Maria Bamford

Think of her as the hilarious woman with a million voices or the surreal comedian with a million anxieties, standup comedian and voice-over artist Maria Bamford was born on a naval base in Port Hueneme, California but was raised in Duluth, Minnesota. She started performing standup in Minneapolis at the age of 19 and would work temp jobs during the day. One temp job for the Nickelodeon cable television network evolved into a full-time gig performing voices on the popular cartoon CatDog. A big break came in 1999 when she performed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and then in 2004 she joined Zach Galifianakis, Patton Oswalt, and Brian Posehn on the nationwide tour the Comedians of Comedy. A documentary film of the tour followed a year later along with Bamford's debut album, The Burning Bridges Tour. In 2007, she introduced her web series The Maria Bamford Show, which featured numerous characters, but all played by Bamford, and released her sophomore album How to Win. Unwanted Thoughts Syndrome followed in 2009, the same year that the Target chain of stores featured Bamford in their Christmas television campaign playing a bargain-crazed shopper who just must be first in line. A video download of her The Special Special Special -- a show performed with her mom and dad as the only members of the audience -- was released in 2012, while the 2013 album Ask Me About My New God! featured the same material, although this time performed in front of a full crowd. In addition to her standup career, Bamford became a frequent presence on television, landing recurring roles on Word Girl, Fresh Off The Boat, and the 2013 revival of Arrested Development, as well as doing voice work on Bojack Horseman, Adventure Time, and Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness. Despite her busy schedule. Bamford continued performing as a standup, and in 2017 she released her fifth album, 20%, via Comedy Central Records. ~ David Jeffries