Comedian and ‘WTF’ Podcast Host Marc Maron Reveals His Struggle with Anxiety Led to Decision to Never Be a Dad

Marc Maron is opening up about the reason why he never became a father. 

In an all-new Jolt documentary titled Anxiety Club, the WTF podcast host, 61, joins fellow comedians as they find humorous ways to share how fear and mental health have held them back from living life. 

“Most of what you’re reacting to is something your brain is making up,” Maron says in the trailer. 

He later confesses, “My anxiety stopped me from having children.”

Tiffany Jenkins, Baron Vaughn, Aparna Nancherla, Mark Normand, Eva Victor and Joe List also reflect on their relationship with anxiety through exclusive interviews, standup performances, sketch videos, therapy sessions and everyday life.

The opening scene of Anxiety Club sees Normand, 41, doing a sunset comedy show on a rooftop.

“I love a roof gig. If this goes horribly, I can just jump right off,” he says as the crowd laughs. 

Next, List, 43, is seen in a comedy club cracking jokes about how many times thoughts about his parents dying or him being diagnosed with cancer cross his mind per day. 

Again, the response from the crowd is laughter. 

“[In] other professions, mental health may not have been a big topic, but comedy has always destigmatized things by saying, ‘Okay, this is okay to talk about,’ ” one commentator explains in an on-camera interview. 

A skit of Jenkins’ “anxiety” and “brain” having a conversation is shown next, as she talks about the condition being common, yet people still not knowing how to cope. 

According to Nancherla, “Anxiety is warning you about a danger that isn’t actually there.”

Normand takes cameras with him for his day-to-day life, which includes sleeping with a weighted anxiety blanket that “feels like a hug.”

For Vaughn, the emotion feels like a “turbine” in his brain. 

“I am scared of getting murdered. I have a horrendous fear of the ocean. I think about my kids breaking their neck and getting paralyzed a lot,” Jenkins tells a therapist during a therapy session as footage of her kids doing flips at an indoor trampoline park begins to play.

Per a press release, “All of the comedians in Anxiety Club have created standup or sketch material about their mental health that is not only funny but uniquely relatable and disarming to audiences. 

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“With comedy, vulnerability, and honesty, these comedians provide remarkable insight into anxiety — the most prevalent mental health disorder affecting an estimated 300 million people worldwide,” the release continues of the Wendy Lobel-directed documentary. 

In a more serious scene, List says during an on-camera interview, “I guess there’s a lot of pain there. Fear and anger. I think it’s a desire for the feeling of peace for myself and people I love.”

Carolin Ehrenburg, Jonathan Gray and Scott Sinkler produce Anxiety Club. Jeff Spivack is a co-producer and Ehrenburg edited the film.

Anxiety Club arrives on Jolt on Aug. 15.

If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.