Fade to Black Presents:

Part II of III

You have done an Internet show for Microsoft which was way ahead of its time and also hosted The Webbies. Is there something about the Internet which draws you as a comedian? 

I don't think there is something about the Internet that draws me as a  performer. The Microsoft show was an opportunity for me to host an hour long talk/variety show with big name celebrity guests and almost no censorship and, due to the technical difficulties, not many viewers or listeners. I was being paid to hone my skills and work different comedic muscles with almost  no negative consequences in a complete vacuum.  

The Webbys was a gig that came out of nowhere. The woman who runs the event, Tiffany Schlain, saw a tape of me and she liked my 'edge' and thought it  would be great to have me host the evening. Again. I wrote all the jokes for the presentation and she didn't hamper me creatively and I was able to do a  major job in show business (award show) on my terms with very few negative  repercussions except that I'll never be able to do the gig again. 

My friend Jack Boulware did a piece for the SF Weekly that didn't paint such a great  picture of the event or Tiffany. It was worth losing the gig. Jack writes  great shit. Read the piece under press on my website, marcmaron.com, A Night at the Webbys. 

What was it like working for Microsoft?

I didn't deal much with Microsoft. The show was produced by Broadway Video  and they were great to me. 

Do you agree with Bill Hicks who said that once you do product endorsements you are off the artistic ladder?  

On some level any appearance on Television can be seen as a product endorsement. As a performer you are being used to keep people watching so the commercial endorsements that support the network can be seen by as many  people as possible. 

Do I think it compromises your artistic integrity to use your funny to sell shit to people directly in the form of a commercial? Yeah. It makes you look like a shill and you might forever be known as the guy on  the future flavored digital pabulum commercial. 

Have great comic artists done commercials? Yeah. 

Is it hard as fuck to make a living in show business?  Yeah. 

You got to decide what your soul can handle and how you want to be seen. It's easy to maintain your integrity when no one is offering to buy it out.  When you actually meet the devil and he offers you a deal most artists eventually negotiate. Show business is one of the few businesses that the  devil will actually agree to own just a portion of your soul because he knows if you have a performer's ego you were probably working for him all along.     

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