‘Why did Americans decide to elect a dictator for a second time?” a freshly post-somersaulted Maria Bamford asks her audience. One word: money. In her new show, soon to embark on a tour around North America, she digs into the seductions, benefits and complications of cash for herself, her friends and the anxious culture that surrounds them. Despite inheriting what she calls “generational wealth” after the early deaths of both her parents, longtime presences in her act, Bamford still approaches the world with a fundamentally economic mindset.
That’s the idea on paper. In practice, Bamford has never been one for clean narrative arcs. Instead, she draws us in with bursts of manic physical expression: she runs in tiptoed circles before dropping fully outstretched to the floor, all while holding the mic. Bamford is a comedian in complete command of every joke, every step.
