Overview
If you've seen Netflix's Lady Dynamite, you'd remember it. One of several comedies on the streaming platform that tackles mental health in a smart and thoughtful way, it's a Maria Bamford vehicle. The comedian didn't create it — South Park alumni Pam Brady and Arrested Development's Mitch Hurwitz are responsible — but she plays a version of herself in the two-season effort that was cancelled before its time.
Plenty of sitcoms feature their lead performers riffing on their own personas, but if you're thinking of Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm or the like, you're not on the right track. In Lady Dynamite, Maria has just spent six months in treatment for bipolar disorder, and no one around her quite knows how to handle her return as she tries to reignite her career — and even that description still doesn't capture how the show swings big, dives deep, and knows how to be both delightfully offbeat and perceptively candid at the same time.
Doug Hyun/Netflix
Bamford is no stranger to tackling mental health in her work, including releasing book Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere! in September 2023. As the name makes plain, it steps through her experiences. It also hit The New York Times bestseller list.
Next, Bamford will take to the stage in Australia, in her first trip this way in more than five years, on a six-stop stand-up tour in July 2024.
Hobart's Odeon Theatre will host Bamford's initial gig on this visit, before she makes her way to Hindley Street Music Hall in Adelaide, then The Tivoli in Brisbane. From there, she's heading down the east coast, playing the Enmore Theatre in Sydney and Melbourne's Palais Theatre. Her last port of call: the Astor Theatre in Perth.
Bamford's career dates back decades, bringing her astute and empathetic comedy to stages and screens. You might've seen her specials Weakness Is the Brand, Old Baby, The Special Special Special and Local Act. You could recall her from Arrested Development, Portlandia and Kroll Show. And you've heard her as well in Big Mouth, BoJack Horseman and Bob's Burgers.
Maria Bamford Australian Tour July 2024 Dates:
Friday, July 5 — Odeon Theatre, Hobart
Tuesday, July 9 — Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide
Wednesday, July 10 — The Tivoli, Brisbane
Friday, July 12 — Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Saturday, July 13 —Palais Theatre, Melbourne
Tuesday, July 16 — Astor Theatre, Perth
Maria Bamford is touring Australia in July 2024 — head to the tour website for further details and tickets, with presales from 9am local time on Wednesday, February 7, and general sales from 9am local time 9am on Friday, February 9.