00:00You just don't know whether something's happening or not, and I was thinking, oh, well, that was cool.
00:04I got a free Caesar salad. Awesome.
00:06And then I went to some voiceover, and Ted Sarandos happened to be there, and he's like, well, congratulations on the show.
00:13Excited to be working with you. And I'm like, show business.
00:18So, you know, they don't tell you when it's canceled. They don't tell you when he got it, you know, which is very funny.
00:24Maria, do you remember when, like, what was the first thing you did that you started to notice, like, the outside attention on you?
00:37Well, my mom set me up to play the violin as a kid, so I started at the age of three, and I loved being on stage.
00:45Like, I just, I didn't really want to play the violin, but I just was like, here I am, you know, and, and, um,
00:54but attention is, of course, an addiction, and then you just, it grows over time, and it keeps you in, keeps you on the pipe in the pole, and then you, uh,
01:04yeah, I kept playing until I was, like, around 19 or 20, and, yeah, so, uh, but, but then first laughs, I think, was within my family, getting laughs.
01:16Yeah, that makes sense.
01:17So, something that I really enjoyed about the documentary was that the opening where you guys are, you're having still conversations, sort of, about doing a documentary, and you showed that in the beginning, but what was, I assume those were obviously far into conversations you had before of you guys suggesting, or no, was that, that was?
01:36Not, not many.
01:37Wow, okay.
01:38He texted me the day before and said, you want to do this?
01:41I said, yeah, for 500 bucks, and then they showed up.
01:44And the next day was what I see.
01:46Yes.
01:47Incredible.
01:47Yeah.
01:48Um, had you guys been talking, like, how long had you guys been talking about it before the text came through?
01:54One very short phone call.
01:55Yeah.
01:56Wow.
01:56Yeah.
01:57What was it?
01:57Judd said, what do you, Joe, what do you think of Maria?
01:59She's great.
02:01We want to make a talk about her.
02:02Let's see if she'll do it.
02:03Okay, let's go to her house and bring your camera and we'll just start.
02:06And that's exactly what happened.
02:07A similar thing happened with the Avett Brothers documentary, which was, Gary Shanley said to me,
02:15you should, you should get to know Rick Rubin.
02:17I think you guys would get along.
02:18And I got to know Rick Rubin and he said, you know, I'm about to record an album with the Avett Brothers.
02:24I don't know, maybe you want to shoot something because life is better when you're around them.
02:29And so we followed them around for like two years with no idea of the story.
02:33And, and then it turned into this really cool documentary.
02:36So I thought, oh, let's, let's try that again with Maria.
02:40And it worked again.
02:41At what point did you start to like click into what the story was on this one?
02:47Well, I, so in the beginning we did do a cut of just her material.
02:51Like it's obviously very biographical and that worked.
02:54And I think it was probably halfway through.
02:56We brought in James Lesh and Judd was like, just start cutting.
03:00Even if it's terrible, just start doing it.
03:02And so we kind of found our way during that process.
03:05But that was about a year and a half of just kind of like feeling things around or feeling around for the story.
03:10But when, once we brought James in, it sort of like took on a life of its own.
03:15Part of it was like, we thought, oh, this will be the history of Maria.
03:18And then as we were shooting, so much happened in her life that it became halfway through a fly on the wall type documentary.
03:27Maria, what did, when the, when the text came in, what kind of, what were you envisioning for what the doc would be versus what, what wound up happening?
03:34I don't know, you know, I mean, I, I mean, if show business is so, uh, yet, you just never know what's going to happen or not happen.
03:47And so I was like, well, uh, you know, if we just do this for one day and then nobody, everybody loses interest, that's okay.
03:54Uh, cause that happens, of course, all the time.
03:58Um, uh, yeah.
04:00So I, I just have been delightfully surprised that, uh, these guys put so much effort and, uh, work into something that I think it's very beautiful.
04:12Yeah.
04:12Very nice.
04:13Had anybody asked you previously to do a documentary about you or were they the first?
04:17And you said no.
04:17Yeah.
04:18Yeah.
04:18And they, they just, yeah, they wanted to, they didn't have,
04:24they didn't have money to pay me and I was just like, they didn't have 500, they didn't have 500 or a banana.
04:30And, uh, yeah.
04:32And I was just like, Hey man, I'm old, you know, we're in the back nine.
04:37I don't want to be filmed unless there's a, you know, some sort of delightful, uh, uh, monetary, uh, amount.
04:45You demanded Melania Trump money.
04:48I did.
04:49You said, if I don't get $40 million.
04:51And I want dermabrasion and I want blading of my face.
04:58And I want wigs.
05:01You got the salmon sperm treatment.
05:04Salmon sperm.
05:05That's the new cutting edge.
05:07I'm also now.
05:08How do you think I look like this?
05:10I'm now realizing in real time.
05:11Cause I thought watching it that you always just have that much cash on you, but that you brought that.
05:16Cause you have to put your rent.
05:16I had to go to the bank and get $5,000 in ones.
05:20Which was one of the, I mean, really, I mean, it's a great gift, but giving somebody ones is just when they're all in those little, uh, little shirts, they put them in little paper shirts.
05:32They're brand new.
05:33Brand new.
05:34Smells so good.
05:34When was the first time that you watched it?
05:37The full version.
05:38At the premiere last night.
05:40Yeah.
05:40Yeah.
05:41I mean, cause it is nerve wracking cause you go, okay, but, uh, calm down, you know, like, so, but, but also like it doesn't, it's okay.
05:52It's great.
05:52You know, except the, the lovely things.
05:56Cause there's certainly plenty of people who say horrible things.
05:58So, yay.
06:00We cut that out.
06:01Cut that out.
06:02It seems like everybody you asked said yes.
06:04Yeah.
06:04And you didn't interview any of my ex-boyfriends.
06:08Did you try?
06:11No.
06:11No, everyone, everyone was thrilled to be in it.
06:13I mean, very happy to do it.
06:15It was not, I mean, Judd set up most of the interviews cause they're all his friends, but no one was difficult to get.
06:20And we got Zach Galifianakis.
06:21He doesn't do stuff like this.
06:22Yeah.
06:23That was a good one.
06:24I mean, I thought the Ted Sarandos was cool.
06:26Just cause like he was talking, it was such a cool side of him that I wouldn't imagine.
06:31Well, he's a real comedy nerd.
06:33Yeah.
06:33And I think that's maybe his favorite part of the whole business.
06:36And Maria is his favorite comedian.
06:39And that was his favorite project too.
06:41Didn't it?
06:42Is that when he said that?
06:42Yeah.
06:43Hilarious.
06:44And yeah, yeah.
06:46I remember when they, I didn't know we had pitched the show, uh, Mitch and myself and he did most of the pitching.
06:53I just did characters.
06:54You know, you just don't know whether something's happening or not.
06:57And I was thinking, oh, well, that was cool.
06:58I got a free Caesar salad.
07:00Awesome.
07:01And then, then I went to some voiceover and Ted Sarandos happened to be there and he's like, well, congratulations on the show.
07:08Excited to be working with you.
07:09And I'm like, show business.
07:12So, you know, they don't tell you when it's canceled.
07:15They don't tell you when he got it.
07:16You know, which is very funny.
07:19Is there one thing that like when people come up to you and tell you they're a fan or whatever, is there like something that gets quoted back to you of your material the most?
07:26I think my mom, uh, that mom would, she would say, when you don't wear makeup, you look mentally ill.
07:32And so then now I wear thick green eyeshadow and, uh, lined lipstick around my, like, lips.
07:40Baby, look pretty now, mommy.
07:42Baby, look pretty now.
07:43Because it's the most common one.
07:46Yeah.
07:46Yeah.
07:46A whole bit.
07:47Yeah.
07:47Does everyone do it in that?
07:48They go, baby, look pretty now.
07:50Yeah.
07:50Yeah.
07:51Um, yeah.
07:52Yeah.
07:53Has, after the Target commercials, do you get approached by other huge corporations?
07:58No, not at all.
07:59No.
08:00And, and also I, after that, and I don't think anyone would have asked me, but I don't do commercials or any advertising anymore because I cannot be trusted.
08:10I will shit talk any.
08:12Is that still, that's a standard clause, I guess, when you're doing.
08:15Oh, yeah.
08:16Yeah.
08:16The no shit talk clause.
08:17There's no way.
08:18No shit talk, or no talking about the industry itself, or, you know, no saying, I'm a union member.
08:24Why can't, uh, the Target team members be a union, you know, like, yeah, there's nothing.
08:29Well, I think you, uh, made the right choice.
08:32Isn't Target like a, where they station all the ICE troops these days?
08:36Oh, yeah.
08:36The PR has gotten much worse than when they're just, what they were doing.
08:39You were ahead of your time for bailing.
08:41Well, thank you very much.
08:43You dodged a bullet.
08:43What is a note?
08:45Either, I guess it could be from a director, it could be from a studio, or it could be a note that you give.
08:52Like, what don't you want to hear again?
08:54Can we pace this up?
08:56Pace this up.
08:57Can we dumb it down so if someone is on their phone looking at X and talking to Grok, they still understand the story because the story is so simple that they can understand it without actually listening.
09:17Yeah, or, or, or, every five minutes can someone say, this is a documentary about Maria Bamford.
09:24Just those, that language, so they know they're...
09:26Like a public radio reset in case anyone's just turned on the car.
09:29Oh, my way.
09:30Get the CC.
09:31Oh, my God, that's insane.
09:33I think, I think, yeah, sometimes I've been told I'm too over the top as a, as an, as an actor.
09:43Yeah, take it, take it down a notch.
09:47Why?
09:49Why take it down?
09:52Yeah, so that, that's, yeah.
09:54And lastly, what is your, what has been or was your most feasible backup plan career-wise at any point in your life?
10:02I just trained to be a 9-1-1 operator for, or not, I'm sorry, 9-1-8 operator for Suicide Highlight.
10:11And you can get 25 bucks an hour to do that.
10:13And, yeah, get a certificate, get out there.
10:17But, yeah, I always think, I like to, I like to think of different jobs that I can do.
10:22And I'm fairly good as a personal assistant.
10:25I did it for many years.
10:27And I'm not the greatest, but I'll do it in a pinch.
10:32Do you have a backup?
10:34You know, I like being a busboy at El Chorito.
10:38Jorge said I was one of his best.
10:40And I enjoyed that more than a person should enjoy such a job.
10:44I just thought it was fun to, like, try to say something amusing to every table all night long, just for myself.
10:50Just to be really, like, the obnoxious, chatty busboy.
10:55That's wonderful.
10:56That's a good one.
10:57I have friends with, like, properties and stuff.
11:00And there's been days where you go out and clear trees and brush.
11:02And I do think I could be a guy who runs land if it's a job.
11:07Land man.
11:08Land man.
11:08Way clear tree.
11:10Billy Bob Thornton land man.
11:11It's like manual labor, but I'm not good at manual labor.
11:14So I probably wouldn't be good at it.
11:15But I fantasize it.
11:16A supervisor.
11:17I could be a guy that works with my hands.
11:20Yeah.
11:21Yeah, I can't do that.
11:22Viable options.
11:22I like it.
11:23Well, thank you guys so much for coming and chatting.
11:25And I appreciate it.
