SPECIAL EVENT! Maria Bamford and Her Austin Friends
If we werent in the business of presenting
comedy shows each week, with a number of those shows featuring female
comics, then we would feel totally comfortable saying that Maria
Bamford is the funniest young female comic working today. But thats
really not very cool or diplomatic for the web site of a comedy
club to make that statement, so lets just say shes
one of the funniest, and avoid ruffling any feathers--cause
no one would dispute that statement. Heck, theres plenty
of support for that stance if you look no further than her resume.
For starters, no less an authority than venerable showbiz publication
Variety named her one of the Top Ten Comics To Watch.
Then there are her television credits, which include multiple appearances
on both The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Late
Night With Conan OBrien, plus her own half-hour special
on Comedy Central that was rated Number Five overall in the networks
viewer poll of favorite comedians. Pretty damn good. But wait, theres
more. On the festival side of the equation, shes not only
looking enormously strong, but also immensely acclaimed: Just this
summer alone, she made standout appearances at the Just For Laughs
International Comedy Festival in Montreal--widely considered the
worlds biggest, most prestigious comedy event--and the Edinburgh
Fringe Festival, where she received rave reviews like The Scotland
Herald gushing about her brilliantly written gags,
noting Bamford has that blend of quiet indignation and almost-visionary
insight that characterise all the best US comics. Needless
to say, perhaps, shes previously appeared at HBOs U.S.
Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen. Those are just some of the credits
(not counting her film acting work, like in Lucky Numbers
and Stuart Little or her voice work in such animated
series as CatDog) on paper. On stage, shes whip-smart
and wholly original as she takes on temping, sexual harassment,
corporate lackeys and a slew of other topics, weaving in and out
of characters and voices with truly deft precision.