Hey, I want to let you know that in this episode with comedian Maria Bamford, we talk about when she's contemplated suicide and how she got help when she needed it. If you or someone you love is at risk of suicide, please go to Suicide Prevention Lifeline.org to find resources and someone to talk to. There's a link in our show notes too.

My mom said when I, I play the violin starting when I was three years old, and she said,

as soon as I got up on stage, I lit up. And I think that's always been the case for me that I feel good in front of people.

And I think it is the perceived sense of control.

Of course, you have no control at all.

But the idea that I might with a microphone and a light bulb in my face seemed very attractive to me and still does.

This is death, sex, and money.

That's life. Sorry.

The show from WNYC about the things we think about a lot.

You must pay the rent.

But a cat pay the rent.

And need to talk about more. Oh, I'm sorry. Are you speaking to me or sleeping with someone else? I'm Anna Sale.

Maria Bamford is turning 50 this year. She started doing stand-up back in her early 20s in public, but she was working on bits much earlier when she was growing up in Minnesota.

I was a shy kid.

My mom and my sister are kind of the bigger personalities in our family.

My dad would give me a time set at dinner time to talk.

He would set a timer and I'd get three minutes.

Oh, starting like when how old were you? I don't know. at dinner time to talk. He would set a timer and I'd get three minutes. Oh.

Starting like when, how old were you?

I don't, I think maybe seven or eight. I remember the feeling of like, you got to say something

really good right now. Like, you've got to say something like killer. Like, okay, there are

these, okay, Ms. Labadee, fifth grade, she told me about these bodies in Amsterdam that were found

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