Let's go see some comedy!

My first foray into doing "LA" things involved going to a comedy show. I liked it so much I went to another one this week. Comedy wasn't really on my list of things to do. I've never really been a big stand-up fan. Let me clarify, I'm not a fan of blue stand-up and that seems to dominate. But what I've discovered is there are actually comedians out there who are "clean" and super funny. You just have to look for them.

Thanks to a brief plug by Judd Apatow in the LA Times back in November ("Comics on Comics"), I discovered the comedy of Maria Bamford. If you look closely, you may recognize her as the crazy Target lady from the black Friday ads. Even if you were annoyed by that particular ad campaign, I encourage you to give her a shot because that's the least funny thing I've seen her do (although I personally find the Target lady hysterical).

Through the magic of the Internet and Twitter, I learned that local comedians put on shows practically every night of the week. And they're super cheap! I guess it's a chance for them to perfect their jokes and/or delivery before actually performing for a paid audience. I went to a show in the back of a comic book store last week for the low, low price of $8. And this week, I went to one that was completely free. Granted, for such a low price, you have to take the good with the bad. But I was really only there to see Maria Bamford, so it was well worth it for me.

I'm posting some of her bits below. The first is her performing on Craig Ferguson and the following two are my favorite jokes she does. Fair warning, there is a curse word in the second clip. If you like funny things, I encourage you to check her out. If not, just sit tight and maybe my next post will be something that interests you more.