He grew up in the rough East Village of the 1970s and found himself dealing with depression and panic attacks in college, which made the idea of show business seem like an escape and a source of magic.
His days at Luna Lounge led to a job as a writer and sketch performer on Conan, which then opened doors for him to write for other shows like Human Giant, Review, and Master of None.
He felt depressed and struggled with a lack of direction in his comedy career, which he had been able to pursue in high school but found challenging to continue at Columbia.
He felt the audience at regular clubs was different and less forgiving, and he was more comfortable with the smart and forgiving crowd at Luna Lounge and other alt-comedy venues.
He insisted on doing the entire show as Peanut Butter, a deeply mentally ill comedian character, and when Comedy Central refused, he declined the offer.
His father, a hoarder, had an extreme attachment to items, and they were reluctant to throw anything away, leading to extensive storage and moving efforts.
He wants to provide an alternative for people who do not want to watch the inauguration, offering a live stand-up comedy show at the same time.
They moved when Andy was six years old, settling in Bergen County. His family had roots in Jersey, and his parents eventually moved to Pompton Lakes.
They met in the 1960s on Roosevelt Island where his father was a research psychologist and his mother was a doctor doing a fellowship.
He wanted to sneak onto the lineup and have Conan figure out it was him while performing, but the idea was vetoed by his managers.
When Marc first met Andy Blitz during the rise of the alt-comedy scene in New York City, Andy still thought show business was magical. And why wouldn’t he? As he tells Marc, he was a kid who grew up in the rough East Village of the 1970s and found himself dealing with depression and panic attacks in college. Andy talks about how his days at Luna Lounge paved the way for his job as a writer and sketch performer on Conan, and how that in turn opened doors for writing on shows like Human Giant, Review and Master of None. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast).
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