MDRT – Mara Wiles

I like Mara Wiles so much that I regularly let her take care of my dog. I know not of a higher compliment to give someone. I value my pure-bread show-bitch Clear Creek Annabel Lee as much as anything in this world and often when I head out of town I will hand over the keys to said dog to Mara and say, “Here you go, Mara, you’re in charge.” Is it weird that a dog has keys? Please. Don’t expose your ignorance. All pure-bread show dogs come with a set of keys. The good ones come with two, so you have a backup set. Annabel has eight different sets of keys. And at one point or another, Mara has used them all. Because she’s trust-worthy and she’s a dog-lover and she’s just a good person.

But she’s also hilarious. Within a few months of coming on the Denver stand-up scene, everyone knew who Mara Wiles was. She’s got the kind of infectious energy that can quickly take over a room. For about a year Mara was one of the corner-stones of the all female sketch-comedy troupe LadyFace and those shows were a joy to watch. I was the “guest star” for one of LadyFace’s shows and it was great getting to watch Mara work, from the conception of a sketch to the writing of it to the tweaking of it to the performing to the improv that took place in the moment. I remember thinking this one is one to watch. And then her kidney’s gave out on her.

Mara suffers from Lupus and I don’t think anyone in the Denver community really knew how bad it was until all of a sudden Mara needed a transplant. And then it seemed like months were passing and Mara was not getting an eligible donor to give her a new kidney. And we all watched as her health deteriorated and she had to all but drop out of comedy. It was too draining for her. We threw fundraisers, we tried to help find donors, but we felt helpless. We just watched. I can only imagine how Mara felt. And then a good friend of Mara’s proved an eligible donor and the transplant was on! Now, a few months after the kidney transplant Mara is happy and healthy and back on the scene! Just like that! I sat down with Mara right before she went into surgery for her transplant, and then a few months after and the result is the podcast you’re about to listen to. I hope you find it as interesting and painfully honest and inspiring as I do. If I made dumb jokes in this podcast, it’s because I was nervous tip-toeing around such a delicate issue. I’m learning. But when all is said and done, I’m just happy Mara is happy and well. And that she’s back on the scene being hilarious again. Welcome back, Mara. We missed you.

That said, homegirl still has bills. So if you feel inclined to donate to said bills, do so here: HELP MARA PAY MEDICAL BILLS

Her favorite music video? “Crazy” by Aerosmith. I can get down with that. Always had a thing for Alicia Silverstone.

And if you’d like to listen to this episode on iTunes, do so here: iTunes

Enjoy everyone!