Marc Maron: Too Real
Marc Maron is one of my all-time favorite stand up comedians, and his new Netflix special does not disappoint.
What makes Maron's comedy so awesome is his ability to build killer punchlines by creating intricate, structured bits that come across as authentic, off-the-cuff storytelling. On stage, Maron's tone ranges from enraged to playful in a way that makes him endearingly unstable, yet somehow self-aware. His writing and performance come together to give his comedy feel fresh and intimate even when he's told the same jokes hundreds of times to thousands of other people.
One of Maron's greatest strengths is being able to relate to an audience on an existential level. While his bits may seem specific or lighthearted, they often speak to grander issues of the human condition raising questions about life, death, love, and hate. Too Real does what a great comedy special does best: draws hard truths out of difficult topics and provides the audience with a unique point of view that casts these truths in a humorous light. In other words, Maron takes the darkest, scariest things that we are all too afraid to talk about and picks them apart until they're just ridiculous.
In Too Real, Maron doesn't tiptoe around the big topics; he opens by expressing his constant panic about what the Trump administration is up to and weaves the special with constant speculation about how much time he has left in his life. Too Real isn't all deep introspection though as Maron devotes a good amount of time to reflecting on the absurdity of modern media culture and his own relatable short-comings as well. Regardless of the subject matter, Maron delivers on every joke and lands every punchline without fail.
All in all, Too Real is smart, well-written, well-performed, and just plain funny. No matter how much time you have left, Marc Maron: Too Real is definitely worth a watch.