait him and smack him around. I liked this as much as a staged reality tv argument.

Heck, one stinker out of 100+ podcasts is a awesome. I’m looking forward to Marc getting back on track.

Glad to see alot of other people feel the way I do about this incident. Marc appeared to bully an kind of sad old guy who has not kept up with the times. Marc went after him like he should go after Fred phelps from Westboro baptist church. Marc acted like he was taming lions but this lion had no teeth. I lost respect for marc as well with this interview and am thinking about stopping listening to the show … His complaining about his life is a bit much for a struggling entertainer to hear. The guy is a legend and is living his dream, is it really that bad. I say, man up and get on with therapy… I changed alot my unhealthy Behavior with therapy so I know first Hand it works if u want to make a change. Look I will be the first to tell u that life sux, but at a certain point it’s time to stop complaining on Ur podcast about it and start doing something about it. Also , we know it suz dude, get on with the interview
And I know, if I dont like it I don’t have to listen… What I’m saying is that he is about to that point , I hope he takes therapy seriously and rights his ship as opposed to self destructing like he claims he normally does
Sincerely
Youngblood Holden

I just listened to it.

Im a big wtf fan and I think that was the best interview Ive ever heard on his show.

Marc is not traditionally combative but he does always try to get to the real heart of things as far as what makes people tick.

Gallager seemed very cranky throughout the whole thing and there was a real psychological disconnect between these two opposing personalities while Marc’s attempts to bridge the gap and make his points understood were met with only mocking derision by Gallager.

To be fair, Gallager felt attacked because Marc was bringing up what Gallager’s critics were saying and Gallager’s response was that he didnt give a crap.

whatever.

for the record ive always hated political correctness because I dont believe in using social pressure to shame people into being dishonest about their true opinions

however, I agreed with Marc’s points and thought he was very articulate in making them.

I understood Marc’s question about why feed into people’s possibly bigoted attitudes to get a laugh, the answer given by Gallager was to get a laugh, but then Gallager starts putting everybody else down who does a different style of comedy and then just storms out.

weird, and a bit immature.

but that’s Gallager and the kind of comedy he does – as well as the kind of audience he plays to.

To be fair Gallager is sometimes funny, has been doing what he does for decades and has a large following which makes him a success, but marc tried to have a sophisticated conversation with a man who simply isnt.

still, the best interview ive ever heard on his show because Marc who is usually very neutral and non-judgmental was suddenly opinionated and even a little combative, because its interesting to know what makes Marc tick as well.

It reminded of what he used to do on air america before those idiots fired him.

but really, I dont think any apology is necessary from either of these two guys because it would be somewhat insincere.

Marc has his point of view, Gallager walks out after being cranky from the very beginning because he doesnt want to have a conversation.

I think in their own way, both guys benefit from this.

wow. marc maron was being a passive aggressive condescending hypocritical asshole. how can anyone honestly defend him on this? he clearly harbors deep feelings of hate and jealousy towards gallagher. by no means am i defending gallagher as a comedian, but he got the raw end of this deal. marc should’ve given him more respect as a human being b/c he is right about most comics today. today’s comedy is way too self-indulgent and out of touch with most of america.

this interview epitomizes the polarization of our country- hollywood elitism vs. middle america. marc really shows just how condescending and out of touch he is with the rest of the country, which is why he will never be famous like gallagher. he lives in his hollywood bubble, where everyone thinks they are smarter and better than middle america, but really they aren’t.

Again, is this the same Craig Marquardo?

http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-8312-craig_marquardo.html

There was so much wrong with what Gallagher was saying that Maron could’ve let Gallagher hang himself just on what he was saying that day. But instead Maron kept pushing the homophobic/racist angle with no first hand experience about it, just basing it off an article he read. He should’ve let that go and gone after him for the things he was saying during the interview. Everyone wants to do state fairs? c’mon!

@And Gloria Too (or are you Marquardo himself?) – Hard working, straight laced people don’t tend to plagiarize from other journalists… For instance, the “Featured Interview” on his website, Music Spectator, is with Katy Perry, but the answers are apparently copied & pasted from a much earlier interview Perry did two years ago with Tamara Palmer for Metromix & Chicago Tribune.

Why is it when they discussed biases vs Jews and blacks they were evil but when Gallagher brought up black comics whose entire act is ‘down with whitey’, Maron said that some biases were ok? Nobody catches this? Wasn’t aware that Maron had so many fanboys. Commentors here act as if he’s some huge name but I’d never heard of him until I was browsing for comedy podcasts to add to Adam Carolla in my queue.

I’m a big Maron/WTF fan, but I gotta say, this one was a little hard to listen to, a rare instance where I really felt Marc was trying to create controversy, or more controversy, than was really there.

Look, Gallagher’s an old dude. He’s been basically out of the biz for 15 years, and of course he’s gonna be a little bit batty. He’s from a different era, and he unfortunately seems to not be able to let a lot of things go, and enjoy his remaining years. Is he racist and homophobic? Probably a little, like everyone else. But Marc really seemed to be painting him in a different light than reality is, I suspect.

On the flip side, I’ll concede that Gallagher was pretty annoying when he started contradicting Marc on every sentence, and giving the condescending “No!….etc” after every question. Ugh! I’ve known people who do that, it’s the worst. And we all know how Marc gets when he feels he’s being personally attacked. lol.

Some of these posters sound awfully like one another…

I’m surprised no one has touched on the very different approaches each performer brings. Gallagher sounds to me like a guy who got into show business because he wanted to make a buck, which is totally valid. He figured out what would play in Peoria, and he went to peddle it. He panders to the broadest possible audience because to him comedy is a commodity. Maron is exact opposite, preferring his comedy to be more substantive. Give Gallagher credit for being as successful as he has been, but its not surprising his career has run out of steam.

I listen to Marc Maron regularly. Gallagher came across as a bitter has-been with hackish jokes that would be offensive to some people.

At the same time, I don’t see how Gallagher’s jokes were any more offensive than ones that a lot of other guests on Maron’s show. I’m not trying to defend Gallagher but point out that Maron really seemed to single out Gallagher and go after him because he’s an easy target.

The dude is 64 and in the deep twilight of the career. Gallagher clearly didn’t know what he was getting in to. The interview sounded like somebody kicking a confused dog and I had to turn it off.

Gallagher? Really? F%@k that bald-headed has-been. He has NEVER been funny….EVER.WTF is one of the best podcasts I’ve ever listened to. (which was total of three)
Gallagher. Get some new material. The watermelons are f@&king stupid. Try a ham…..or a donkey.They smash up real good.

I did not like or agree with Marc Maron’s opinions about Gallagher. I thought Marc was being a TOTAL hypocrite. Right after I listed to the Gallagher interview I listened to another WTF episode in which Marc talks to a lesbian comic and they make jokes about “ball cancer” and women who have one boob because of cancer. It was just as disrespectful as Gallagher’s dumb gay jokes and if taken out of context, would have completely offended many people. They were JOKES. No one “should” be mad because they were said in a lighthearted manner meant to entertain. Some might find them in poor taste and others will roll on the floor laughing. Same with Gallagher’s gay jokes. He isn’t gay bashing or being racist when he tells dumb street jokes – that’s not his act – that was a quick part of his act and he’s allowed to talk about whatever he wants! His goal, as he pointed out several times, is to read an audience and make them laugh. He’s an entertainer. Marc wanted so badly to dismiss Gallagher that he didn’t find the value in anything that Gallagher said.
I ended up respecting Gallagher, believe it or not, after hearing his views on stand-up comedy! Marc uses comedy as therapy for himself (read: masturbation) and that bores me. I’d rather watch someone smash food (which, he pointed out was a satire and came with a message about mass consumption, etc) and tell jokes with punchlines, than listen to Marc Maron tell long, self indulgent personal “stories” and expect laughs at his every thought. Can’t wait to cancel my WTF subscription.

Marc had an agenda and exuded a strong dislike for Gallagher from the get go… if he didn’t want to interview him he shouldn’t have…. Marc usually listens to his guests and has excellent conversations…. this was crap…..