Comedy
Maria Bamford is the funniest woman on earth
Maria Bamford is completely original and one of our top picks for the 2019 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
One of the acts that we’re most excited for at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival is US alt-comedy star, Maria Bamford. Making her first Australian appearance since 2011 (and for just five shows) this is a rare opportunity to see the comedian who Judd Apatow refers to as the “funniest woman on Earth” live.
You might have seen Bamford in her somewhat auto-biographical Netflix Series Lady Dynamite or her cult web series The Maria Bamford Show.
She also featured in season four of Arrested Development (potentially the greatest show ever made) and leant her voice to multiple animated shows including; CatDog, American Dad!, Ugly Americans, Adventure Time and BoJack Horseman.
When Bamford appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Colbert called her his “favourite comedian on planet earth”.
With an impressive resume and strong praise from such big names in the comedy world, you might find it hard to believe that Bamford has struggled with severe depression and anxiety, being diagnosed with both Bipolar II disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. But her mental health is a common theme in her comedy as she weaves in and out of serious and light-hearted content in a way that is complex and somewhat erratic but infinitely clever.
If you see one comedian at the Comedy Festival this year, make it Maria Bamford (but really, why stop at one?). Whether you know and love her already or we’ve succeeded in piquing your interest we promise she won’t disappoint.
Catch her at Forum Melbourne from Tuesday April 9 until Saturday April 13, tickets are available via Ticketmaster.com.au.
