Maria Bamford
- Actor and stand-up comedian
Press clippings
Joke Books: 2023's best comedy books
2023 has been an absolute doozy when it comes to comedy books. We list the ones you need to unwrap this December.
Ben Venables, The Skinny, 15th December 2023Comedians on their stand-up heroes
We've done a lot of things in lockdown - followed the news obsessively, become amateur crafters, howled with despair - but laughing hasn't been one of them. Thank goodness, then, for the BBC's Festival Of Funny, celebrating all things comedy. To mark the occasion, we asked some of our favourite comedians to tell us which stand-up they love the most.
Nancy Durrant, Evening Standard, 7th March 2021Stunning portraits of stellar stand-ups
From Ken Dodd and his tickling stick to Nina Conti and her monkey, Guardian photographer Tristram Kenton has snapped a host of superb comedians on stage.
Tristram Kenton, The Guardian, 9th September 2020Comedians' all-time favourite stand-up routines
Top comics pick the routines that make them howl with laughter, from Eddie Murphy on Rocky to Eddie Izzard on penknives and Michelle Wolf on women's worst enemies.
Ben Williams, The Guardian, 6th April 2020Streaming with laughter: 50 best stand-up comedy shows
From Bill Hicks to Hannah Gadsby, Dave Chappelle to Josie Long - here are 50 specials you can watch right now.
Paul Fleckney, Harriet Gibsone, Ellen E Jones, Brian Logan and Graeme Virtue, The Guardian, 22nd February 2020The decade in comedy
Mental health, sexism and watching stand-up through screens.
Tristram Fane Saunders, The Telegraph, 15th December 2019The 50 best comedians of the 21st century
Steve Coogan is the funniest Brit, coming second on the list, with American Tina Fey coming first. Once again, in a mirroring of a Channel 4 poll in 2007, Stewart Lee came 41st.
Hannah J Davies, Paul Fleckney, Harriet Gibsone, Brian Logan and Stuart Heritage, The Guardian, 18th September 2019Review 2018: Best Comedy Gigs 2018
It's not easy to pick out the best gigs from the ones I've seen this year. I've probably seen around 250 comedy shows in 2018.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 31st December 2018The biggest comedy shows to book now for 2018
Including Sarah Millican, Joe Lycett and The League of Gentlemen.
Alice Jones, i Newspaper, 1st January 2018My comedy hero: Felicity Ward on Maria Bamford
The Australian stand-up picks the American comedian and star of her own Netflix show.
Brian Donaldson, The List, 3rd October 2016