Stand-up legend Marc Maron hits Wealthy Theatre

LaughFest 2012 brings to Grand Rapids some big names in the comedy world, as part of its second annual festival of all things funny. Among them is veteran stand-up master Marc Maron, who headlines at the Wealthy Theatre tonight at 10 p.m. 

Maron's become a legend in the industry over the past fifteen years, working in a variety of formats. Starting out at LA's famous incubator The Comedy Store, where he linked up with the late great Sam Kinison, he later became a fixture in New York's alternative comedy scene. (His take on that genre was recently featured in another Laugh Fest event, the UICA-screened documentary Tell Your Friends.) Sharpening his skills in small clubs in New York and elsewhere, he then branched out into radio, co-hosting a popular take-off on the typical 'morning drive-time show' called Morning Sedition, hosted by the Air America network.

A string of short-lived radio shows followed, ultimately leading in 2009 to what would become his most popular offering, the twice-weekly podcast WTF with Marc Maron. The interview-and-monologue show often hits #1 on the iTune charts, while earning rave reviews from the New York Times and Vanity Fair. Rolling Stone says, “'WTF' may be his greatest achievement yet; a series of sh*t-shoots with comedians that move from laugh-geek joke anatomy to quasi-therapeutic venting.”

A one-man off-Broadway show, which later became a book, added to his growing portfolio. Of his talent in general, friend and fellow comic Louis CK shares, "Marc Maron is a startlingly honest, compelling and hilarious comedian-poet. Truly one of the greatest of all time.”

Tickets for Thursday's show are $22.50, available at the Wealthy Theatre ticket office. Doors open at 9:00 p.m.