“I'm not for everyone. I'm barely for me.”
- Marc Maron
We made a quick trip to Kansas City to see a comedian Friday night. Maria Bamford is someone I've followed for many years. She's one of the few remaining stand ups that I'd want to see that I haven't. We saw back in October that she was playing the Gem Theatre in April, so we grabbed a couple of tickets.
If you're familiar with Maria you know she's her own species of comedian. There's no one like her. If you have no idea about her, how would I describe her comedy? Quirky, maybe? Unpredictable? Peculiar? Off-beat? A kaleidoscope of absurdity? All those work.
If on occasion I've tried to tell non-comedy people who she is, I've been able to connect them with her “Crazy Target Lady” Christmas ads she did back in 2010. “Oh, I love her, I loved those!" they say. I feel compelled to warn them that that's not really representative of her comedy. She wouldn't be for everyone.
She had a Netflix show for a couple of seasons called Lady Dynamite. It was based loosely on her life and her struggles with mental illness. I also read her memoir, Sure I'll Join Your Cult, which chronicles her struggles with addiction, bipolar disorder and participation in various support groups. It's darkly funny and honest. Neither of those would be for everyone.
So we go down to 18th and Vine for the 7:30 p.m. show. Full house, 500. Maria comes out after 20 minutes of a warm up chick. Good riddance to her. I was prepared for whatever was coming our way. How would I summarize what did? The best I can do is to say it was like watching Robin Williams' schizophrenic, bilingual kid sister, walking on a high wire, 1000-feet up, juggling vials of nitroglycerin and lemon squares while carrying on a non-linear monologue about fifteen different topics including suicide hotlines, Skechers, and friendship bracelets. She wouldn't be for everyone.
Would I call it my favorite comedy experience? No. Am I glad we went? Absolutely. It's like now being able to say I actually saw an extremely rare animal in the wild, like a snow leopard or a black-footed ferret.
Below is only a mild, mild representation of Maria Bamford.