Maria Bamford’s confessional style doesn’t hold back, except when it comes to politics

It’s frequently acknowledged in showbiz generally, and comedy circles in particular, that Maria Bamford is one of the funniest people around.

Bamford is a veteran of stage, screen and 10,000 comedy club gigs. Her loopy and confessional style is genuinely unique. She frequently ventures into dark places onstage – talking about her experiences with anxiety, depression and mental health issues – but she always leads her audience through the other side into laughter and light.

It’s a neat trick, and if you’ve never seen her stage act, now’s your chance. Bamford will be performing Thursday at the Carolina Theatre in Durham.

If you can’t make the show, be sure to check out her critically acclaimed Netflix series “Lady Dynamite,” a semi-autobiographical series co-created by Mitch Hurwitz (“Arrested Development”) and Pam Brady (“South Park”). That’s a pretty good pedigree right there, and the show is jammed with all-star comedy guests spots from Tig Nataro, Sarah Silverman, Patton Oswalt, Seth Myers, Ana Gasteyer and Jenny Slate. Season Two is scheduled to premiere Nov. 10.

We talked with Bamford by phone before her Durham show.

Q: Were you into comedy as a little kid?

A: I wasn’t particularly as a really little kid, but I do have happy memories of listening to Steve Martin records with my dad. We would watch “Saturday Night Live” together; that was a fun thing we did as a family. Like everyone, we repeated those jokes all week. We also listened to Eddie Murphy, and I’d repeat those jokes, even though I didn’t know what they meant.

Q: You’re returning to the Carolina Theatre for this show. Do you prefer doing comedy in theaters or clubs?

A: Clubs are kind of fun, because you’re closer to the audience. Part of the excitement of it is that somebody might just go bazooka. We don’t often sit so close to total strangers while eating and drinking and getting intoxicated and at the same taking in these new concepts from the comic onstage. It can really trigger people.

At a recent show, my husband I are were actually in the audience and there was this guy right next to us who was really drunk, and he was making out with this woman. They were older, like in their 60s. I thought it was hilarious. The comic on stage was kind of irritated. My husband was getting mad because this drunk guy was leaning into me. There’s all this stuff going on that just doesn’t happen in theater. It’s psychologically interesting, which I think can be really fun.

But then, in a theater you can really focus as an audience member, you’ll hear things you might otherwise miss. And that’s wonderful too. I think I do better in theaters, generally, because people can listen and focus. You know, I have so many words in my act. (laughs)

Q: Anything you can tell us about the new season of “Lady Dynamite” coming in November?

A: It’s more fast paced, and people are saying it’s more surreal. There’s some science-fiction elements. It’s really fun. My parents are in it.

Q: The story lines in “Lady Dynamite” bounce all around – there are all these flashbacks and meta elements. But as a viewer, I never feel lost. There’s such a craft to pulling that off. Are you involved with this end of things, on the writing level?

A: You know, I wanted the show to acknowledge up front that, yes, this is another standup comedian with a show. I wanted to acknowledge that we’re aware of that. So I would show up at the writers room just to put in ideas on that level. But mostly it’s the work of (series co-creator) Pam Brady and the delightful professional writing staff – all from the Writers Guild, by the way. Live better, work union!

Q: Speaking of which, you’ve never been a political comic, but do you feel a pull these days in that direction, an obligation to go there?

A: Well, my friend Jackie Kashian, who will be my opener in North Carolina, she has a line about that. She says, “I wasn’t a political comic before, but now I have no choice.” I do kind of feel like that.

I’ve never felt that confident with political material, but maybe it’s not important that I feel confident. Because the issues, these days, these aren’t wonky policy issues that you need to know a ton about. These are basic human rights issues. Our president is inciting violence worldwide.

It’s confusing to know what to do. We don’t have a liberal progressive leader. I don’t know if that’s a fear of creating civil war situation, or what. I think it’s important to talk about it. Because everyone has that feeling of, “I’ve marched so many times, I’ve sent a thousand postcards, I’m wearing the T-shirt, and nothing’s changed.”

I feel like total hypocrite, and I do talk about that on stage. I know what I’m supposed to do, and I’m not doing those things. There’s an area between just donating money and actually laying your body down, so that someone else won’t be taken out of the country. I want to get into that in-between area. Like everyone else, I’m trying to figure out what to do. There’s no joke here. As of yet.

This story was originally published September 19, 2017 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Maria Bamford’s confessional style doesn’t hold back, except when it comes to politics."