Maria Bamford

Maria Bamford
Maria Bamford in 2008.
Born	September 3, 1970 (1970-09-03) Port Hueneme, California, United States
Medium	Stand-up, Television, Film
Nationality	American
Years active	1989–present
Genres	Observational comedy, Surreal humor, Alternative comedy
Subject(s)	Pop culture, Personal life
Website	mariabamford.com

Maria Bamford (born September 3, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian and voice actor. She is best known for her portrayal of her dysfunctional family and self-deprecating comedy involving jokes about depression. Her comedy style draws upon surrealism and incorporates voice impressions of various character types. Comic Patton Oswalt has called her one of the most creative and original comics working today.^{[citation needed]}

Early life

Bamford was born at the naval base in Port Hueneme, California, where her father Joel was serving as a Navy doctor. She grew up there and in Duluth, Minnesota, where she attended Chester Park Elementary and The Marshall School. She went on to attend Bates College, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Minnesota, where she earned a degree in Creative Writing. She started doing stand-up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at age nineteen, at Stevie Ray's Comedy Cabaret. Bamford then joined Edinburgh's improvised comedy show The Improverts. Maria has one sister, Sarah Bamford Seidelmann.

Career

Bamford has been in a number of movies and television shows, including voice appearances in cartoons. The best-known aspect of her act are her various impersonations (including her mother and her agent). Her comedy often takes the form of vignettes rather than the comedy stand-up standard setup/punchline format.

Bamford was featured in the documentary series The Comedians of Comedy on Comedy Central and Showtime, and appeared in short skits titled "The Maria Bamford Show" broadcast on the now defunct website Super Deluxe. She also appears on the comedy compilation CD Comedy Death-Ray.

Her last album, produced by Comedy Central Records and called Unwanted Thoughts Syndrome, was released in April 2009 and includes a DVD containing "The Maria Bamford Show" episodes.

During the Christmas 2009-2010 shopping seasons, Bamford was featured in a series of Target commercials, portraying an overachieving shopper determined to be first in line.

For Christmas 2009, she released a free stand-up special online as a gift to her fans.

Personal life

Bamford and her pug, Bert, and chug, Blueberry, reside in Eagle Rock, California. Her pug Blossom passed away in August of 2011.

TV show appearances

• Adam Hills In Gordon St Tonight
• Adventure Time (Manfried, Slime Princess, Guardian Angel, Duchess of Nuts and others, voice) (2010) (Season 1)
• The Comedians of Comedy
• Comedy Central Presents
• Comic Remix
• Conan
• Daria (voice)^{[citation needed]}
• Dharma & Greg
• CatDog (voice)
• Hey Arnold! (Mayor Dixie)
• Back at the Barnyard (voice of Mrs. Beady)
• Home Movies (voice)
• Jimmy Kimmel Live!
• Late Friday
• ¡Mucha Lucha! (voice)
• Premium Blend
• Cromartie High School
• Kirby: Right Back at Ya! (voice)
• Rove Live
• The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
• Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
• Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule
• Tom Goes to the Mayor (voice)
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
• The Trouble with Normal
• World Comedy Tour
• Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island (voice)
• WordGirl (voice of Sally Botsford, Leslie, the assistant to Mr. Big and Violet Heaslip)
• Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn
• Skunk Fu! (voice)
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 (the fiddler during the square dancing host segment in episode 607- BLOODLUST!)
• John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show (2010) (Season 1)
• The Sarah Silverman Show (2010) (Mae Kadoodie – Episode "Nightmayor")
• Kick Buttowski (voice)
• The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra (voice of Pema)
• Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (voice of Chen)

Movie appearances

• Lucky Numbers (2000)
• Stuart Little 2 (2002)
• Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure (2003)
• The Comedians of Comedy (2005)
• Open Season (2006)^{[citation needed]}
• Barnyard (2006)

Discography

• The Burning Bridges Tour (2005)
• The Comedians of Comedy: Live at the El Rey (2005)
• Comedians of Comedy Tour 3"CD (2006)
• How to WIN! (2007)
• The Comedians of Comedy: Live at the Troubadour (2007)
• Comedy Death-Ray (album) (2007)
• Unwanted Thoughts Syndrome (2009)

Radio show appearances

• A Prairie Home Companion (2002)
• The Now Show (2006)
• The Bob & Tom Show (2009)
• WTF with Marc Maron (2009)
• The Dork Forest with Jackie Kashian (2009)
• The Nerdist Podcast (2010)
• The Sound of Young America (2011 & 2007)
• TBTL (2011)
• Never Not Funny (2011, 2009, 2008, 2007)
• Sklarbro Country (2011)

External links

• Official website
• Maria Bamford on MySpace
• Maria Bamford at the Internet Movie Database
• Maria Bamford at Comedy Central
• Interview with Scene Missing Magazine