Free Maria Bamford Christmas Special

We just downloaded (but not yet have started watching) Maria Bamford's One-Hour Homemade Christmas Stand-Up Special over on her web site.



There are pugs. There is a couch. Presumably, this will be awesome. We're quite impressed, a lot of comics are putting out some great YouTube videos but this is the first time I've seen a gigantic long special.

The Bammer Hits Target

In what may be the most perfect or most twisted ad campaign of the year, Target stores have recruited the fantastic Maria Bamford to do a series of TV spots for the retail giant. Here's one of them.



And here's another one.



So it's not just your imagination, you really are seeing her on TV. After the Target Devo spots it seems they've got some subversive advertising people. Now, does this mean Target will start stocking her albums? We hope so.

Comedy Death Ray This Week: All Singing, All Dancing

It seems music is increasingly the order of the day at Comedy Death Ray here in Los Angeles, as tonight's packed show was hosted by The Devil's Purse, or "a band with Charlyne Yi and Paul Rust." Dial up the quirk to 9, and you pretty much get the band's sound.

• Kicking off the show is Donald Glover, who you may have seen on NBC's Community as one of the students in the core study group. While not given a ton to do on the show's episodes which have aired so far, tonight's set shows that he's a fountain of material and should be absolutely handed some more screen time. This was the first of a three-week residency, meaning if you're in the neighborhood you can see him again next week. And you probably should.
  
• From Australia and/or the UK, Brendon Burns had a strong set with his new catchphrase "it's not racist where I'm from," which basically set the tone of the set nicely. Offering insight on the wonderful differences between the English-speaking nations of the world, the set was enjoyed by the audience and this is probably someone to see if you also enjoyed the works of Jim Jeffries.
  
• Maria Bamford held up the middle of the show with a ton of new stuff and a couple of classics, which, it turn out, have a strong visual component. If you've only heard her albums, you may be unaware that she does a great deal with her hands. (You've only been getting like half the show as a result, you poor schmuck.) The rapid-fire set was firing like crazy, with so many jokes you might have missed a few. Given Bamford just released a new album earlier this year, it looks like she's well on her way to having enough material for another one in the not-too-distant-future, and we're totally game if she decides to crank one out. Good stuff.
  
• Reginald D. Hunter-- a comic orignally from the south and then from the U.K.-- managed to slay the audience, repeatedly, and while we'd like to reprint the jokes here decorum (and the desire to not ruin his act) prevent us from doing so. If you have not previously seen him, make sure you do so. It's rare to see a set open with "I'm from the South" and "I have a very British sense of humor," particularly when the comic manages to destroy the audience. Well done, sir.
  
• Special surprise unannounced guest Aziz Ansari came in to do some material, most of which-- while excellent-- was performed at a recent show which we covered a few weeks ago, with a couple of new bits at the end. Very funny stuff, including an exchange/fight with someone online regarding the quality and price of the popular Gmail service. He does not disappoint, but he did allude to lengthening his set to make time for Nick Kroll, who did not end up showing. More on that in a jiffy.
  
• Ending the evening was Garfunkel and Oates, who played three songs in a very brief concert-let. As many of their songs are regularly featured on Comedy Death Ray Radio, a great podcast/streaming program, you may recognize a tune or two. The set included "Fuck You," "One Night Stand," and a third song, the name of which we didn't quite get. Ah well. The audience loved it, and they seemed to totally dig the entire show tonight.

So, about Nick Kroll-- he and comedy partner dude Jon Daly posted a new video to Funny or Die earlier in the morning and I assume the plan was for to have them come to the show and play it for the audience. Since I'm making a guess here, I have no way to know for sure, but I can embed it here for your amusement either way. Behold, The Ed Hardy Boyz!

The Ed Hardy Boyz: The Case of the Missing Sick Belt Buckle from Jon Daly

Maria Bamford Meet-Up

The Lakeshore Theater in Chicago recently had a meet-up in which all the local comedians were asked to come on down to the theater and talk with Maria Bamford in a very informal manner.

About thirty comics, writers, or friends of either showed up to the event. The meet-up, at Maria's insistence involved everyone going around the room, introducing themselves like they were in AA, and then giving a brief background on who they were (comic, writer, other) and what they needed most to work on. Then Maria had everyone come up to the stage, where a mic was on and do one small bit that they were working on.

Maria herself did a joke or two about her boyfriend who happened to be there.

I should note it wasn't a lecture, it wasn't Maria giving pointers or tips about how to improve this or that, it was more a formal chat about what people were doing and where they were with their art. Also Maria noted in a very serious way that the road lonely, but moreso, she just felt it was good to meet people and find out what people are working on. She said it was more "selfish" than anything as she got more out of it than the people who were there, but that certainly did not seem to be the case.

The only advice she actually had to give was something she learned from Emo Philips about doing comedy: "You start off, you do stand up, people come and watch you, then more people come and watch you, and more people come and watch you. That's it."

I should point out that being that most of the people there were comedians, there was a lot of talk about working on overcoming fear, anxiety, OCD, depression, and trying to overcome the fear of being in public with other people. So, in a way it was almost like group therapy. In a good way. It was the feel-good Chicago comedian event of the summer.

After it was all done, Maria said her goodbyes, posed for a few pictures, and headed off for what must have been a needed rest before her nightly sets. Many thanks to the Lakeshore Theater for hosting this very nice event.

Unwanted Thoughts Syndrome

Who: Maria Bamford
Label: Comedy Central Records
Released: April 21, 2009

This album contains less gems than Bamford's previous work. It's probably the weakest of her three albusms, but is still a good listen if you like her. If you have never listened to her, you might want to listen to her previous album, How To Win!

There are less personal stories from Maria in this one, less talking about the horrible temp jobs she's had or stories about the behavior of her parents, but there is still plenty of good stuff in it.

Highlights include her calling her Mom as the baby Jesus, doing a bit in which she plays a shallow stereotype of a mainstream female comic, and an act-out of a seminar on pug safety she attended in which horrible deaths of pugs are described.

It is recommended you purchase the physical copy of this album as it comes not only with a CD of the stand-up material, but a DVD containing all the episodes of the Maria Bamford Show as broadcast on Superchunk.com. If you haven't seen it, it is a simple low-budget show in which Maria plays all the characters except her pug, which is played by her pug.


Overall, it's a good album, funnier than most of the stuff out there, and comes with a DVD which is a good deal for the money.

Road Trip Album Picks: Pennsylvania Macaroni Company (Comedians of Comedy)

WHAT: Stand-up with four comics going at once: Maria Bamford, Eugene Mirman, Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn
LABEL: Chunklet
GOOD IF YOU LIKE: Any of the Comedians of Comedy
WHERE TO FIND IT: Chunklet

While the label says Patton Oswalt on it, that's something of an incorrect announcement. The 3-track, 18.5-minute recording features Oswalt as well as Posehn, Mirman, and the Bammer basically goofing around on stage explaining what it's like to be in a tour van together. There is much hatred and screaming.

Given that The Pennsylvania Macaroni Company is extremely short, you might assume that it's also good. You would be right. This album manages to pack in an astonishing amount of conflict and funny in a short period of time, and it's pretty accessible stuff-- you could probably play this for your non-comedy nerd pals and they'd love it.

The title track is a nearly 8-minute long riff on the restaurant of the same name, and the little songs that Patton improvises in a Leon Redbone voice. If that sounds like something you can't live without, and trust me when I say that it is, you should pick this up if you have the means. I realize it's expensive for what you get on a per-minute basis, but it's also funnier than what you're used to. So buy it.

How to Win!

How to Win!
Maria Bamford
Published by: Stand Up Records in 2006

How to Win! is the most recent release of Ms. Bamford's comedy material on CD as of the publication of this article. In the future, CDs will probably be "quaint" but for now, this CD album resonates. Specifically, with people with the jokes about living in Los Angeles, working as a temp forever, and dealing with depression.

For instance, there's Maria talking about working for Disney and how when you work in the office, "They call you 'Cast Member,' like you're in a show or something, but you're in the shitty, boring part of the show nobody wants to watch."

Maria Bamford has an almost preternatural ability to change her voice. Yes, this has been mentioned before, and I will do no different. It's so much of a change from her normal voice (which some people say is "annoying" and which Maria refers to sounding like "James Earl Jones through a kazoo") that it's almost like a completely different person. I think what's best about this skill of hers is that she most often uses it to do impressions, and not impressions of people that are famous, but of people that aren't famous, but everybody knows.

For example, on this album, there's the leader of a corporate outing requesting more ways to build productivity through tragedy and fear, an American visiting Australia asking where the kangaroos and koalas are, and someone ordering coffee in L.A., and refusing it because it isn't organic.

Though I will say in this album she does a great impression of Alicia Keys. That's the only famous person you are going to her her do on this album, and good for her to not use the impression of her to put her in a stupid premise, such "Wouldn't it be funny if Alicia Keys worked as an air traffic controller?" Instead, it's used as example as how Alicia Keys can be as Maria puts it, "A silly goose" on her albums.

There are many stories about her family on her album, such as her sister talking about working as a forensic pathologist and talking about her work at the dinner table, her father as a collection of random noises, and her mother asking her to go buy some Vagasil.

There's further trials and tribulations of Maria, how comedy clubs often tell you nothing relevant about the stand-up acts at the club, and how dealing with therapists can be a hassle, and trying to use the Dale Carnegie sales course she was sent to as a teenager to try to influence her parents to let her be a roadie for R.E.O Speedwagon.

I'm guessing the title of the album comes from the Dale Carnegie book How to Win Friends and Influence People. I don't know.

Overall, it's a charming, entertaining, pain-filled disc of comedy.

Intriguing inside cover:


Boring, dull back cover:


Also available through