Underground comedy, alt-comedy, indie comedy—whatever you call it, Marc Maron helped invent it. One of the most revered standup comics to emerge from New York City in the '90s, he excels at fast, loose and contentiously irreverent monologues. He argues that Houdini was a better Jewish “magician” than Jesus Christ (“Bitter Jesus”) and gets you to squirm in your seat by defining racial versus racist humour (“Not a Racist”). Ultimately, a good deal of Maron's appeal lies in the way the gears in his big brain turn: just listen to the aptly titled “Drug Wisdom” to understand how he so easily made the leap to podcasting.