Marc Maron hosted a star-studded benefit for Divided Sky Foundation in Los Angeles Tuesday night. In addition to an unannounced lineup of comedians including Sarah Silverman, Nick Kroll, and John Mulaney, attendees were treated to a surprise visit from Phish’s Trey Anastasio, who co-founded the addiction recovery nonprofit in 2019. The show sold out in less than 24 hours.
Maron kicked off the evening of comedy and music, which took place at the intimate Largo at Coronet. After a brief introduction, he brought out Trey, his one-time podcast guest. Anastasio explained that he had “tried to think of a joke all day” but “couldn’t think of one.” Instead, he stayed in his usual onstage lane for a 25-minute solo acoustic set as fans in the audience sipped a Phish-themed house mocktail devised for the occasion, the “Ruby Wave.”
After starting with Phish staples “Sample in a Jar” and “Limb By Limb”, Anastasio shifted to “Lost in the Pack”, the solo tune born from the same pandemic-era longing as the idea to launch an addiction recovery nonprofit. From there, he returned to the Phish canon with “Wolfman’s Brother”, “Bathtub Gin”, a seamless “Chalk Dust Torture” > “Back On The Train” > “Chalk Dust Torture” sandwich, and a hopeful “More”.
Once Trey cleared the stage, the show continued with standup sets from Silverman, Kroll, Maron, and Mulaney, in that order.
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The night also included a VIP reception during which musician and Divided Sky alumnus Sean Leahy shared his personal recovery story, highlighting the organization’s mission to expand access to recovery support and build community around emotional sobriety, mindfulness, and peer connection. The benefit went on to raise over $67,000 in funds that will directly support scholarships and programming at Divided Sky’s 46-bed residential recovery program in Ludlow, Vermont.
The event was organized by Bart Coleman, the Phish fan and comedy producer programmed the live comedy lineups at Phish’s Mondegreen festival and the band’s recent Riviera Maya destination event.
“This all started with a pitch to Divided Sky’s Andy Bernstein during the Beacon Jams back in November,” Coleman told Live For Live Music. “I offered to produce a comedy benefit for DSF to raise awareness and funds in L.A. Never in a million years did I think Trey would attend, let alone perform. We lucked out with the proximity to Phish’s Sphere dates that had him on the West Coast this month. Largo is such a special, magical room for intimate performances. Very grateful to our comedian friends who all support Divided Sky’s mission and donated their time.”
Notable attendees included former Phish road manager Brad Sands, actor and noted jam band enthusiast Chris Witaske (Love, The Bear), 100x Hospitality founder Dan Berkowitz, bassist/bandleader Karina Rykman, and Splice founder Steve Martocci, who served as one of several official hosts of the event.
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