New York Comedy Festival: Maria Bamford at Town Hall

Comedian of Comedy and actress Maria Bamford took the stage at Comedy Central’s New York Comedy Festival this past weekend at Town Hall NYC. Known for openness in her material about depression, she’s also been seen in Target commercials, on season four of Arrested Development and countless other TV shows and specials. Starting off the night was Joyelle Nicole Johnson. As someone who is pretty familiar with most comics, it’s always a pleasure finding a stand-up you’ve never heard of before destroy a room. Joyelle is going to be a household name soon as she put on one of the best performances I’ve seen in a while. Her material ranged from topics of having a deadbeat doctor dad to being a college graduate that had a pee bucket because her roommate would always lock her out of the bathroom and much more. Make sure to check out Joyelle if she’s ever close to your city because you will not be disappointed.

Next up came the one everyone was waiting for. As Joyelle introduced Maria she bowed in appreciation, which is what we all should do in the presence of comedy greatness. For the first half of the set Maria did some of her recent signature material adding in the voices we all know and love. She spoke about her new romance, a ceramic dog she painted for her father, how all of her Hispanic neighbors hate her, her rooster dress and much more. The second half of the set was a little more surprising, if you can believe that. After trying some new material, she transitioned into the topic of depression telling the crowd a story about the death of her dog and how her world spiraled out of control. She ended the night urging people against suicide stating that for whatever bad someone has done in the world, someone else has done worse, got out of it and now has a book deal. After the show, she made time for fans and closed off another night of a power packed New York Comedy Festival with laughter as well as meaning.