Maria Bamford in London

[notjosh]

http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2017/10/30/38276/maria_bamford_to_make_her_london_debut

March 22nd and 23rd. Tickets go on sale today apparently, but nothing on the Leicester Square website yet. If anyone spots it today, stick the link up would ya?

[Ron Superior]

Ticket link here!

https://myticket.co.uk/artists/maria-bamford

Very very very excited. For some reason I thought she'd never come over.

[Ron Superior]

Oh, it's saying tickets not available. But in the mail out I got it said on sale now. It wouldn't be sold out already would it?

[notjosh]

I got through no problem for the Friday show. Loads of seats still available.

[ajsmith2]

I bought 2 tickets like 10 seconds ago (for the Friday)  and there still seemed to be a lot left. Unless they've all gone in the same instant.

[selectivememory]

Yes! Very excited. Thanks for the heads up!

[gmoney]

Got tickets for the 23rd! Very excited. Jen Kirkman is doing a slot at Soho Theatre in January as well, though tickets for that are not on sale yet. Good couple of months for US imports though.

[Ron Superior]

Got a ticket for the Thursday show - very excited!

[Small Man Big Horse]

I'm going to the Thursday show too, am so excited by this given that she's pretty much my favourite comedian!

[Small Man Big Horse]

Really sweet article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/arts/television/maria-bamford-lady-dynamite.html

Maria Bamford: The First Time Someone Loved Me for Who I Really Am

At the age of 43, I had never had a relationship last more than a year. My colleagues in comedy suggested that it was par for the course in our business, and that paired with my psychiatric issues, I might never be eligible for lifelong commitment. But strangely, it was when I was hospitalized in a psych ward that I first found real hope that I could be married one day.

Back in 2010, I had been dating a guy for a few months. It was a fast romance, but he broke it off quickly and kindly when he discovered that I was having problems with what I thought was just bad depression. After the breakup, I decided it was the perfect time to try a new medication, a mood stabilizer that my psychiatrist had recommended. Then I signed myself into a facility because I was a little scared of killing myself. "Seventy-two hours on the new med, and I'll be good as new," I thought to myself. "Then off to four shows in Chicago!" No matter how bad I felt, work came first.

At a hospital in Pasadena, Calif., I was speaking with a fellow jittery patient. He was in his early 50s and said that he had bipolar disorder. I was worried whether I would ever work again, so I asked him what he did. He said he had left a high-stress position in international law and now worked part-time at a used bookstore in the San Bernardino Valley. He had been on disability for several years and needed to enter a mental health facility about once a year for flare-ups of depression or mania.

This was horrifying news to me. Disability? I mean, it's O.K. to take a break, but what if this is actually a full-time chronic illness? Take work away, and I'm a lump. A useless, weighted drag on everyone's resources. I checked out of the hospital a few days later, hoping to feel better on the new medication. But as I flew to Chicago, I knew something was wrong. I somehow ended up bleeding, hysterical and lost downtown without any identification an hour before showtime. My manager heard me hyperventilating over the phone and canceled all four shows.

Thus began a breakdown. Every moment of my life felt unbearable for a year and a half of hospitalizations and outpatient treatment programs. I drooled, I dropped glassware, I passed out face-first into Caesar salads. I could not think, had difficulty speaking and could not — in any way — work. I kept asking other patients the same questions: "Do you still have a job? Do you think you'll ever be able to work again?" I kept asking my doctors when they thought I'd be well enough to go back to comedy. Of course, none of them could guarantee full recovery. But I did gather some surprising information that I wasn't particularly interested in at the time: Many patients had partners and wives and husbands.

There was the wife and mother of grown children receiving ECT treatments that caused short term memory loss. A young woman who, after a psychotic episode involving the K.G.B. and aliens, spoke of her longtime boyfriend and all the support he provided when she was fired from her sales job. There was the man who came into the ward after a manic, knife-wielding episode in which he might have stabbed someone (I was very out of it and couldn't get the whole story). He chatted amiably with his wife during visiting hours.

Over and over again, I encountered people with debilitating mental illness who were also part of a couple. They weren't working, they needed care. They were a burden. And yet they were loved. I started to think: That could be me. If I ever got better, maybe I would meet someone who could love me as I am. That maybe, work or no work, I'd no longer have to wait to be "lovable" (translation: "productive") in order to be loved. And I was right. A year and a half later, when my mood had stabilized (I still had a tremor and memory problems), I met a man named Scott through OkCupid. It was his second internet date; my 97th. It wasn't particularly magical, just nice. We met for coffee, and he was easy to talk to. I love art, and that's what he does; he thought I was funny and loves comedy. He really wanted to go out again, despite the fact that he had Googled me and knew about my perceived deal-breaker. On our second date — a hike with my dog in Griffith Park — he was eager to share his own perceived flaws ($52,000 in student loans! Arthritis! An overheating '92 Saturn! Can't travel by airplane! )

And then, on our fourth date, he said one of the most romantic things I've ever heard: "I know they don't let you have sharp stuff in the psych ward. When my mom was in there, she grew a little beard. If that happens to you, I'll come in and shave your beard!" His mother, Linda, has passed away, but I think she'd be proud that her son is ready with a Daisy razor. I've been stable for the past several years, but I am comforted by that promise of support. Our mutual failure with long-term relationships (Scott had made it to three years) is weirdly what makes us both so committed and connected. As they say in 12-step recovery, it's weakness, not strength, that binds us to each other. Scott and I have been moody in front of each other many times, most recently when we moved and he saw me scream for the first time. Over a television placement.

But we talked about what is now called The Regrettable Incident of the Television Placement with our couples therapist the next day and later laughed about it with friends. And Scott has had his own embarrassing emotional lows, too. It's no secret who we are and what our flaws are. I think that's what love is — not having to hide exactly who you are. We got married on March 14, 2015, and have been together for four years, breaking both of our previous records.

[The Roofdog]

On twitter she mentioned a third show then deleted the tweet saying the tickets don't go on sale till Friday.

Also dem Jen Kirkman tickets have finally gone up on the Soho theatre website.

(should we just resurrect the 'US comedians in the UK' thread?)

[hermitical]

does anyone know what the 'Exclusive Access' tickets are? They seem to be the same price as ordinary ones... all that's left for Friday

[Small Man Big Horse]

does anyone know what the 'Exclusive Access' tickets are? They seem to be the same price as ordinary ones... all that's left for Friday

Afraid not, I did try and book them because they were close to the stage but it kept asking me to input a promo code.

[hermitical]

ah ok! Cheers....

[Small Man Big Horse]

On twitter she mentioned a third show then deleted the tweet saying the tickets don't go on sale till Friday.

Tickets are now available for that third show, though it takes place on the 22nd of March again:

https://myticket.co.uk/artists/maria-bamford?utm_source=FB&utm_medium=ad&utm_campaign=MariaBamford&utm_term=FB&utm_content=AdNov17

Also dem Jen Kirkman tickets have finally gone up on the Soho theatre website.

(should we just resurrect the 'US comedians in the UK' thread?)

Thanks for the heads up, I watched her 2015 show last night and have now bought tickets.

[rimbaud]

I saw a very offputting interview with her where she was going on about how brilliant it was paying off her mortgage with the Netflix money.  NOT COOL

[Thursday]

Went off Kirkman after she became an insane Hilarly Clinton zealot and said she believes Bernie Sanders is a Russian chaos agent.

[samadriel]

I saw a very offputting interview with her where she was going on about how brilliant it was paying off her mortgage with the Netflix money.  NOT COOL

...Why not?

[ajsmith2]

Anyone here going to her shows this weekend? Got tickets for Friday the 23rd.

[gmoney]

I'm going on the Saturday. Kirkman was excellent a few weeks ago, whenever that was.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I'm going tomorrow, and can't wait for it. Could well be the highlight of my year.

I also liked Kirkman a fair deal too, I think I did a mini-review somewhere but I'm not 100% sure.

[selectivememory]

I'm going to one of the shows tonight. Very excited, obviously. I haven't been to see any stand-up in years, so getting to see one of the greats in action is going to be a treat I'm sure.

[Thewaddler]

Was at the 9pm show last night. Great warm up from Felicity Ward and then she took it on.

It's extremely hard to put into words what makes her so special but because this is a comedy site, I guess we've got to try, right?

Her material is excellent but it's her performance which is the thing that gets you, I think. She puts her damage and strangeness front and centre so she's always honest but at the same time she's also a really confident, versatile actor, who can switch between characters really well. Also, I found her knockout charismatic. So, you know, pretty intensely good show even the bits she wasn't that pleased to be repeating.

[ajsmith2]

Going tonight!

Which other Cabbammers will be there?

[Small Man Big Horse]

Was at the 9pm show last night. Great warm up from Felicity Ward and then she took it on.

It's extremely hard to put into words what makes her so special but because this is a comedy site, I guess we've got to try, right?

Her material is excellent but it's her performance which is the thing that gets you, I think. She puts her damage and strangeness front and centre so she's always honest but at the same time she's also a really confident, versatile actor, who can switch between characters really well. Also, I found her knockout charismatic. So, you know, pretty intensely good show even the bits she wasn't that pleased to be repeating.

I was at the 7pm show and that's a great summary, and fortunately due to having an age raddled brain whilst I recognised some material I'd forgotten a fair bit as well. Loved her physicality and charm, and I really hope her coming over to the UK is at least a semi-regular thing now.

[The Roofdog]

I was at the 7pm show and that's a great summary, and fortunately due to having an age raddled brain whilst I recognised some material I'd forgotten a fair bit as well. Loved her physicality and charm, and I really hope her coming over to the UK is at least a semi-regular thing now.

God, if she came over every year like Jen Kirkman has been doing that be perfect. I'm going tonight, can't wait.

[notjosh]

Looks like I have a spare ticket for tonight. Anyone interested?

[selectivememory]

Yeah, I enjoyed this immensely. Pretty well summed up by Thewaddler. I felt like there was something even more vulnerable about her stage presence than comes across on her albums or tv appearances. Some of the material was familiar from the Old Baby/20% routines, but there was plenty of new (to me) bits, and it was about a 70/30 split I'd say in favour of the new material.

Thought Felicity Ward was an excellent opening act. The chicken karaoke bit is a stone-cold winner. She has a bizarre physicality to her performance that really elevates the material.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Maria's announced on FB her next tv appearance: http://www.etonline.com/things-get-messy-in-worst-cooks-in-america-celeb-edition-trailer-exclusive-99909 - with her costars being Bronson Pinchot, Ian Ziering, Nolan Gould (the rapey kid from Modern Family), La Toya Jackson, and Oscar Nunez. I for one genuinely can't wait.

[remedial_gash]

Oh yeah, she was on Stuart Goldsmith's com com pod this week - haven't listened yet.