Marc Maron Says He Thinks Theo Von Would ‘Probably Laugh’ At His Theo Von Joke

In the stand-up comedy community, it’s generally considered bad form to go after a fellow comic in your act, but professional political podcasters play by different rules.

With Marc Maron’s most recent stand-up special, Marc Maron: Panicked on HBO, the WTF host and comedy veteran went gloves-off with his already gloomy and acerbic style to properly skewer both a country and a comedy industry that’s gone so far astray in his eyes. But for all the pointed comments and sarcastic side-eyes Maron made about how the comedy community has thrown the brunt of its weight behind the Trump administration and the anti-woke, pro-fascism, Joe-Rogan-allied far right, Maron’s subsequent press tour in promotion of Panicked has raised even more eyebrows as he continues to go after the lazy, unfunny, punch-down style of comedy promoted by the majority party.

During a recent appearance on Pod Save America, Maron defended one of his most viral jokes from Panicked in which he suggested that, if Adolf Hitler were alive today, the Nazi leader would likely appear on Theo Von’s podcast This Past Weekend to talk about methamphetamine. Maron posited that Von probably found the joke funny, provided that Von still sees himself as a comedian first and a witless government asset second.

“That’s a joke, but it resonates, and it resonates for a reason,” Maron said of his bit from Panicked in which he mocked Von’s habit of palling around with President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance or whichever far-right decision-maker had an agenda to push that week on This Past Weekend. 

As Maron explained, going after another stand-up comic — let alone a stand-up with a platform the size of Von's following — is risky business in his industry, but he feels that the execution of the joke justifies the comedy faux pas. “I had to think about what that Theo Von joke would do because, if you’re going to be critical through humor of people in your own profession, there’s always a sort of stigma to it,” Maron admitted.

“I believe that, if somebody becomes a cultural phenomenon, they’re fair game,” Maron said of his target, who, along with his stand-up career, is, astoundingly, one of the most popular and connected political commentators in the country — and no small celebrity in the UFC world as well. But, ultimately, Maron says that, much like any joke that dares to cross lines, his roast routine of Von works because it’s flat-out hilarious.

“I think the Theo joke, at its base, is funny,” Maron said. “What it implies, you can do whatever you want with that. Sure, it’s an easy correlation to make to Trump or to humanizing fascism. But, in and of itself, the impression was good enough, the jokes that I put within him talking were funny.”

Then, the kicker: “I’d be hard-pressed to think that he didn'’t think it was funny,” Maron said of Von’s possible reaction to his parody.

Von hasn’t indicated whether or not he’s even seen Maron’s latest special or the viral bit within it that calls him out for his platforming of the most powerful fascists in the country, but, frankly, I’m less confident that Von would laugh out loud at the suggestion that he’d pal around with Hitler on his show. Underneath the folksy demeanor, Von is still a proud, conservative Louisianian — he’d probably eat a squirrel before a live bird during a meth binge.