Comedian Maria Bamford to perform at The Center for the Arts on Aug. 4

The Center for the Arts is pleased to present comedian Maria Bamford in the Marisa Funk Theater on August 4, 2023. Maria Bamford is a comedian’s comedian (an outsider among outsiders) and has forever fought to find a place to belong. From struggling with an eating disorder as a child of the 1980s to navigating a career in the arts (and medical debt and psychiatric institutionalization), she has tried just about every method possible to not only be a part of the world but to want to be a part of it. Maria is revered for her deeply personal and experimental comedy about mental illness. She starred in the surreal, semi-autobiographical Netflix comedy series Lady Dynamite, about a comedian who suffers a nervous breakdown. She was deemed Breakout Comedy Star at Just for Laughs, and her critically acclaimed work includes her stand-up specials Weakness Is the Brand, Old Baby, and Maria Bamford: The Special, Special, Special! 

Maria was the first female comic to have two half-hour Comedy Central Presents specials and starred alongside Patton Oswalt, Zach Galifianakis, and Brian Posehn in the Comedy Central series The Comedians of Comedy and Netflix’s Comedians of Comedy: The Movie. For her mental health advocacy, she’s been presented with The OCD Foundation’s Illumination Award and featured at the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium, The Chautauqua Institution, and the Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy and Ethics Symposium.

Maria’s writing has been featured in The New York Times, LA Weekly, and more. She is the author of the audio original You Are (A Comedy) Special. In Bamford’s signature voice, her new memoir available in September of 2023, Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult, brings us on a quest to participate in something. With sincerity and transparency, she recounts every anonymous fellowship she has joined (including but not limited to: Debtors Anonymous, Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, and Overeaters Anonymous), every hypomanic episode (from worrying about selling out under capitalism to enforcing union rules on her Netflix TV show set to protect her health), and every easy 1-to-3-step recipe for fudge in between.

Singular and inimitable, Bamford’s memoir explores what it means to keep going and to be a member of society (or any group she’s invited to) despite not being very good at it. In turn, she hopes to transform isolating experiences into comedy that will make you feel less alone (without turning into a cult following).

Maria is often recognized for her prolific voiceover work, including characters on Big Mouth, BoJack Horseman, Summer Camp Island, Adventure Time, Talking Tom and Friends, Bob’s Burgers, Legend of Korra, Puss in Boots, CatDog and PBS’s Emmy-winning series Word Girl. She also created and starred in the cult hit web series The Maria Bamford Show, where she plays all the characters. Maria played DeBrie Bardeaux on Netflix’s Arrested Development and recurred on the ABC hit series Fresh off the Boat. She is the 2014 winner of the American Comedy Award for Best Club Comic. Maria’s late-night appearances include CONAN, The Tonight Show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Maria Bamford is guaranteed to make you laugh at The Center for the Arts on August 4, 2023. Opener Becky Lynn will be warming up the room with her uniquely hilarious interpretations of life with a dark, but charismatic style that is dry, but highly engaging. Special thanks to the show sponsor Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley.

Since 2000, The Center for the Arts, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization, has grown into a leading presenter of music, dance, theater, comedy, literary and visual art, and family programming, offering more than 150 events per year from its location in downtown Grass Valley. The Center recently completed a major renovation of its multiuse, 21,000-square-foot facility in downtown Grass Valley, making it a premier performing arts destination. The venue includes the Main Stage, which accommodates up to 492 guests in configurable theater seats and up to 700 patrons for dance shows, and a 90-seat studio theater.