Maria Bamford is ready to get darkly funny for the Dark Comedy Festival

If you’re aren’t yet familiar with the comedy of Maria Bamford, you soon will be. The Minnesotan has become one of the most acclaimed and original stand-ups over the last several years (Judd Apatow called her “hysterically funny”) and this week the polite and soft-spoken comedian headlines the Dark Comedy Festival, which launches tonight.

We talked to the comedian about dealing with mental illness, her love of pugs and taking a book club vacation in Toronto.

What got you into the world of stand-up?
I always liked making speeches in high school and grade school, and so when there were talent shows in college, I thought, ‘I’ll try stand-up,’ and so how that’s how it happened. I just enjoyed that feeling of being able to say whatever I wanted and making people laugh. It always felt good.

Your act is very performance-based. Why didn’t you pursue acting/theatre full-time instead?
Theatre seemed very serious. I didn’t understand what was happening. I’m not sure if I aways understand acting. It seems you have to take it very seriously… I never want to be too sincere, which is probably not so good. And also with theatre, you had to get along with a whole group of people and that seemed daunting, or you had to get everyone on the same idea. I’m a shy person; I’m not a strong personality in a group, so that seemed hard.

As a shy person, how do you handle stand-up?
At least for me, I’m not shy when I get the opportunity to speak and there’s a level of control to speak and I’m introduced as the person who should be speaking; then it’s my time and it’s my opportunity. My dad would do that for me at the dinner table and give me 30 seconds to speak because my mom and my sister are more chatty and extroverted. It makes a whole lot of sense for a someone who’s shy to do stand-up, at least to me.

In your comedy, you’re very open about the difficult times in your life, like depression and mental illness.
I talk about whatever’s going on in my life, and that’s not really a planned thing. And that’s what was going on so that’s what I talked about. When I was a secretary, I was a secretary for a long time, so I talked about that for a long time. I can’t wait for the next thing to happen so I can talk about that.

A lot of people have asked you about mental illness. Do you ever get tired of talking about it?
No, not at all. It’s my favourite topic to talk about. I have very strong opinions without anything to back it up with.

You’re headlining the Dark Comedy Festival at Comedy Bar. What do you think is dark about comedy?
I don’t know everyone in the festival [but] dark things are some of the funniest things. So maybe people will talk about genocide, national disasters, incest — these are only assumptions. I mean, I assume these topics will be touched on by a few people at least. All comedy is valid. I mean, I have jokes about pot clinics as well. Pot, I suppose, can be a dark subject. Anything can be dark when you think about it.

What about your routine? How will yours be dark?
My current closings are about suicide and what I hope to be suicide prevention material. I open with the idea that there is still so much stigma about getting necessary help, that people would rather kill themselves without going through the process of getting help. People think it’s less dramatic jumping off a bridge than going through the paperwork of in-patient/out-patient therapy and medication problems.

You’ve been to Toronto a number of times before. What do you like most about the city’s comedy scene?
Well, it seems really creative. It seems like most of the comics are. I like people who are word birds, and I feel in Toronto, the comics are super creative. They’re more wordy, more theatrical, and this is only the people I’ve seen. It kinda seems that people like to read up there. And I took a vacation, a book club vacation, in Toronto this summer. It’s called Creative Pursuits: you read a book and you talk about it for a week with other bookworms. So when I think about Toronto, I think about bookworms.

What book did you read?
A History of God. It’s by Karen Armstrong. You could choose from a list of different books. It was a study of all the creeds; of Muslim, Christian and Jewish traditions of gods. It was really interesting. I do like to think in new ways. There was me, and a lot of people over the age of 70, and it was great to hear about other people’s lives and not hear about show business for a week.

Who or what is inspiring you the most right now?
There’s so much inspiration around. In Los Angeles, there are so many real creative and highly motivated people, so it’s neat to see that happening all the time. That’s really inspiring. Sometimes the most inspiring things are friends, people I’m close to, people who are going through things in life and how they continue to do good work and do the best they can and are pleasant and kindly. I think that’s probably more inspiring than anything in People magazine.

You like pugs a lot. Why pugs?
They’re not ashamed about how much they eat. They’re funny and some people are completely disgusted by them and they don’t notice it, but they’re still affectionate and have a great time. It’s like the movie Ratatouille: you can follow your dreams despite people looking at you horrified.

Do you have any new projects coming up?
I’m doing a special. It’s inspired by the Louis CK model. My parents are in it. My special will be shot in my living room with me and my parents. I’m excited about that. I just got a small part in Arrested Development and that’s super exciting and wonderful. There’s always something new that you could never imagine that comes through your mailbox. I’m always excited about new shows and opportunities.

Dark Comedy Festival, Oct. 31 – Nov. 10

Article exclusive to STREETS OF TORONTO