Maria Bamford is a singular force in stand-up comedy. You can sense she’s striving mightily to maintain a serene, reasonable facade, but her mercurial thoughts and the world’s ridiculousness—from mundane to profound—keep busting through the restraints. Hilarious observations and impersonations gush forth, often through gritted teeth. Bamford’s stream of consciousness swerves in unexpected directions and often gets uncomfortably personal and realer than almost anyone who’s spoken into a mic onstage. Although her act sometimes resembles the late Robin Williams’s, Bamford’s delivery is calmer—and more unnerving. How she alchemizes her grave mental-health issues into comedy gold is a miraculous feat. by Dave Segal