Marc Maron often talks about being a little out of his mind before an interview. Not media interviews, like the one we are about to have, but the hour-long instalments he produces for his immensely popular podcast,WTF.

“I always freak out before I interview somebody,” he says. “I get really worried that I’m not going to have anything to talk about and then I have these amazing conversations.”

This is both comforting and intimidating, as I have been a little out of my mind this past week in the lead-up to my talk with one of comedy’s finest practitioners. For a long time, critics have described Maron as a “comedian’s comedian”. Louis C.K., his long-time friend-slash-rival, has called him a “compelling and hilarious comedian-poet; truly one of the greatest of all time”.

“Comedian’s comedian” is often code for “he’s funny, but you might not get it” – someone who has mastered the craft of comedy but hasn’t bothered to make it accessible to everyone else. Maron, then, is an exception of sorts – a comedian’s comedian who has figured out how to adapt his material for the mainstream. He’s coming to Sydney this month on his stand-up tour, Maronation – which he says he “knows, fora fact, is funny”.

“All the things I talk about in general will be covered: anger, cats, food issues, sex, relationships, Jesus, ice-cream… everything you need to know in life will be covered, except for sports, because I don’t know anything about that.”

Maron has been on the stand-up circuit for close to 30 years. Like many comics, though, he has found much of his popularity from projects that are offstage: his television series, Maron, and of course, WTF. It’s in the podcast, established in 2009, where his combination of neuroticism, sensitivity, anger, self-doubt and talent really finds its niche. He’s had hour-long, in-depth discussions with almost every comedian, musician or other semi-famous person you’ve ever wanted to hang out with – including C.K., Lena Dunham and Barack Obama.

For those who’ve tuned in, one of the most striking parts of the conversations is how human the guests come across. That sounds obvious – people are people – but it’s not until you hear C.K. choke up or Obama discuss his insecurities that it really hits home. There are moments of silence that don’t get edited out, in which you can feel the emotion crackling through the speakers as Maron and his guest collect themselves to continue. This is not your average interviewing style, where both sides seem more concerned about how they’ll come off than being engaged in the moment. So how does he get people to be so comfortable speaking with him that they will dissolve into tears, despite being on a podcast that will be heard by thousands of people?

“I don’t know,” he says. “It’s happened a few times. It’s some of those pretty beautiful moments. I don’t know what part I play in that or why it happens. I don’t have some magic thing that I do.”

It turns out most of Maron’s guests aren’t exactly close friends of his. But that’s part of what keeps the show fresh, and surprising.

“I don’t know most of the people that I talk to,” he says. “Most of them are double personalities. They’re always surprising, because they end up just being people with lives. I’ve never not been surprised one way or another, for better or for worse.”

It appears the secret is that there is no secret, which is slightly devastating in its own way. In terms of preparation, more about Maron’s interviewing process and style will be revealed in an upcoming show made for VICE that tracks his progression from research to final interview, and the aftermath. But given the interviews last for over an hour, presumably it takes quite a lot of work to get ready? Well, not exactly.

“I try to get an idea of who they are and where I think I want to go with the conversation. I don’t over-prepare for anything. I don’t think I do.”

But the podcast is really only one part of what Maron does. Despite all his branching out, as Maron says on his website: “All I ever wanted to be, and what I am now, is a stand-up comic.” This is good news for those who want to see the New Jersey artist in arguably his most authentic incarnation – onstage, angry and raw. In particular, he has been known to be fairly abrasive towards hecklers at his live set. The best part is that it’s not a stage persona – Maron just gets angry and lets rip. But things have calmed down, at least from his perspective.

“I was in a different place in my life [before now],” he says. “Some of that stuff has settled down. I’m always a little prickly, but I’m pretty grounded now and pretty excited to be out onstage.”

[Marc Maron photo by David Broach]

Marc Maron appears at State Theatre onThursday October 15.

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