Maria Bamford (born September 3, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian and voice actress. She is best known for her portrayal of her dysfunctional family and self-deprecating comedy involving jokes about depression and anxiety. Her comedy style is surreal, and incorporates voice impressions of various character types.
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. Most notably, she is the voice of the Hot Dog Princess in Cartoon Network's Adventure Time and Mrs. Botsford on the long running PBS educational series WordGirl. The best-known aspect of her act is her various impersonations (including her mother and her agent). Her stand-up comedy often takes the form of vignettes rather than the 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.[1]
For Christmas 2009, she released a free stand-up special online as a gift to her fans.[2]
In 2012 she released The Special Special Special for download through Chill.com. The special was recorded with only Bamford's parents as an audience.[3]
She provides the voice of Pema in Nickelodeon cartoon The Legend of Korra.
Personal life[]
Bamford resides in Eagle Rock, California, with her pug, Bert, and chug, Blueberry. She has stated publicly that she has been diagnosed as having bipolar disorder.[4]
TV show appearances[]
- Adam Hills In Gordon St Tonight
- Adventure Time (Manfried, Slime Princess, Guardian Angel, Duchess of Nuts, Huntress Wizard, and others, voice)
- The Comedians of Comedy
- Comedy Central Presents
- Comic Remix
- Conan
- Daria (voice)[citation needed]
- Dharma & Greg
- CatDog (voice of Shriek)
- Full House (Roxy Martin)
- Hey Arnold! (Mayor Dixie)
- Back at the Barnyard (voice of Mrs. Beady)
- Home Movies (voice)
- Jimmy Kimmel Live!
- Late Friday
- Louie
- ¡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, Violet Heaslip and Bank Teller (in Granny Mayor))
- 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 Program (2010) (Mae Kadoodie – Episode "Nightmayor")
- Kick Buttowski (voice of "Wacky" Jackie Wackerman)
- The Legend of Korra (voice of Pema)
- Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (voice of Chen)
- Kroll Show guest appearance in the episode "Can I Finish?" - February 2013.
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)
- Heckler (2007)
Web series[]
- Bravest Warriors (2012) (Pixel, Gayle, Elves, others)
- SuperF*ckers (2012) (Princess Sunshine, Computer Fist, others)
Discography[]
- The Burning Bridges Tour (2005)
- How to WIN! (2007)
- Unwanted Thoughts Syndrome (2009)
Complitation features[]
- The Comedians of Comedy: Live at the El Rey (2005)
- Comedians of Comedy Tour 3"CD (2006)
- The Comedians of Comedy: Live at the Troubadour (2007)
- Comedy Death-Ray (2007)
Radio show and podcast appearances[]
- A Prairie Home Companion (2002)
- The Now Show (2006)
- Doug Loves Movies (2006 & 2010)
- The Bob & Tom Show (2009)
- WTF with Marc Maron (2009)
- The Dork Forest with Jackie Kashian (2009)
- The Nerdist Podcast (2010 & 2012)
- The Sound of Young America (2011 & 2007)
- TBTL (2011)
- Never Not Funny (2011, 2009, 2008, 2007)
- Sklarbro Country (2011)
- Citizen Radio (2012)[6]
- The Mental Illness Happy Hour (2012)
- Girl on Guy with Aisha Tyler (2013)