This past Thursday night I went with my friend Erin and The Boy to watch Comedian Maria Bamford at Comix Comedy Club in Chelsea. She was certainly Funny.

For a long time I have claimed that I do not really like stand-up comedy.  I’ve repeatedly told people that I would much prefer a funny character than a person standing up there making jokes. The style of comedy that Maria Bamford employed at Comix seemed to have my preference in mind.  This woman is nothing but a barrel of characters. Not only her family members (as we have seen Margaret Cho do) or impersonations of celebs, but countless, humorous characters from Mexican Americans to oblivious white couples.

My friend Erin ( an enormous fan) explained that  her thing is “a thousand voices.”

The one aspect of Maria’s comedy that was slightly off-putting to me is that she basic character was Extreme.  I would say more extreme than many of her other characters.  she held the mic very close and would sniff audibly between her soft spoken words.  Her physicality was odd, and her face hovered between fearful and dazed.  I was surprised- and curious to know if she was putting those traits on as well.

Erin explained that that’s “just how she is” and said she’d seen her interview.  The Boy said she seemed to be acting, but was impressed that she committed to creating this odd personality. and I was unsure.  For the first time I found myself wishing she would just stand there and tell jokes- I was being offered an amazing character, but was more interested in the stand-up…

The clip I’d like to share with you is her doing an impersonation of “stand up comics.” ( How meta, right?)  I’m still not sure what to think of her zoinked-out baseline.

On her personal website Maria lists the following credits among others:

• Comedy Central’s “The Comedians of Comedy Tour”
• Variety’s Top Ten Comics to Watch
• Late Night with Conan O’Brien
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
• Comedy Central Presents…Maria Bamford
• Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor on PRI
• Best in the Festival Melbourne Comedy Festival Winner

The one that got me the most excited from this list was definitely the Prairie Home Companion appearance. 😉