Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend - Marc Maron Returns

Episode Date: July 17, 2025

Comedian and podcaster Marc Maron feels happy about being Conan O’Brien’s friend. Marc returns to sit down with Conan once more to discuss leading the podcast boom, late-night appearances in the early days, the pressure of texting with funny people, and the pleasures of growing older. For Conan videos, tour dates and more visit TeamCoco.com.Got a question for Conan? Call our voicemail: [phone]. Get access to all the podcasts you love, music channels and radio shows with the SiriusXM App! Get 3 months free using this show link: https://siriusxm.com/conan.

Hi, I'm Mark Maron and I feel happy about being Conan O'Brien's friend. Jesus, said like a true hostage. Said like a true hostage with a gun at his back. Fall is here, hear the yell, back to school, ring the bell, brand new shoes, walk and lose, climb the fence, books and pens. I can tell that we are gonna be friends. Yes, I can tell that we are gonna be friends. Hey there and welcome to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. This is a little bit of a special episode.

Let me give you some context. I was in New York City recently. I was at SiriusXM and I was doing some stuff over there and helping out, just going over the books mostly. I do a lot of accounting there. That's six people. It's a bad use of Conan O'Brien because I don, because I really don't know accounting very well at all. The company is hammering money.

It seems risky. Very risky. I've cost them a fortune. But I was over at the building, and I heard, hey, this gentleman is here, Mark Merrin. I just saw him in the lobby. And I had just read that Mark Maron was signing off from his podcast, the one that really started it all.

And I said, I want to talk to Mark because we have a lot of history together. And so someone just walked down the hallway and said, hey, Mark, and he very graciously said yes. And the next thing I know, I'm sitting in a studio with Mark Maron, and we had a really nice hang. So this is my chat with Mark Maron that happened. It was kind of a, it was a happening, if you want to call it that. It just was spur of the moment.

That's podcasting, man. Yeah, that's podcasting, man. That's right, barebacking it, you know? That's podcasting. Wait, no? Raw dog. Raw dog in it. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, raw dog in it, that's right. Just two podcasters raw dog in it. The Mike, what's his name? No, no, you've got it, keep going. You've got it. No, no, don't look at that. Adam is making these... He's got it right.

Are you okay? I'm just disgusted with this all, but yeah, fine. I feel like he's gonna throw up. Yeah, he's so Mike. Don't listen to him, keep going. Anyway, two podcasters having a good time. Of course, the Mark Maron, the granddaddy of them all and me, the little upstart, but it was fun.

So my guest today is a comedian who's air defining podcast, WTF with Mark Maron is coming to an end after 16 years this fall. I'm excited to chat with him today. I wonder what he's gonna do now. Maybe he's got a Angela Lansbury, you know, talk down show where they go over old episodes of Murder, She Wrote.

Murder, She Wrote? Yeah. That sounds pretty good to me, actually. I think, can you imagine Mark doing that? Yes. Like, what the fuck? Mark Merritt, welcome. Mark Merritt, welcome.

Mark Maron, welcome. I gotta talk to you about something. Okay. This isn't happening because I'm here at Sirius XM in New York and look down the hall and I see there's Mark Maron and I bully you into talking to me, cause I have some things to say to you. Well, I appreciate that.

I did feel bullied, but we have a long history. We do. And I thought, well, you know, this is not different than it's ever been. No. So I'll do whatever Conan needs me to do. Yes, you'll do as you are told. Yes, I will.

Couple of things. First of all, the other day, it pops up on every screen I have that Mark Maron is saying goodbye to his podcast. And I thought, Jesus, he invented this. So I need to talk to him about it because- I'm an empty nester now. All you guys have gone on to do great things

and you don't need me anymore. Well, you invented this. You were doing a podcast when no one knew what a podcast was and you invented it. And I remembered when Barack Obama, a sitting US president went to your house to do your podcast. And I thought you've broken through some barrier.

And we had a history before that, which is when I was first doing the late night show at dark times, I mean, I was loving doing it, but we were gonna get canceled any minute. And you, you know, a lot of people, the word was out, don't do that show, it won't be on long. Were they? Not comics, we're already.

Well, there were plenty of people, including NBC, that were willing to write my death certificate. And you would consistently come on and you would panel. You would just sit with me. And it was always the same pattern. You would come out and I don't think people, it's not that people knew who you were then. I'd say-

No, they didn't. They didn't, okay, let's just say it. Most of them still don't. And guess what? They didn't know who I was. They were coming to see late with Conan O'Brien and they weren't sure who this kid was. But I would say my next guess,

I said, Mark Maron, you would come out. And so the crowd doesn't know who you are. You'd sit down and it was fascinating to me, you would dig a hole. Mark Maron would dig a hole, crowd not like, not, they started out neutral. You would dig a hole where they're like, I don't like this.

I don't know what he's, who is this man? What is he talking about? And you would comment on how you would dug a hole, which is a rule that, you know, the great artists I, break the rules. The classic rule is never tell people this isn't working. I know, Freddie Roman once said to me, never admit you're bombing.

Yeah, and so you were out there talking about, on my panel, this isn't working. I shouldn't have come. I don't know why I'm here. And telling the audience that, and then I'd hear laughter, more laughter, more laughter, and you would kill. So you always did this thing

where you would dig yourself into a hole and then come out of it and shoot out of it like this geyser. It was a roller coaster ride. That was the architecture of my life. Yes. I would say for the first 30 years, I dug a pretty good hole. And then just by cosmic timing and coincidental talent,

you know, it worked out. But I was talking about this to somebody recently about doing the appearances on your show. In that, you know, that was the, I was talking to Richter, because I did his podcast last week. And I said, that was the pattern that you and I established, but what people don't know is that I was really trying

in that first minute. I didn't go out there saying every time, they're like, oh good, I'm gonna do that thing I do, where I alienate the audience completely right when I get out there to try to get them back. I went out there wanting that first joke to work every time, it just did not. And then it became a thing.

I think I generally come in hot. And I always knew that they didn't really know me and I always wanted to just, the reason I always wanted to do panel with you is because when I watched Letterman coming up as a kid, I always liked Richard Lewis and I liked Jay Leno. The guys that did panel to me, it was more interesting. So very quickly, I tried to get into that relationship

with you, and then it happened, I think, because we had a good rapport, but also because I was very easy to book on a short notice. Oh, we would get you when Al Roker dropped out. That's right. Paula would call me and be like, look, what are you doing tomorrow? No, she would say, what are you doing in an hour?

And you would come by and it worked. And this is what happened. People started watching the show. Our show started to gradually find itself and you had been there all along. And then what we said to all comics is, short of it being a Jerry Seinfeld or some iconic comic, you have to come out and you have to, you do your set.

Yeah. And then maybe you get, you come over for some quick panel. Yeah. You didn't do that from the beginning, you only came out really and sat with me. And so comics started to say, I don't wanna do a set. I just wanna come out and sit there with Conan

and we'd saying, yeah, I know you have to do a set. And it'd say, but what about Mark Maron? And I would say, that's different. That's Mark Maron. He and I have a thing. We're trying to help Mark. Yeah. You're doing fine.

It was a program and we got federal funding, which is no longer available, but then you go off, you do the podcast, you kind of, I mean, you do the podcast, you kind of, I mean, you're the George Washington figure. I thought what was funny about that though was like, when I started doing this podcast, my podcast, a lot of the guys I'd known for years, no one knew what a podcast was.

So the general idea was I'm like, I'm gonna do this podcast. And I think most people were like, well, that's sad, I guess he's just gonna set up a mic in his garage, but at least he's doing something. The opinion of it was it didn't exist on the media landscape.

People would come out to my house and a lot of them would be like, I don't even know what neighborhood this is. And people would come, I remember Cranston came out early on and he's like, where am I? And I'm like, well, it's gonna be fine. John Hamm was on, he's like, oh, Hamm did it?

Okay. Like, nobody, we were there, and the business sort of built up around us, and now it's like, it's like cancer. Yeah. Rapidly spreading, and destroying the organism around it. I think you're right, the cancer analogy's a good one,

and I think I'm a fast-growing cancer. Which is good, you know, content is good. You know, malignant content, better. All of us owe you a debt of gratitude because I have found, especially in this stage of my career, I loved all the other stuff I did. And because of you, this forum exists where I can do something that I find incredibly satisfying. Totally.

Because I can have these conversations with people that are very different from the world that we were working together in in the early 90s was, where's them and Mark Barron? Ba-da-ba-ba-da-ba-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- And we've got five minutes for you to, for the whole arc to happen. And I spent an hour and a half on the phone with Frank Smiley. Frank Smiley, shout out to Frank. Saying, yeah, yeah, what else you got? Yeah. Yeah, what else?

That's good. Frank Smiley, a single producer who, who still works with me and he's, I'm gonna say this, one of the all-time greats. The greatest. He knows comedy back and forth and he was such a part of the DNA of the early late night show. What was crazy about it was like,

the way it worked was, you know, he pre-produced a segment, like, you know, what am I gonna talk about? So I'd get on the phone with him, and I'd just be pacing around my apartment in New York, sweating, you know, telling him ideas, telling him bits that were kind of working. A lot of times I'd go on with a funny enough thing

that became a bigger thing lately, but I would spend an hour and were kind of working. A lot of times I'd go on with a funny enough thing that became a bigger thing lately, but I would spend an hour and a half and all, I would just rant and just deliver, and then you just hear Frank go, -"Uh-huh. Yeah." -"What else you got?" Yeah. And then, like, you know, after spending an hour and a half,

he goes, all right, I'll put something together. So I didn't even know by the time I got to the show, he'd hand me, like, this is what I got, and he transcribed the conversation. I'll put something together. So I didn't even know by the time I got to the show, he'd hand me like, this is what I got. And he transcribed the conversation. I'm like, this is too much. You know, it was all very exciting. Well, he, Frank early on and to this day

has no problem saying, what are you doing to me? And no, no, no, that's not right. You know, and he gets worked up, but he's right often. And I'm going to say most 98% of the time he's right. And when he's wrong, it's spectacular. We used his dad on a bit. When I did that talk show on the street, Yes, yeah.

His dad, like, it was so sad because like, Frank was just setting his dad up. It was me on the street. I said, I want to be a talk show host. So we set it up on the street and we're just interviewing people coming by. And Frank had brought his dad in. And his dad didn't know what he was doing.

So his dad goes, what do you want me to do? And Frank says, tell that story that you tell, just so I could look bored. So his dad's just doing this story that he's been telling for years and I'm just sitting there like this and his dad didn't know what was going on. It was a complete setup.

It was pretty funny. I think to this day, huge stars all run into them and they did the show over the years. And the first thing they say to me is, get up Frank Smiley, is he still with you? Because he made an impression. Sometimes, I mean, they all give him credit for making him look funny, him or her look funny,

but they will invariably say that fucking guy drove me crazy. And he is a guy who to this day, if Seinfeld had been on the show, was gonna be on the show, he would have said, what else he got? You're like, that's Jerry Seinfeld, that's gonna kill. You can do better. I remember one time I was on your show and I was the second guest after Trump and I by the way early on knew was a great comic. Yeah, totally great.

Good comedic choice. But the funny thing was is I remember it because I was in the hallway. I was at 30 Rock in my dressing room and Frank came in and goes, you want to meet Trump? And I'm like, no, I was at 30 Rock in my dressing room, and Frank came in and he goes, you wanna meet Trump? And I'm like, nah, I'm good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I took a shot at him when he went out because it was an appearance where for some reason

he was playing with a condom. No, no, what happened was he was sitting next to me and we were talking and I just said, this is like he's promoting The Apprentice, I think. And it's an NBC show. So here comes Trump. And I remembered saying to him, so you're a billionaire, how much money do you carry on you at any one time?

And he went, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. Come on, how much money do you have on your pocket right now? And then I reached over into his blazer pocket and felt something. And he put his hand over my hand really quickly, like don't pull that out. We had like a quick tug of war and I pulled it out and it was a condom.

And he said, save sex everybody. And it was a real moment. And then we go to commercial, like, okay, Donald Trump everybody, a reality show host. And he'll never go onto anything else after that. And- You're always very prescient. Yeah, very prescient.

Yeah, and he, he's mad. He's like, I'm not fucking coming on this show again. God damn it. I don't, you know, and he told my producer, you don't reach into a guy's pocket and stuff like that. But then, you know, literally, I don't know, it was a cut two, three months later. Ladies and gentlemen, Donald Trump.

Well, I remember I came out and I said, why is Donald Trump carrying his own condoms? Don't prostitutes usually have them with them? And then I said, I'll probably end up dead in the East River. Yeah, yeah. Still could, actually. Yeah, yeah.

Just from saying it now, I brought it back up and he'll be like, oh yeah. I remember that. Why are we rekindling this? Yeah. Now, if all, you know, we're just gonna be. Because we want a little heat. We'll be shot by snipers.

But yeah, I love our intertwined arc together, going back to 93, all through the years. And then, you know, it's now one of the wonderful things about just lasting or sticking around long enough is that I've had the experience of, oh, at the last minute, Mark Merriman will fit in. And then I'm watching you in an amazing movie doing scenes with Robert De Niro.

And I'm like, this is the wonderful thing about life. If you take the time to appreciate the wonderful little curlicues that happen, and you see people that persevere and stay true to themselves. And I know that you had years of, I don't think this is working. I don't think anybody's buying into this.

Certainly I had moments like that. 50 appearances on your show, I think, was the years of, I don't think this is working, I don't think anybody's buying into this. Certainly I had moments like that. 50 appearances on your show, I think, was the arc of those years. Yeah, but it was- You guys were keeping me afloat. I mean, it was kind of crazy. I just could not, and I know what you're saying. And I think that there is a bit of goodwill for me,

because I imagine there, people aren't always thinking about me, but I imagine there was a period there when my name would come up and then be like, yeah, I hope it works out for him. Well, I think the nice thing is I have a lot of appreciation now. It's nice to see,

I guess I'll say this in a shorter way, getting older is treated negatively by a lot of people. They don't wanna get older, they hate. And I think not only am I chilling out just a little bit, but when you can see the whole picture or two thirds, I hope, of the picture, it's really great because you can appreciate, you know, we just had Bob Odenkirk on and I was with Bob

in the trenches in 1988 and we were very lowest lowest were very lowest lowest rung on the totem pole at Cernet Live. And now he's beating people up in action movies. And I'm like- That's crazy. And I think this is the same thing, which is it's really, I so enjoy watching people that I connected with

who I like having these, I mean, you've did it yourself. You willed it to happen. We all know some luck's involved. I've benefited from crazy amounts of luck, but to just to watch all that happen for you and it's a beautiful thing. Well, thank you.

And that's why I said, like, I grab Mark against his will. I know he's got a lot going on today, but make him talk to me so I can just tell him how much I appreciate you invented this form, you did such a lovely thing for all of us. It's a mitzvah, as the Irish say. I thank you for it. And I thank you for being out there with me in the early days of late night.

When it was rough sledding and I knew, this is gonna be a roller coaster ride, but Mark Mirren's gonna make it happen. And you always did. Thank you so much. It means a lot to hear that. And certainly you were definitely part of my, a big part of my life for a lot of years,

doing that show three or four times a year. Three or four times a week. Yeah. But it made a big difference. Once again, Mark Maron. Wait, he was on earlier in the show. No, but it was like, I didn't have a lot going on then. I know, and now I just talked to you in the hallway

and I said, can I talk to you for just a second? You went, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a documentary about me. There's also a Broadway show about my life. And then I have to go get an international peace prize. I'm like, okay, I will not stop you. Yeah, they canceled my Mark Twain thing. So I want to-

It's going to a ventriloquist next year. I wanted to share this with you, with Bob Odenkirk, because he had a heart attack in Albuquerque, which is where I grew up. And I texted him, you know, afterwards, and we actually had lunch when he was out there, when he was shooting Better Call Saul. And cause he went to the hospital

where my dad used to work, but I was texting with him and he said so funny, he was out there when he was shooting Better Call Saul. And cause he went to the hospital where my dad used to work but I was texting with him and he said so, he was so funny. I said, glad you're okay. It's scary, it's Marin. And this is after he had the heart attack and he texted back, super scary, Mark. I basically died for a little while.

And I have to say, I saw nothing. Yeah. But this crew with the, but this great crew with some amazing people kept me going. And then the hospital did a great job with some challenging surgery. I hope you're doing great, I'm feeling good, take care. And then I said, glad my hometown hospital was there for you.

Welcome back from the nothing. And then he says again, this is why he's so fucking funny. He goes, big time, excellent docs and nurses at Presbyterian, on the ball. I'm doing great. By the way, I saw exactly no light when I was. Let me repeat. No light when I was- Let me repeat. No light when I was dead.

It's the whole heaven thing is a hoax. Follow the money. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha people need to hear this. We need to get this word out there. It's so funny. Funny guys are the best. Funny people are the best. Especially if you text them, oh my God. You ever get in a group text with other funny people and you're like, I'm not gonna be able

to keep up with this shit? Oh. Are you trying like, what can I say that's funny? And there's already three texts have gone by and you're like, damn it, missed my window. Oh, and it starts to feel pressure. A total pressure. I'm on a, like occasionally I'm in one with like

Mulaney and Kroll, Dan Levy and Jeselnik, in Chelsea Peretti, I'm like, I just wanna be out of this. It's too much pressure. I'm in one that has all these people in it and I watch all these fireworks go by and they'll also and also their references. They'll be talking about some really incredibly obscure

commercial that Telly Savalas was in in 1978 for a mochaccino drink. And they're all doing, they all know exactly all the references. And I feel, my feeling is that it's, when a blade is turning very slowly, I can put my hand on the blade and kind of get into the motion of it.

But if it's spinning on puree and I put my hand in, I'm gonna get chopped to pieces. And that's what it looks like. And I just watch. Your text gets no ha ha's, no explanation points. You know what I've learned? You can put your own ha ha on your text. You do that all the time.

David, what do I do? What do I do? Tell him. He always laughs to his own text. And I do it on purpose to be a dick, but I'll write something to Sona or to you, and then I'll put on my thing, ha ha, and you guys are like, you can't fucking do that. And then I'll say, yes, I can,

and then put a ha ha on that. What's stopping you? Why not? We live through it all. The other. Laughing around text people, ha ha yourself. You only go around once, follow the money. There is no light.

There's no light. But then you're saying about aging is true. And I think what's a great thing for you is that to be able to loosen up and to be able to just have these conversations on your own terms and be engaged and enjoy people in that way is a great thing about life. And I think so many of us were in such a wheel

of not just success, but like being funny, doing a great thing, doing a great show that you don't have any time for this. And then as you get older, all of a sudden, you give less of a fuck. Yes. And it's not even on purpose. You just are able to look back at your life

and not with regret, but really realizing just how crazy you made yourself for so long. I think about this a lot. It's exhausting. My 20s, my 30s, my 40s, and into my 50s. I would say it started, but it started to peter out. And I was, and then I just started to think, but during those years I was so intense,

so hard on myself constantly, constantly working real hard, tunnel vision. And then, you know, I credit my wife for helping me a lot and I credit just going through life and meeting really good people. But I thought that I had just found wisdom and I was telling this to my mother-in-law, Pam, who's a very smart woman. And I was talking to to my mother-in-law, Pam, who's a very smart woman.

And I was talking to her and I said, you know, as I get older, I really think I found this wisdom. And she said, your testosterone levels dropped. That's what happened. And I went, oh. Really? I thought it was humility.

I thought it was humility and that I had, I thought that I had found like the true face of like spirituality and I thought it was humility and that I had, I thought that I had found like the true face of like spirituality and I got into the flow. And she said, no, no, no, testosterone levels plummet in men and so you're now you have very little testosterone left. Your penis is just a little nub now.

And so you're just- Enjoy your downtime. Enjoy, enjoy your life as an asexual being. Yeah, welcome. Enjoy your life as an asexual being. And whatever it is, I don't think I would have appreciated this format, 20s, 30s, 40s.

And I think I'm so lucky that it exists now because I like to have these conversations. I couldn't have them if you hadn't invented this thing, it would not have happened. So I'm very appreciative. Thank you. But for years, I realized the trick in late night is to try and, and took me a long time to figure out

how do I appear relaxed and casual in a completely insane environment? Well, that's- This is a sane environment. You and I are sitting with each other, we're talking. There's gonna be a weird desk with a microphone. What am I? And also like 80% of your energy

goes into pretending you're not terrified. Yeah. And. Eventually you're not afraid anymore and you're like, well, that's done. Also, who ends a conversation and says, hey, Mark, it was great catching up with you. That was a terrific four and a half minutes,

we'll take a break, you know, Cab Calloway's news. It's crazy. It's such a kooky thing to do. And the only way to be good at it is to metabolize it as something normal and then start acting like this is all normal. It's a job. One time when I, the first time I did stand up on Letterman

and I sat, I didn't even get any desk time, but I did walk over there and he goes to break and he wins and he goes, you can make that stuff work on the road? I do have to go. I gotta go to Tribeca. Yeah, you gotta go. And you know what?

You've always had to go to Tribeca. Mark Maron, thank you. Thank you. This was lovely. And whatever you do, I'm in your corner. I appreciate that. Well, I will say this. I do have a, I'm on this show, Stick, with Owen.

And I got an HBO special coming out later in the summer on HBO that I can't tell the title of yet. I know what it is, but look for that. And yeah, that's what's going on. All right. And I can never have you back. You understand that? I knew that.

I'm surprised this happened. This isn't gonna air. And when I say air, But I appreciate all the nice things? I knew that, I'm surprised this happened. This isn't gonna air. And when I say air, but I appreciate all the nice things you said. Yeah, I meant all of it. And I'll see you again, we'll do this again. And congratulations.

Thanks buddy, you too. Conan O'Brien needs a friend. With Conan O'Brien, Sonam Avsesian and Matt Gourley. Produced by me, Matt Gourley. Executive produced by Adam Ss, Jeff Ross, and Nick Leal. Theme song by The White Stripes. Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino. Take it away, Jimmy. Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair, and our associate talent producer is Jennifer Samples. Engineering and mixing by Eduardo Perez and Brendan Burns. Additional Production Support by Mars Melnik. Talent Booking by Paula Davis, Gina Battista,

and Brit Kahn. You can rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, and you might find your review read on a future episode. Got a question for Conan? Call the Team Coco Hotline at 669-587-2847 and leave a message. It too could be featured on a future episode. You can also get three free months of SiriusXM when you sign up at siriusxm.com slash Conan. And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.