Maria Bamford is launching a revolution from her microphone. In less than two years, Bamford has survived the death of her best friend — her pug, Blossom — and a battle with depression, suicide, and hospitalization. The result: Her stand-up contains some of the most transformative work being done around mental illness and stigma today.
Last Monday, comedian Mike Birbiglia Tweeted, “Saw [Maria Bamford] tonight at Caroline's. I've never seen a comedian who made me want to give 25 standing ovations in one set.” He wasn’t alone.
I have seen Maria Bamford perform for almost eight years, primarily at the now-shuttered Lakeshore Theatre in Chicago. Her act has always been [...]
Something like a little less than one month ago, Patton Oswalt began to tweet his effusive praise of a show very few people had heard of. Like a virus, more and more people on Twitter began to speak the world of it, suddenly discovering that the half hour after Girls Sunday nights on HBO wasn't a test pattern, a talk show talking about Girls that just ends up being a conversation about Lena Dunham, or even a classic episode of Arli$$. Instead, they found a challenging, uncomfortable, intelligent, incredibly nuanced work that wasn't The Wire that is categorized as a "comedy," and featured a bunch of talented comedic actors. [...]
Here's the trailer for the second season of HBO's acclaimed series Enlightened, which debuts on January 13th at 9:30, right after Girls. Created by Mike White and Laura Dern, Enlightened stars Dern as an unhinged woman trying to take down the evil company she works for from the inside. The show also stars Mike White, Diane Ladd, Luke Wilson, and Timm Sharp, with Jason Mantzoukas sticking his head in every now and then. Enlightened flew under a lot of people's radars when it aired its first season last year, but now that it's paired with Girls, you should start watching it immediately because it's real good.
