Comedian Maria Bamford is truly one-of-a-kind. She's been doing stand-up for nearly 35 years, and she's had comedy specials and a best-selling book called Sure, I'll Join Your Cult. Bamford often tackles taboo subject matter in her comedy: anxiety, depression, alcoholism, and things that most people would never say out loud.
Bamford will be performing at the Golden State Theater in Monterey on Saturday, August 15th. I spoke to her ahead of the performance and began by asking her how she developed her unique brand of uncomfortable comedy:
"When I grew up, my parents were very open. There's a ton of alcoholism and mental health issues. Bipolar and OCD went through both sides of my parent's sides of the family. It was something we would talk about as a family, so yeah, I think I always felt like it was okay to talk about those things. Also, it's the only thing I'm really interested in. I love all types of comedy. But the stuff that really interests me is what's going on for me right now."
Click the audio player at the top of this story to listen to the interview or read the highlights below. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Bamford on her recent comedy series called Nooo-CD! that looks at her particular type of OCD called 'intrusive thoughts':
"Around nine or 10 [years old], I wasn't able to sleep at night. I got this real fear that I was going to harm the people I love. That's what this type of intrusive thoughts OCD does— it attacks the things you love. If ever I had a thought, I'd grip my fists and try to dig my nails into my hands so that I could make a thought go away. [But] what happens is anytime you try to stop thinking something, of course, that's the only thing you can think about. I didn't realize that this was a type of OCD until I Googled my symptoms when I was 35 and it's just OCD. Yeah. It can come out in a million different ways."
Bamford on what people can expect if they go to see her perform at the Golden State Theatre:
"I do a lot of different characters, voices, stuff like that. I talk about mental health. This time I'm talking a lot about money because I think that has a lot to do with people's mental health—whether or not you have access to money. And if you don't have money but you desperately want to come [to the show], you can just email me. It's on my socials — and I'll try to get you in free."
Comedian Maria Bamford will be performing at the Golden State Theatre in Monterey on August 15th. If you or someone you know is dealing with mental health struggles or thoughts of suicide, help is available at 988-the-suicide-and-crisis-lifeline.