Maria Bamford Quotes

I decided that instead of apologizing for having a lot to say, I wanted to create a format where people would come to hear me sing and speak.

To me, writing is a matter of voice. I think like that. The expression I sometimes use to myself is 'actual song.' That what I do is somewhere on the line between speaking to you as I am now and actual song. And the things I love when I say one of those poems to myself - it's a little bit like singing, it's a little bit like speaking.

Reading a poem aloud to an audience is gestural as much as precise.

In fifth grade, we had to write a story and read it in front of the class. When I read mine out, the class were just belly laughing. And I remember being like, 'This is the coolest!' So I want to dedicate my life to trying to make people laugh. I can't imagine doing anything else.

Spoken word poetry is the art of performance poetry. I tell people it involves creating poetry that doesn't just want to sit on paper, that something about it demands it be heard out loud or witnessed in person.

I like the performing. And interviews, even. And the stuff that's not sitting in a room by yourself with empty paper. But I never loved writing, to tell you the truth.

Getting on stage is a bonus, that's my therapy, that's when I can tell stories and it all makes sense.

Whether it means having a show, or a movie, or just being on a stage, I need an avenue to say what I have to say.

I enjoy my public speaking. That's what I love doing. It's what I'm good at.

If the only reason to be on stage communicating with people is to tell them a joke and make them laugh, that seems thin for me. That has a place - I don't think it should stop happening - but for me, I don't know. I just don't.

The actual act of writing brings me such pleasure - to tell stories, to engage in cultural criticism, to reflect, to question, all of it is invigorating.

As thrilling as it was, speechwriting is ultimately frustrating for someone who wants to be a writer.

I'm kind of shy, and I think that I take that out by performing in front of a lot of people. That's how I get out my shyness.

I write things in my house, and hopefully there's a reader out there who enjoys it and has an experience with it, but that's very different than a performer on stage, where there's an immediate dance with the audience. It's incredibly powerful.

I think stories get better the more people try to amuse themselves.

I read my books to writing workshops and friends, and I'm often focussed just on keeping them entertained. I never think about marketing at all.

I love doing theater so much - being in front of an audience and seeing how a character grows and develops with every performance.

Composers, like authors, have a lot in common. Our main goal is to connect with the listener emotionally.

Experience has shown me that standing by oneself reading from one's book isn't especially compelling - unless you're David Sedaris.

I've always been compelled by some force to be a performer.

Having worked as both comedian and crime writer, the one thing I know is that both involve the delivery of a performance.

Stand-up will always be my first love, and it has been the primary way I've expressed myself since I was 17.

I love acting, but music is so much more rewarding because it's more personal.

This is my life - I want to tell stories. There is something huge inside me that pushes me to tell stories, and tell stories for an audience and everybody.

I just like to write and then perform.