Maria Bamford's Ask Me About My New God - An Album Review

In recent Louis CK specials, Louis has helped us laugh at the awkwardness of divorce and the grossness of narcissism. Patton Oswalt points fingers at parenthood and religion, while Sarah Silverman stays fairly well focused on race relations and bed-wetting. Mike Birbiglia’s most recent album actually made his sleepwalking disorder interesting, heartbreaking, and oddly hilarious. Tig Notaro, in an unexpected turn at the Largo Theater last year, brought her breast cancer into light and reiterated how vital comedy can be to coping with personal disaster. If comedy accomplishes anything profound or great, it’s this: it teaches us to laugh in the face of unpleasantry, even despair.

And there’s a good chance no one has touched as closely to the void as Maria Bamford. Those familiar with Bamford know her comedy revolves primarily around her bi-polar disorder and her debilitating paranoia. Those unfamiliar with Bamford may not be prepared for her unique approach to comedy, which relies exclusively on character voices, random internal dialogues, and winding explorations of her family’s inability to understand Maria as a fragile teetering being. (In fact, Bamford’s family is extremely supportive of her comedy, as her parents declared by serving as the sole audience for Bamford’s SPECIAL SPECIAL SPECIAL recorded earlier this year in their living room.)

            

As a huge fan of Maria Bamford, I think her newest record – Ask Me About My New God – is her best yet. It’s tough for me not to use words like “genius” or “masterpiece” or “more inspiring than a Soul Surfer / Dead Poets mash-up” when discussing this record, so I’ll just say it’s really super crazy awesome amazing. Here Bamford further tackles her mental instability, as well as her inability to function within her family and society, but she also addresses (at length) her suicidal tendencies and temptations. She even offers profound reasons to stay alive, such as spite. This is not the stuff – depression, anxiety, mental illness, suicide – one expects from the year’s best comedy record, but Bamford is a brave one, revealing all her unwanted thoughts without reserve. As really good comedy should do.