No one does comedy like Maria Bamford. She embraces — and embodies — all shades of awkwardness and insecurity. She shot her web series, The Maria Bamford Show, in her childhood home in Duluth, Minnesota, after suffering a mental health breakdown in Los Angeles. Watching this low-budget wonder and the subsequent works, you don’t just get to know Maria; you become acquainted with her Midwestern parents, Joel and Marilyn; her New Agey sister; her judgemental and jealous high school classmates and coworkers.
In her surrealist Netflix series Lady Dynamite, which, tragically was cancelled after two seasons earlier this year, we see many facets of the comedian. In flashbacks to her childhood, we see the painfully shy Maria taking a Dale Carnegie course where she sells homemade spice ropes to a despondent participant. There are talking pugs! The second season flashes forward to the not-so-distant future where a hell-on-wheels agent, played by Anna Gasteyer, proposes a show called Maria Bamford Is Nuts! Gasteyer’s character says, “I want to tell the story of your fucking life in bingeable fucking installments! It will be so inventive and groundbreaking in its comedy that alt-comedy Twitter will choke on its own jizz! And here is the cherry on the streaming sundae: We will focus on mental illness, and we will destigmatize it, forever!”
In her own way, Bamford addresses sexism, racism, ageism, consumerism and the sheer ludicrous nature of the entertainment business. Nothing is sacred. But talking to the real Maria Bamford is like talking to a friendly neighbor. She will be at the Overture Center’s Capitol Theater on Oct. 19.
You confront mental illness head on and portray your close family members in less-than-flattering ways. Did you ever worry about doing that?
Well, you do what you can with exactly what you have. I’m definitely just taking what’s already there and just talking about it. My family has been very supportive. We have a relationship where they can say “Please don’t say that.” Sometimes I acquiesce and sometimes I don’t.
Your parents were the only audience members present for the filming of Maria Bamford: The Special Special Special. Why?
That was done out of necessity because I couldn’t do much at the the time. I thought: What’s the least possible energy I could devote? Doing it right outside my bedroom.
How did you pitch the idea to your parents?
They are on board for anything. I gave them a couple of beers and pizza. They love people and they love being a part of things. They love show business, and they are very kind and thoughtful and interested in other people. They are the people I wish I could be.
Lady Dynamite was cancelled after two seasons. Was Netflix responding to your pointed criticism?
As long as people are watching something, I don’t think they care about it. They don’t care if they’re being made fun of as long as the numbers are up. It was cancelled, but … it’s amazing that it got made. And it couldn’t have been a better experience. It was a magnificent dream come true.
Was the idea of “Midwestern nice” ever a barrier to the kind of honesty you display in your work?
Along with niceness is a lot of passive aggression, which can be very honest. I don’t think people in the Midwest are any less emotional than people in other places. But I do think most women grew up to learn that if you had an idea or a feeling to keep it to yourself. And nobody wants to hear a high squeaky-voiced woman. I don’t think that’s new. But who cares?
Any final words for your potential audience here in Madison?
Here’s my PSA. As always, before going to see comedy, YouTube it. Not doing that...that’s where heckling comes from. I can’t recommend that enough — especially if you are a Trump voter.
