![]() ![]() The beating heart of From Bleak to Dark is a meditation on the fragility of life, inspired by Shelton's sudden death. This is a special about mortality delivered by a man forced to confront it. "And on that day," Maron bows his head as if in prayer, "I will be truly free." He's joking. Even better is knowing that one day his dad won't know who he is anymore. Now he is "open and kinda funny," which allows Maron to show up for him despite their complicated relationship. He was a "bipolar, emotionally abusive, narcissistic, fuck," Maron explains. Here, Maron admits to feeling giddy about his father's recent dementia diagnosis. Some of Maron's sharpest work in From Bleak to Dark is his back and forth with the audience about his father, a subject he has touched on before-but never in frank detail. (Yes, someone can be suffering from Alzheimer's and still be a dick.) "It takes a load off me…." Maron says, pausing so the audience can anticipate the obvious, incoming joke, "…metaphorically speaking." It's forcing the audience to confront uncomfortable ideas. This is a special about mortality delivered by a man forced to confront it.įor Maron, fuck it mode is a sick burn to optimists: "I think if you have hope, what are you, fucking seven?" It's feeling grateful that your mom gets regular sex from her 85-year-old boyfriend, John. He's both lighter and darker, kinder and yet more caustic, and his jokes are more heartfelt and daring. After all, the first thing he says after strutting onstage and thanking the audience for coming is, "I don't want to be negative, but I don't think anything is ever going to get better ever again." But he's more than that, too. Don't get me wrong: he's still a cynical curmudgeon. This isn't the same world-weary Marc Maron audiences know and love. Marc Maron Proves Dreams Don't Have Deadlinesįilmed two-ish years after the sudden death of Maron's girlfriend, the writer and director Lynn Shelton, From Bleak to Dark shows just how transforming tragedy can be.Most recently? Marc Maron's new HBO special, From Bleak to Dark, which debuted this past Saturday. For example: Tig Notaro's special, Tig, in which the comedian walks out on stage and immediately says, "Thank you, I have cancer." Or Richard Pryor's Live on the Sunset Strip, filmed after the comedian barely survived setting himself on fire, not to mention the majority of Maria Bamford's specials. Some of the best comedy comes from people in the fuck it phase of life. Ask a person in the fuck it phase of life how they're doing, and you might get back: "terrible," "fucking shitty," "awful, fuck you for asking," or maybe even a blank, depthless stare that says, "I'd murder you if I weren't so hungover right now." So is anyone who has recently experienced a life-altering tragedy: a sudden death, an unexpected diagnosis, or a car accident. Most women over the age of 65 are in the fuck it phase of life. I refer to this as the "fuck it" phase of life. There comes a time in every person's life when they finally decide to say how they really feel. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |