TRANSCRIPT Bullseye with Jesse Thorn: Maria Bamford on her new memior “Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult”

[00:00:00] Music: Gentle, trilling music with a steady drumbeat plays under the dialogue.

[00:00:01] Promo: Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.

[00:00:14] Music: “Huddle Formation” from the album Thunder, Lightning, Strike by The Go! Team—a fast, upbeat, peppy song. Music plays as Jesse speaks, then fades out.

[00:00:22] Jesse Thorn: It’s Bullseye, I’m Jesse Thorn. Maria Bamford is one of the best standup comics in the world, and she has spent a lifetime looking for help. For as long as she can remember, she has dealt with anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and a host of other issues. She’s seen therapists, she’s attended seminars, joined support groups, she’s even called car rental agencies completely out of the blue! Absolutely baffling the agent on the other end. All these challenges, she has managed better lately. But managing the challenges is work, and it’s work that she acknowledges she can’t really do alone. She finds comfort in help, in structured recovery systems—even if the system is designed to help her recover from being a debtor, which she kind of isn’t. She’s found comfort in help from other people, too. The right kind of therapist, the right sponsor. And yes, even the right car rental agent.

So, Maria Bamford wrote a book. It’s called, Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult. In it, she writes about her journey to find mental health and what works for her. She also shares advice for others looking to do the same. And because it is a book by Maria Bamford, who is one of the world’s greatest standup comics, it is also very, very funny. Maria Bamford was kind enough to read a little bit from Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult. This is from a portion where she’s describing one of her more positive romantic relationships, her serious boyfriend from high school.

[00:01:56] Transition: Music swells then fades.

[00:01:57] Clip:

Maria Bamford: Wyden gave me the experience of a friend and a boyfriend, though I never took advantage of us having a friendship by telling him exactly what was going on—OCD thoughts, eating disorder. Who knows, maybe he would have been totally—(chuckling) maybe he would have totally bailed upon hearing about what nightmares were actually really going on in my gorgeous head. Maybe I dodged a bullet. But as far as I gave him an opportunity to be, he was a good pal. He was goofy, but keeping it together, like Jerry Seinfeld.

(Jesse snickers.)

He got a full ride scholarship through undergrad and grad school. And as you know, from everything before this sentence, I eat breakfast from the bottom of my purse. I skim and react to texts. I yell apologies while crashing into your car. I’m fun to watch from a distance in that I give you a sense of superiority.

(They laugh.)

I’m fun. Lots of fun.

[00:02:52] Jesse Thorn: Folks, she is fun. She’s a ton of fun. It’s the great Maria Bamford.

[00:02:55] Maria Bamford: The great Maria Bamford. I did have a great experience of falling in love when I was around 17, because my dad sent me to Dale Carnegie How to Win Friends and Influence People, which gave me the skills or a format to talk to other human beings. And so, I started talking to everybody like it was a video game. And—

[00:03:19] Jesse Thorn: Wait, did he send you to Win Friends and—and again, we’re talking about a regular, adult Win Friends and Influence People?

[00:03:28] Maria Bamford: Yes. 18 weeks in the basement of the Duluth Public Library in downtown, shaped like an oar boat. Me and my dad and then about 12 other small businesspeople in Duluth, Minnesota, who wanted to up their public speaking game or make new connections. And, yeah, it changed my life on some level. Like, I was just—I had a way to talk with people, which I just didn’t know how to do before. And support around it, like people going—I don’t know if you’ve ever read Dale Carnegie. It’s, uh—it’s problematic, but one of the things is you say the person’s name over and over again. Jesse, right? Jesse?

[00:04:16] Jesse Thorn: I learned that one in academic decathlon.

[00:04:19] Maria Bamford: I mean, it’s great, Jesse, because you hear your name and you—

[00:04:22] Jesse Thorn: From Toastmasters, Maria.

[00:04:24] Maria Bamford: (Laughing.) Yeah. Yeah, you hear it. And then, you ask the person about themselves. Everybody wants—the sweetest sound of a person’s ears is the sound of their own name. Plus, you know, everybody wants to talk about themselves. But then, you get the person saying, “Yes, yes, yes.” You know, that’s sort of an advanced concept more for sales, but also can work in dating. And yeah, so eventually I started talking to everybody and I thought, “Why can’t I just talk to this guy I’ve liked for six years?” (Laughs.) And I did. And then, we started dating.

[00:04:58] Jesse Thorn: Maria, was How to Win Friends and Influence People meetings the first meetings?

[00:05:05] Maria Bamford: Yeah, that would be the first kind of concept that I wholeheartedly bought into. But there were two other ones. Christianity, of course, my parents—which was a loose Episcopalianism, which involved—you had to go. Had to go. What I interpreted Episcopalian was that you had to look good. Like, dress up, look nice, because—(chuckles) honey, come on, comb your hair.

[00:05:31] Jesse Thorn: I was raised Episcopalian, as you can probably tell.

[00:05:35] Maria Bamford: Woah! Yes, yeah! We’re readers. Yeah, and it’s a cult, but it’s—yeah, it’s loosely held. You feel you’re like a baby (censor beep) in a diaper. Like it’s—

(Jesse agrees uncertainly and Maria laughs.)

Then, I got into Suzuki violin at the age of three, which most definitely is a cult. And I am sorry, you parents who think you’re doing something good for your children. (Laughs.) Maybe you are. I’ll give you that. Maybe you are.

[00:06:05] Jesse Thorn: Okay. So, what about—one of them is—it’s like “act enthusiastic to—”

[00:06:13] Maria Bamford: (Dramatically.) And you’ll be enthusiastic! Which is true! I mean, it’s also heartbreaking—

(They laugh.)

In that you say, “Wow.” Yeah, I mean, I’m all—I do believe that like positive mental attitude, thinking, all that stuff, that there is something to that. I started having signs of bipolar and depression as a kid, as well as OCD. And I think acting like I was enthusiastic didn’t help. I mean, nobody likes to be around a sad sack. I know—so, in that way, I think it helped me get more social acceptance. And I see that knowing I’m a sad sack, I also have friends who are sad sacks, I get it. It’s tiresome. “Oh, I still feel bad.” What?! You still feel bad?! But in a new way?! Go to hell! (Laughs.) But I already made you banana bread three times this week!

It’s tiresome to be around someone who’s chronically ill. It’s exhausting. (Laughs.) So, get yourself—you know, take yourself out for an ice cream cone and treat yourself like a precious object. But also, yeah, you’ve gotta acknowledge what your real experience is. And so, in that way I find it offensive. (Chuckling.) “Act enthusiastic and you’ll be enthusiastic.”

[00:07:50] Jesse Thorn: I mean, often in your comedy, your comedy has a lot of—I’m trying to remember. I’m trying and failing to remember the phrase in the city paper that described your flitting from character to character.

(Maria chuckles.)

It’s like almost—to an almost concerning degree or something.

[00:08:13] Maria Bamford: Monstrous schizophrenia, which another joke of mine. Schizophrenia is hearing voices. It’s not doing voices. And it’s also—it’s a real illness that is being explored by many comedians now. There are some great comics with schizophrenia out there, which I’m just so—it’s just really wonderful to have people talking about neurodiverse experiences. And you know, from all different races, genders, you know, sexualities. It’s—yay internet.

[00:08:46] Jesse Thorn: I’m not always sure when you’re offering an enthusiastic character. You know, there’s a lot of enthusiastic marketers and business speakers, members of your family.

[00:09:06] Maria Bamford: Yeah. Oh, my mom. My mom. I mean, I always thought she was just lucky, and she got the best. But it turns out, no, she just made it. She just decided like, (exceedingly pleasantly) “Oh, this microphone. Gosh, that’s wonderful. Jesse, where did you get this? It’s just delightful. I mean, you just see how it goes out, and it could be used by a musician or in a podcast, which is—you know, and I know you are—this is one of the top podcasts, and I really appreciate it. I would love to have that. I’m not going to take it with me. I’m not going to put it in my purse, but I would if I could.” (Laughs.)

[00:09:40] Jesse Thorn: But I often think that these people live in the in-between place where their enthusiasm might ring hollow, but it isn’t entirely insincere. And yet, at the same time, neither is it just pure delusion.

[00:10:05] Maria Bamford: No, not at all! Yeah, it’s the—and yeah, it’s just—it’s lovely. Like, I would like to be that person. I would like to be a slow bleed into becoming my mother. Just saying things like, “I love that hat. I really do. And (laughs) I just—I want to ask you where you got it, but I can’t. I will not. I will not do it.”

[00:10:28] Jesse Thorn: I once had about three minutes of interaction with your mother, and it was exactly like that.

[00:10:34] Maria Bamford: (Laughing.) Yeah, I bet! Yeah, just filled with gratitude for whatever was happening right then. Yeah.

[00:10:38] Jesse Thorn: At a community center in Eagle Rock.

[00:10:40] Maria Bamford: Yeah, yeah! Yeah, exactly! (Laughs.) “Honey, it’s your 40th birthday, and you decided to have it at the Eagles Club, and we have no military background, our family. Well, this is fun. This is fun. Good for you, honey. (Heavy sigh.)”

[00:10:58] Jesse Thorn: (Laughs.) Well, I mean, she had a master’s in social work. That’s not nothing.

(Maria confirms and agrees.)

As good a qualification as any to use the Eagles Club in Eagle Rock.

[00:11:09] Maria Bamford: Yeah. No, she was very, very, very positive. Yeah. I have a friend who’s also very positive, who is kind of another character that I’ve used forever with my friend, Amy, who—the first time she saw me, she said, (imitating Amy), “When I first saw Maria, I saw her, and she was at an open mic. And I said, ‘Oh! Well, good for you. You just do what you want to do, I guess.’”

(Jesse laughs.)

“Then I saw her and a few more people were there. And it was like a regular show where people paid. And you know, I was like, ‘Oh, well! Huh! Well, you’re getting better.’ And then, and then, I saw her on television! And there were hundreds of people there! And I said, ‘You’re a star.’” Like—I don’t know. Which that makes me laugh so hard where it’s like the whole—you know, if you see something in the right place, you’ll think it’s amazing. But anything up close and personal is not that interesting.

[00:12:10] Jesse Thorn: We have more to get into with Maria Bamford after the break. Stay with us. It’s Bullseye from MaximumFun.org and NPR.

[00:12:18] Transition: Thumpy synth with light vocalizations.

[00:12:22] Jesse Thorn: Welcome back to Bullseye. I’m Jesse Thorn. I’m talking with Maria Bamford. She’s a standup comic and actor. She starred on the TV show Lady Dynamite. She’s appeared on Arrested Development, BoJack Horseman, and many other television programs. She has a brand-new book out. It’s called Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult. In it, she writes about her experience with mental illness and her efforts to overcome it. Let’s get back into our conversation.

So, you mentioned the struggles that you were going through as a teenager, which were OCD and specifically like disturbing, intrusive thoughts.

[00:13:01] Maria Bamford: Intrusive thoughts, yes. Those are not all the time, but it can depend on whatever the taboo is in your culture. (Chuckles.) So, just think about it. What would be the worst thing it could be? I grew up in the ’80s, so it was gay. Those were the worst things, as well as serial killer. Somehow I thought I would be one of those. Or a pedophile. So, those are my three main focuses, and I’ve never taken action on any of those. In fact, I stood up—would stay up all night and sit on my hands to prevent myself from doing any sorts of monstrous things.

[00:13:40] Jesse Thorn: And we should clarify that while—I’m speaking for you here, but while you’re still opposed to pederasty and serial killing, you’re very pro-gay now.

[00:13:50] Maria Bamford: Yes. And—oh, of course! Yes, no, of course. And the opposite can happen. If you’re—say you’re gay, and then they say, “Oh, but I—what if I’m straight, and I’m lying?” People have OCD about relationships, like “Am I really in love with my spouse? Or am I really attracted to them?” And they kind of check. It’s like this checking, seeing if you’re really, you know—“Oh, I’ve got a—but I’ve got to tattoo myself with their face on top of my face, so they know that I know that they know—” Like, just the obsession.

Whatever it is that you’re fearful about—religious obsessions are very common. Also, it can be problematic, because sometimes you can go to a faith-based therapist, and if you tell them some of the fears that you’re having, they’re also a mandated reporter. So, if they don’t know about intrusive thoughts, they think maybe you’re going to do that. And then, you’ve just paid somebody 75 bucks to call the cops. (Laughs.) Which I have done.

And guess what? The cops never came, because it’s Los Angeles. They’re too busy!

But so, it’s getting more well known. The IOCDF Foundation, International OCD Foundation, has some great resources online that are worldwide and free. And then, there’s another for-profit organization called NOCD, which I have done some advertising for, that you can get teletherapy online. And yeah, when I finally—when I got help when I was 35, it changed my life. Like, within three sessions with an OCD therapist, it was—I was done with it. Like, it was just bizarre how I was like, “Oh, it’s just a thing? It’s just a weird blip in my head?” (Laughs.)

[00:15:32] Jesse Thorn: But at what point did you realize that it was not just a lowercase p problem but a capital P Problem? Like, at what point did you realize that this was something that happened to other people and that there was treatment possible and that you could tell somebody about it and that kind of thing?

[00:15:53] Maria Bamford: Well, you know what’s so sad is that the reason I thought, “Oh, I could get some help for this,” is I had the money. ‘Cause first, I’d gone—I tried to go to a Christian therapist when I was a kid who was very confusing. Oh my god, she gave me so many more obsessions (laughs) to work with. And then, I went to see somebody when I was around 25, who was the person who called the cops. And then, I finally said—I was 35. I was like, “I’ve got—I have a really nice apartment. I’ve got a dog. And I still can’t spend time alone with family or friends?! Like, WTF?”

I googled it, as we always do with healthcare.

[00:16:35] Jesse Thorn: Like, literally, you could—you didn’t—

[00:16:38] Maria Bamford: I had the self-esteem!

[00:16:40] Jesse Thorn: But like at that point in your life, you’re in your mid-30s. You’re already a professional standup comic, you’re doing pretty well. It’s not the—your career still had peaks to grow to, but you were a real successful standup comic. And you could spend about half an hour with somebody that you really liked, that really liked you, before you couldn’t deal with the anxiety of—

[00:17:01] Maria Bamford: No, yeah, not very long, not very long. Like a half hour. And standup is a coping mechanism to connect with people. I have so many endorphins when I’m on stage. I cannot think of those obsessions when I’m on stage. And so, it’s very freeing standup was, as well as a way to connect with people that felt safe. So, yeah, it’s hilarious how it kind of enabled me to finally get help, because OCD therapy is not cheap! It was 300 bucks a pop at that time, which—that’s 15 years ago, 16 years ago. So, I don’t know how much it is now. I think NOCD it’s—I want to say it’s 100 bucks a pop, but then they have sliding scale. And then, IOCDF, you can also go for—they have free groups. But yeah, I think it was just the power of money.

And I think that’s—I can’t imagine that’s not true for many people of like—I really despise the healthcare memes out there that are like, (overly chipper) “Hey, you! Ask for help! Hey, it’s mental health week! Tell someone!” It’s like, who? Who!? Like, what!? (Laughs.) I just—it makes me so mad. But my advice is to call (censor beep) anybody. Call Hertz Rent-A-Car. I called them, South Pasadena, California. They picked up on the first ring. I told this woman what was going on, that I’m taking up too much space in society. I’m no longer, you know, using up valuable resources.

She said, “All I can do is rent you a car.” But then, before hanging up on me, she did say, “You know, I do believe every human life has value. You take care.” So, come on. How’s that not nothing? (Laughs.)

[00:18:53] Jesse Thorn: Hertz tries harder.

(Maria agrees.)

Is that Hertz? I think that’s Hertz.

[00:18:57] Maria Bamford: I mean, I think there are—at least, I felt like an idiot, you know. Like, somehow “Oh, I’m not, I’m not doing it right.” That I’m not getting the help or I’m not getting the right help or—you know, ‘cause that’s the other thing is—and this is especially a thing in Los Angeles. They’ll go, “Oh, you don’t have a psychopharmacologist? Oh, you’ve gotta get this one guy who’s in—he’s only on a helicopter pad in Malibu from 3 to 4AM, and he’s like on retainer, so it’s 10 grand a month, but you—I mean, he gets your meds, so you can work a 15-hour daaay.” Like yeah, that kind of stuff is—I find it so irritating. And also, the fact that the people who are the most inspiring are not celebrities with mental health or health issues. It is people who are making it day to day. How in the heck are they doing it? I don’t—I don’t know.

[00:20:01] Jesse Thorn: You also really had to deal with money issues, which you did largely through Debtors Anonymous.

[00:20:13] Maria Bamford: Yes, yes. Which is free. (Chuckles.)

[00:20:15] Jesse Thorn: But it also—you know, I think the first time I met you and interviewed you, you were a headlining standup comic. And again, not top of the heap, but I’m sure making enough money to eat and live.

[00:20:39] Maria Bamford: Oh, yes! No, for sure. Sure.

[00:20:41] Jesse Thorn: And you were doing temp work during the week.

[00:20:46] Maria Bamford: Yes. Yes! Yes! And that was something that Debtors Anonymous, as any social service program can help you, is like, “How do I learn how to have a job?” I just didn’t know how to have and keep a job. I still am not very good at it. I’ve been fired many times before. But yeah. So, I ended up being a secretary. That was the highest wage I could think of making while it still being bearable. And yeah, I did that for about 10 years while doing standup. Yeah, it’s so—I love temping so much. I know sometimes I suggest it to people, and they’re like, “Mm, I think I’m fine.” And (laughs) but I—yeah, I loved it, because it was—

[00:21:29] Jesse Thorn: I mean, I get the impression that part of the appeal of temping, which you did for many years, was simply that you had to find a way to go do a job.

[00:21:49] Maria Bamford: Yeah, limited eye contact, always different people. Like, so—and task oriented. So, it’s like I just had to do this one task. I didn’t have to, you know, talk with people or—yeah. And then, also the task is over. I’m out. You know?

[00:22:06] Jesse Thorn: There’s a part in your book (chuckling) where you say, “I still sometimes go to sleep with all my business clothes on, so that I don’t have to prepare for work in the morning.”

(Maria confirms.)

And the reason you say that you do that is not because you want to sleep in or, you know,  you’re reliving the trauma of not wanting to sleep in—of wanting to sleep in or something—but simply because it removed one juncture at which you could bail on working.

[00:22:40] Maria Bamford: Have a choice! Yeah. Yeah. It’s like, okay, I already got my shoes on. Already—you know, my hair’s already combed. It’s a little mussed from the pillows, but yeah, I’m ready to go. And yeah, I called the five temp agencies. I assume temp agencies—I just had a friend—I suggested a temp agency. She went, and she got a personal assistant job with a very famous person which paid super well. And I had another friend go with a famous artist, and it can pay really well! And also, you can leave at any point. And I have been fired from many temp jobs before, fired from jobs where they said, “You are never going to work for Warner Brothers again.” The next day would be hired back at Warner Brothers. So, the—yeah, it’s very low stakes. Very low stakes. (Laughs.)

[00:23:36] Jesse Thorn: We’ll finish up with Maria Bamford after a quick break. Writing a book, if you have never done it, is hard. Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult is Maria’s first book, and she’ll talk about the lessons she learned from writing it. It’s Bullseye, from MaximumFun.org and NPR.

[00:23:54] Promo:

Music: Bouncy synth.

Palmira Muñiz: Co-Optober continues in celebration of National Co Op Month. I’m Palmira Muñiz, Producer and a worker-owner at MaxFun.

Jesus Ambrosio: I’m Jesus Ambrosio, Producer, and I’m also a worker-owner at MaxFun. This week is all about community.

Palmira: Of course, we couldn’t be a co-op without the MaxFun community, and we love it whenever members of our audience get together. So, we’re having another MaxFun Meetup this Thursday, October 12th.

Jesus: And next week, we’ll be hosting a panel discussion with other worker-owners across the co-op community.

Palmira: And we are still selling our limited edition launch crew merch, available to all MaxFun members.

Jesus: But only through the end of the month.

Palmira: For more info on Meetup Day and everything, Co-Optober, head to MaximumFun.org/cooptober.

Jesus: That’s C-O-O-P-T-O-B-E-R. Have a great week!

(Music fades out.)

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[00:24:48] Jesse Thorn: I’m Jesse Thorn. You’re listening to Bullseye. My guest is Maria Bamford. She’s one of the best standup comics in the world. She just released a memoir. It’s called Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult.

Maria, everyone that I have ever had a casual conversation with about writing a book who is not a full-time professional book author—or at the very least a prolific magazine writer—has told me that writing a book was the hardest thing they’ve ever done. And not worth it. (Laughs.)

[00:25:27] Maria Bamford: Really?!

[00:25:29] Jesse Thorn: Or at the very—at the minimum, not financially worth it.

[00:25:33] Maria Bamford: I wonder if that’s the problem, is not reading the contract, because that’s what I did. I did not read the contract. I just saw the overall number, which I will tell you, is 150,000. Whaaaat?! Oh my god. (Garbled noises.) I’m trying to make a cartoon eyes with my lips.

[00:25:48] Jesse Thorn: Right, no, I see the dollar signs in your eyes, yeah.

[00:25:52] Maria Bamford: So excited. They send you a third of it up front, so that’s like $44,000. Oh my god, so exciting. But so afraid to write a book. I say, “I gotta hire an editor. (Mumbling.)” I paid all that money to editors to help get me to write the book. So then, what I didn’t read in the contract is that your book isn’t done, not when you say it’s done. It’s done when the publishers say it’s done. Which means a long, long time. That means, for me, four years after I initially started writing it. Which good to know that the publishers have extremely high standards (chuckling) that I would not meet until four years later.

So, that was fascinating. Again, I should have read the contract. Then, the next time you get—the last bit of money is when it comes out as a soft cover, which I assume is two years from now. So, you’re getting $150,000 over six to seven years. And if you’re not very good at writing, then you’re getting a lot of feedback that’s sometimes like a cold splash of water in your face of like, (desperately) “But I’ve—my mother said I was so talented!” And they’re not—they’re trying to say it in a nice way, because they would like you to finish the book. They would really like you to finish it. Yeah, it was—

[00:27:17] Jesse Thorn: You did finish it.

[00:27:18] Maria Bamford: (Cheering.) I did! I DID! I FINISHED IT! (Laughs.)

(Returning to calm.) But yeah, yeah, it was—I thought that was fascinating. ‘Cause I’ve read so many authors biographies. Like Poe, it’s—all the depressing poets, the ones from the ’40s and ’50s who, you know, killed themselves by alcohol or on purpose. And they were always asking about money. They’re always like, “Listen, I know it’s six years in, but if you could just, uh, you know, just kind of skirt me like maybe 600 bucks until the end of February.” Everybody’s just—it’s all about money. And it was true. That was something I did think about.

What I should have done is just started writing the book myself, not gotten anybody—paid any editors until I knew what the book was about and paid myself, so I didn’t have to go out on the road. But oh well! You live and learn.

[00:28:16] Jesse Thorn: And I mean, you went out on the road and did your extraordinary art and touched people’s lives. So, it’s not a full loss that you did that.

[00:28:29] Maria Bamford: One of my favorite things that artists sometimes say they’ve been canceled is, “I mean, what else am I going to do?! This is all I’ve been doing for 30, 40—all I’ve been doing is comedy for 30, 40… what else could I do?” Almost anything!

(Jesse laughs.)

If you can lean, you can clean. Yeah, I’m qualified for so many jobs. So many. I’m not saying I would do them well. You’d be irritated if you had to work with me.

[00:28:59] Jesse Thorn: But sometimes it’s surprising what it takes to get fired.

[00:29:03] Maria Bamford: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. No, they didn’t—well, that was the other thing. “Oh, you have to give all the money back.” Which I did not realize. So, it was—

[00:29:10] Jesse Thorn: From the book contract.

(Maria confirms.)

If you don’t write the book.

[00:29:13] Maria Bamford: Or if they reject the book that you’ve written.

[00:29:16] Jesse Thorn: And you don’t get to deduct expenses when you’re—no.

[00:29:19] Maria Bamford: No, no, no, no, no. So, at one point I could have been—presumably, I sort of was—$50,000 in the hole to have written a book. You know, it was almost like I was going to graduate school to… Anyways, very funny, in retrospect. So glad it’s over. And I’m very proud of it. I think it’s pretty good.

[00:29:45] Jesse Thorn: Maria, do you know that thing that people say now? It’s sort of like—it’s almost like when people used to sign off on the phone by saying “peace”. I don’t know if that ever happened to you. Maybe I had a more urban peer group.

[00:30:00] Maria Bamford: Yeah. (Laughs.) “Peace”, that’s funny.

[00:30:01] Jesse Thorn: But now I feel like a lot of people in my life say, “I appreciate you,” you know?

(Maria “aw”s.)

And it can feel a little cliched, but I sure do appreciate you, Maria.

[00:30:14] Maria Bamford: No, Thank you so much. No, and I appreciate you, and—(stammers) yes.

[00:30:17] Jesse Thorn: And I’m not asking for you to appreciate me, I’m just saying how much I appreciate you and really admire you too. So, thank you for coming back on Bullseye. I’m really happy to see you again.

[00:30:29] Maria Bamford: (Whispering.) Thank you for having me.

[00:30:30] Jesse Thorn: Maria Bamford, everyone! Maria’s book, Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult, is a must-read for fans of her comedy and for anyone who has dealt with mental illness. If you haven’t seen Maria Bamford perform standup, you are absolutely in for a treat. Even if it’s—I mean, just type it into your video apps. Just type “Maria Bamford” in. She’s literally the best in the business, one of the funniest human beings that’s ever lived.

[00:30:56] Transition: Relaxed, brassy synth with a steady beat.

[00:30:59] Jesse Thorn: That’s the end of another episode of Bullseye. Bullseye is created from the homes of me and the staff of Maximum Fun, in and around greater Los Angeles, California. Here at my house, we’re putting some awnings on the windows. Little passive energy savings.

Our show is produced by speaking into microphones. Our senior producer is Kevin Ferguson. Our producers are Jesus Ambrosio and Richard Robey. Our production fellow at Maximum Fun is Bryanna Paz. We get booking help from Mara Davis. Our interstitial music is by DJW, also known as Dan Wally. Our theme song is “Huddle Formation” by the band The Go! Team. Our thanks to The Go! Team. Our thanks to their label, Memphis Industries Records.

Bullseye is on Instagram, @BullseyeWithJesseThorn. I hope you will follow us there, see behind the scenes pics, and see how we do and why we do what we do, and hear clips from episodes. And we’re having a lot of fun there on Instagram. And I think that’s about it. Just remember, all great radio hosts have a signature signoff.

[00:31:58] Promo: Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.

(Music ends.)

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