Maria Bamford

Weakness Is The Brand

Comedy Dynamics, A Nacelle Company

The latest Maria Bamford comedy special is available on VOD services as well as an audiobook file or a CD/Mp3 – she was canned from Netflix after her last special and the two seasons of Lady Dynamite didn’t quite do the numbers – but this is easily her best comedy special to date. She’s an absolute tour-de-force and in flying fine form here. I always prefer the Bamford specials in audio formats, or at least return to them for audio after watching, because her voice work is so – so – good and the quick-change aspect between her accents and voices really seems to ‘pop’ when listening only. It’s as if you can see it coming with some of the facial gestures to concentrate on – little clues.

So, anyway Weakness has always been Bamford’s Brand – that’s what she reckons here. And compares herself and her comedy to a small-business owner with a Yelp account, mostly agreeing with the negative reviews. She loves a two-star experience.

You can’t help but want the best for Maria Bamford. That’s because we know about her breakdown, the mental illnesses she’s grappled with have informed all of her previous comedy specials and her TV show/s – she’s worked hard for peace and self-awareness and has them both and is still making them profitable and hilarious too. This really is no mean feat.

Here she subtly pokes at woke culture and White Women experts. Makes the most killer bad/great suicide joke and generally slays the stage with joke-on-joke ninja execution. Again, I prefer the audio format for taking in all of the one-liners and final joke round-offs.

Bamford’s one of the very best. And this is her best work to date. It’s also her straightest comedy special to date; where previously she’s performed to an audience of two (her parents) and filmed herself on the couch with her dogs or in a bowling alley, or performed what is very much a one woman show over a stand-up gig this – finally – is just a stand-up comedy show at a small/medium theatre. Oh, but it’s more than just a show. It’s knockout, virtuoso stuff.
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