Episode #375 of Marc Maron’s WTF? podcast was another tremendous one, with gay stand-up Jason Stuart (pictured) revisiting his life as a conflicted youth, closeted actor-comedian and, beginning with a gay cruise booking, fully outed performer.

In typical Maron fashion, the host got all sorts of candid anecdotes from Stuart such as recollections of who the stand-up has had rare heterosexual sex with and a surprising early supporter. From their conversation:

Stuart: When I started, everybody didn’t want me around… You know who really helped me? Vince Champ, the guy who raped all those girls on a college campus and went to prison.

Maron: I remember Vince.

Stuart: That’s the guy who helped me get jobs first, on the road, and I was completely  taken aback when I heard how terrible…

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Fun interview from the SXSW Samsung bloggers’ lounge in Austin by What’s Trending host Shira Lazar. Thanks to her opening compliments and willingness to drink from the same plastic cup, guest Marc Maron wasn’t sure if this was an interview or a date.

Around the eight-and-a-half-minute mark, Maron tells Lazar about his upcoming IFC show Maron, an offshoot of his podcast success debuting in May. “If you haven’t had your fill of me, there’s more me coming in a different format,” the comedian joked. “It’s all I have.”

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Pretty great interview with showrunner Dan Harmon on Attack of the Show, talking about his forced exit from Community. Plenty of NBC bashing, but no mention of Chevy Chase. Interviewer Marc Maron did get this gem out of Harmon, however, talking about what he’s got in mind for his next job: “My idea is to have less ideas. I want to be successful in television.”

Just in time for the latest, greatest version of Apple’s tablet, the folks at Funny or Die have unveiled their newest comedy empire component: an iPad magazine called The Occasional.

Although the name sounds like a calorie-rich treat The Jersey Shore’s The Situation might occasionally allow himself on his abs workouts off-day, it is of course a reference to the fact that this digital publication comes out sporadically (every other month). That, and the fact that it sounds better than The Sporadic. Among the contents of issue #001 are a special “unreleased” episode of Between the Ferns for which host Zach Galifianakis chats with Ed Helms, a profile of Billy Eichner and a kids’ audio book featuring sound effects by Marc Maron.

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Marc Maron isn’t the only comedian who’s turned a podcast into reconstituted celebrity. Chris Hardwick, who used to host MTV’s Singled Out back in the day, has a similarly successful twice-weekly “Nerdist Podcast”–which has an audience of about 200,000. Hardwick was recently profiled in the LA Times and has a new book out: The Nerdist Way. He’ll be making an appearance tonight at Meltdown Comics on Sunset for a reading/signing. And it looks like he’ll have company.

That’s right, king of all geeks Wil Wheaton will be joining tonight’s nerdfest as a moderator. We’ll see if the dual draw is big enough to pull the geek/nerd set away from their battlestations.

Patton Oswalt, Megan Mullally, Marc Maron, Bob Odenkirk, and many more talents in comedy and TV have joined forces to bring an alternative comedy festival to Los Angeles.

Organizers have set up a kickstarter page to raise $20,000 in production costs. They’ve got 30 days to reach their goal, or the festival, called RIOT, won’t happen. So far, things are looking rosy. Just nine days into the fundraising, nearly $12,000 has been pledged. We’re optimistic that, come this fall, LA is going to have its very own comedy fest.

Donors receive some pretty cute swag, which is no doubt helping the fundraising efforts. I wouldn’t mind one of those t-shirts…

No idea how they’re going to pull this off, but KCRW has decided to air 10 episodes of Marc Maron‘s wonderful podcast WTF–which, if for some reason you can’t figure it out, stands for “What the Fuck.” And therein, seemingly, lies the trouble. Maron begins each and every show by saying fuck no less than 12 times, and isn’t shy about using it during his interviews either. Why should he be shy? It’s his podcast.

But the FCC might have something to say about the matter if anything close to an unedited podcast goes over the airwaves. Especially on Sundays at 11AM, which is when KCRW plans to run the program.

The shows KCRW chose to air are all old, so they’ll have plenty of time to scrub them clean. It will be interesting to see what’s left.

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Comedian and podcaster extraordinaire Marc Maron just relaunched his website WTF with a cool new design. The site has a new blog feature to go along with the old podcast list. Maron posted a super-nebbishy video explaining the relaunch on his website. You can almost see the specter of his father hovering over him yelling, “Can’t you do anything right!?” Can’t embed, so check it out here.

Maron, incidentally, was also just quoted in this LA Times piece on Conan warm-up man Jimmy Pardo. Worth the read.

Comedian, WTF podcaster and Highland Park resident Marc Maron was on Conan last night talking about a cabinet he found more intriguing in his old age than the vagina of a 27-year-old fan who wanted to sleep with him. Funny stuff.

At the end of the interview, Maron got a commitment from Conan to come on the podcast. Looking forward to that one. We’ll see if Conan keeps his word.

Comedian Marc Maron–a former Air America host who these days is best known for his podcast WTF, which he tapes out of his garage in Highland Park–just got himself a nice long profile in the New York Times.

A taste:

Mr. Maron, a stand-up comic by trade, has cast himself as an unlikely celebrity interviewer — one who is angry, probing, neurotic and a vulnerable recovering addict. And somehow he’s able to elicit from his guests, mostly other comedians like Sarah Silverman and Ben Stiller, the same level of vulnerability.

The interviews, usually taped in his garage in Los Angeles, often end up feeling more like therapy sessions. Take, for example, Robin Williams talking to Mr. Maron about the dark side of dealing with audiences: “I guess it’s that fear that they’ll recognize — as you know — how insecure are we really? How desperately insecure that made us do this for a living?” Read more