Her coauthor and husband, Scott Marvel Cassidy, is at the dentist for an emergency root canal, so Maria Bamford and I push ahead. Decades after establishing herself as one of standup's sharpest -- and funniest minds -- she's trying her hand at yet another medium. In June, Fantagraphics released Hogbook and Laser Eyes, a collaboration between Bamford and Marvel Cassidy that recounts their meeting, marriage and lives through the eyes of their beloved elderly rescue pugs.
Maria Bamford 0:15
Yes, I feel so Scott is he's at the dentist right now, and having, I think he's getting the caps put on today, but it's, it's serious, it's, it's real and it's serious, but I'm sure, I know he would love to be here, but he's under anesthesia.
Brian Heater 0:40
I had a similar situation a year ago where I put it off for too long, and then they find that one thing, and then all of a sudden they're just sticking around in there,
Maria Bamford 0:49
right, yeah, right. Like, he's just like, oh, oh no, but thank God. Yeah, we have, we have a dentist, and also we're able to pay for, pay for it for the most part. So that's
Brian Heater 1:09
great. Yeah, that's not a certainly, not in what either of you do for a living. Is that any kind of given? Yeah,
Maria Bamford 1:16
yeah, no. We're very, very, very lucky. Let's look like Lucky, lucky ducks.
Brian Heater 1:21
Whose insurance are you under?
Maria Bamford 1:24
We're under, well, because I'm in a union, we're under that one, which is awesome, is that sag, sag and because it's but it is a sad thing. It is based on how much you earn. So that that is, I'm sure that's problematic in some social justice way, so, but I'm grateful to have insurance for sure. As as anybody is you feel
Brian Heater 1:55
bad because you're earning a certain amount. Well,
Maria Bamford 1:59
it's like everybody deserves to have health care. So, so it shouldn't matter. Shouldn't be based on whether you're a part time employee, or full time or any of the things. I think that's not, doesn't seem good for but for all, for all in general, for just in terms of, like, if you want the world to be a pleasant place, does you want everybody be doing okay? But yeah, yeah, I don't know what to do about the world.
Brian Heater 2:41
I was having a similar conversation with with somebody the other day. Specifically, I write about technology as my main job. I work at a site called TechCrunch, and I talk to a lot of venture capitalists, yes, and you try to have these conversations about, hey, you know, maybe everybody should be able to, at bare minimum, make a living making art, and it just doesn't. It just doesn't penetrate for a lot of people, I think,
Maria Bamford 3:10
or Yeah, or that everyone said, Yeah, I don't know. Because I'm a small business owner. I have a S corp, and, you know, I pay my employees. Well, I have a bunch of 1099, employees. And you know, they think the least I pay someone, which is our person, who comes with our housekeeper. I pay her $90 an hour. And I think, you know, like, if I can pay, you know, I'm saying, like, what's the deal with people not like McDonald's? Why can't they pay more than like? I don't understand that part of business where it's like, but if like, they'll say, oh, no, we can't possibly afford and I guess I understand it for food service, that the the margins are really low. Um, but anyway, I don't understand business very well, so I'll just keep that to myself. I
Brian Heater 4:10
think the margins are really low because a lot of people are making a lot more money than they probably should in other places, right in the company, it's probably a big part of it. Yeah, when did you become a small business
Maria Bamford 4:23
owner? Uh, 20, let me see. Well, I think I, yeah, I got incorporated. I think around 2000 year, 2000 so, so this 24 years ago or something.
Brian Heater 4:36
So that was, like, relatively early on for you. Uh,
Maria Bamford 4:39
yeah, and I could be totally wrong about that. I'm not totally clear on the numbers. So it could be 2004
Brian Heater 4:49
Okay, football Park will say maybe around 20. It's
Maria Bamford 4:51
one to 20 years. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Brian Heater 4:54
How did you, how did you end up doing? I mean, obviously that's a pretty savvy decision. As far as doing what you do. Were living
Maria Bamford 5:01
well, you go to the library, and you get personal finance for Dummies, and then you get how to start a small business in California by Nolo Press, which is nonprofit press that does business, education, literature, and you just take a whack at it.
Brian Heater 5:27
So, so 2004 I mean, you had already, though you had already been doing stand up for some time. Then,
Maria Bamford 5:33
yeah, yeah. And I Yeah. I mean, I don't think any Life is not fair. I don't know why I've been able to do well. And, yeah, I don't think it's a result of any sort of personal strengths. I think it's just whim, arbitrary whim.
Brian Heater 5:56
I think we're complex beings, and we can hold two ideas in her head at once. And I, and I think that you can both understand that there's a lot of luck that goes into all this stuff and timing, but you surely, at this point in your life, you must feel that there's something about you. There's some skill there
Maria Bamford 6:15
well, and there's odds, you know, the longer you stay at something, I mean it is, we were just talking about McDonald's. It's like, McDonald's, like, you just go. I still know where they are in my neighborhood. They're at Woodbury and Lincoln. I don't I've never been but I know exactly what they are. I where they are. I know what, exactly what's on. I think their current menu are they, are they make, did they make fries into chicken? Fries where it's just chicken that looks like fries.
Brian Heater 6:52
It might have been Burger King.
Maria Bamford 6:53
That's Margaret burking. Sorry. Okay, maybe I don't know everything, sure. Maybe I don't know everything,
Brian Heater 6:59
but you're like that familiar restaurant at the corner that people know
Maria Bamford 7:03
you just go, well, well, in a very, very obscure comedy way. Uh, yeah, yeah. I was just in a waiting room to promote, uh, promote shows whatever, and on a show and, yeah, I think people are surprised when they go, Oh, I don't know who you are, and you're making a living, and that, that is exactly what I'm doing, that there's have plenty of work, and yet I'm not known by but I would say majority of people.
Brian Heater 7:45
I would say most of the people who work are known by most people. So,
Maria Bamford 7:50
right, exactly. Yeah. Obviously
Brian Heater 7:53
what you, you do is different, but you also seem to be, like, constantly working on different things. Yes,
Maria Bamford 7:59
that, and I love to, yeah, that's, that's the thing that I admire in other art, is just to keep going. Is to keep going and keep making stuff, whether or not anyone cares. Because I do think that that does has made me a happier person, or, yeah, I think it's just given my life some some shape and meaning and structure. So, yeah, that's I like, I like, making new things.
Brian Heater 8:40
It gets complicated, though, this is something that I struggle with myself is is how much, how much of the meaning that I find in life should I derive from the thing that I do for a living?
Maria Bamford 8:52
Right? Well, then, yeah, you gotta have hobbies, right? You gotta have friendships. I believe the New York Times said you have to have five close friends in order to not die by the ages. That seems like a anyways, uh, but I yeah, yes, that is the rub. Because I think, yeah, I've definitely been, you know, thought, Oh, my value is attached to what I do, so I definitely still have problems with that. So I'm trying, I'm trying to have other ways to think of myself as valuable. Sometimes I've been sitting on my front bench and chit chatting with people and thinking, what if I'm I just become really good at chit chat, at bluster and going on.
Brian Heater 9:53
So you're launching a podcast? Well, it's
Maria Bamford 9:56
like a podcast, but no one's being recorded. Did, and hopefully I, hopefully I get other not everyone has to, has to plug something. How much of what keep? Oh, hold on. I've just had a job interruption. Oh, oh, oh, shoot, Oh, I'm so sorry. Oh, my husband's come. Home, and he's not well, but Okay.
Brian Heater 10:28
Should we pick this up later? Um,
Maria Bamford 10:30
I think we're okay. Hold on, hold on one second. Hold on, okay, okay, sorry about that. Is he okay? Yes, yes, okay. He's just just a little, I think, numb,
Brian Heater 10:44
sure you could tell just by sight that something was not, was not right with him.
Maria Bamford 10:51
Yeah, yeah. Well, so, but yes, so, yeah. Chit Chat. What do you enjoy doing? What do you have hobbies?
Brian Heater 11:04
I recently, I was talking, I'm a really terrible musician. Okay, that's great, really bad guitar player. But I, and this is such a like, I just did this with this is such a pandemic thing. I bought a ukulele,
Maria Bamford 11:18
great.
Brian Heater 11:21
I'm finding that it's, it's, it's scratching this part of my brain that I just haven't accessed in a long time.
Maria Bamford 11:29
That's lovely. I'm so glad that you're experiencing that. Yeah, that isn't that I think I'm going to start taking there's this art class place where I used to take classes. It was in a different part of town, though, and it was just an art class with kids and adults, and it so delightful. So I think I'm going to do that this summer, is take some art classes and enjoy myself. Yeah, painting
Brian Heater 12:06
specifically, I
Maria Bamford 12:11
don't know,
Brian Heater 12:12
you don't know, what was the last class you took? Was it largely painting?
Maria Bamford 12:18
Mostly I did pastels. I like the immediacy of a pastel and that my hands get all covered in chalk. There's lots of kids there. So you can, it's called The Wizard of art. So you can just grab a plastic figurine and then start, just start sketching, man, start sketching. It's, it's, uh, it's nice, because you just there's not pressures off. Pressures off.
Brian Heater 12:47
See, I feel like I would be very excited about that at first, because of how like, clearly better I am than the children. And then there would be one, one little asshole kid who's better than me, and then that would just completely rude, my confidence and my ability to do it. Oh,
Maria Bamford 13:05
but the best stuff is the stuff that's like, kind of a train wreck where you're like, Wow. I mean, I like it that I've tried over and over again. I did a triptych. No, not a triptych. I did my mother as the Mary Magnoli with holding two pugs, and it's got far too much. It's got layers of glitter that I poured on at some point, and, you know, a muddiness that I now understand is not good technique. But, you know, some value to me. I made me think about my mother.
Brian Heater 13:48
Why Mary Magdalene?
Maria Bamford 13:50
Because my mother is a she was a holy entity. She was good person. I was
Brian Heater 13:55
reading an interview that the two of you did around this book. And you know, there's a funny little aside about Scott doing stand up and you and I find it very relatable, that moment where you're like, Oh, God, what if, but if he's better at this game that I devoted my entire life life to doing, and I wonder now you're getting into painting. Do you feel like there might be a little competition?
Maria Bamford 14:21
No, and he knew that that I had taken some painting costs and stuff like that. But no, I hope not. I don't think so. But yeah, that was hilarious. And what's so sad about that human like, fear of it's like, what if he was, well, she was fantastic. Like, wouldn't that be a great thing? Yeah, it would just be bizarre and wonderful. So, yeah, I don't know, yeah, I don't think he hasn't mentioned that. He seems to. Uh, be pumped whenever I make something
Brian Heater 15:02
in spite of that, because, like, I certainly have a lot of anxiety and self doubt around things. But are you able to at least sort of look at what you've been able to do over the years and like, feel like you've accomplished something.
Maria Bamford 15:17
Oh god yes, yes. I'm very Yes, I have all my dreams have come true, all my I mean, everything I've ever more more, more more than I ever thought was possible. And then at the same time, I know that I have the fantasy that accomplishment gives you peace of mind or some or helps your mental health, I think, is an illusion that I don't totally bought into, where I thought, Oh, if I focus On this accomplishment, then I'll feel I'll feel better and and that, although a little bit of that, and it's hard to, it's hard to tell that to somebody. I remember when somebody would tell me, you know, who had money, said, Oh, well, when you have money, you'll realize it doesn't make some difference. You know, for food and shelter, that's awesome health care, but you're still going to you're still going to be yourself, so you're going to be worried about something. And I remember just thinking about them just like you or a monster, and you don't know what you're talking about. Um, so apologies to all that. Think I think this sounds monstrous, but, yeah, I'm still the same person. So even though I, yeah, I'm very proud of myself, very amazed, grateful, delighted, at the same time i i still have issues and and that's okay, like, I think that's something I could turn my brain around to go, like, you should feel good all the time. You know you should be happy and ecstatic, but we're
Brian Heater 17:19
not supposed to, right? As humans,
Maria Bamford 17:21
yeah. Well, some people are, some people genuinely are very like, high, yeah, just, I have a dear friend who's just always at a very good level, like and she's a delight to be around. She is so fun to be around and, and, yeah, and it's okay, you know, for whatever reason, that's not my that's not my strong suit, but, but I am a comfort to be around if you feel bad because me too,
Brian Heater 18:00
you don't feel like you cause people to spiral with your own issues?
Maria Bamford 18:04
I don't think so. But well, and I you'd have to talk to, for example, my husband or my friends, because I'm sure they would have a different point of view, yeah, because I think that is exhausting if you're close to somebody who has any sort of health problem, mental or physical, otherwise, it's exhausting. It's like, just like you still, is it still with the thing? So yeah, it's tiresome. But everybody's tiresome in their own special way. Personally,
Brian Heater 18:40
I think it's overstated. But this notion of, you know, of making art, people talk about this a lot with, like songwriters, about being like a form of therapy. Is that something that you buy into? Yeah,
Maria Bamford 18:53
for sure, yeah, yeah, to work something out through writing about it or creating about it. I think, yeah, that's free number one. It's free and and it's the effect of a support group where you then you express it, share it with people, and people respond, and you can totally know that you're not alone. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, totally. I think it is genuinely, Oh, I love an open mic. Open Mic that is a very healing space. Some people don't like them, like they find them, I don't know, yeah, I really enjoy them, just because it is so democratic. And everybody goes up and there's not any there's no barrier to being in it beyond somebody putting your name in the
Brian Heater 19:52
bucket. Interesting you bring up open mike specifically. Are you? Do you feel like you're going up and doing these sorts of. Things, and yes, kind of in your unloading, yeah,
Maria Bamford 20:03
I got, well, there's an open mic in my neighborhood. I try to go on every Monday. And there's some because I'm old. I have a feeling I realized they put me up even though I put my name in the bucket. I think they put me up earlier, knowing that I'm
Brian Heater 20:22
you gotta get to better. Yeah, there it's
Maria Bamford 20:25
so I'm a little bit worried about that, that they're giving me special treatment. I know they're giving me special treatment. So that's that's different from most open rights, where you've got to stay, you got to stay till the end. Also,
Brian Heater 20:38
as we established that, being a conversation a famous comedian. Well,
Maria Bamford 20:44
also, isn't that, isn't that the reason I should stay to the end, right, and that I get everything so easy to me, like a little a Faberge egg
Brian Heater 20:55
on a surely, that's partially why they're it's, it can't all be age based if, surely they're prioritizing you for that reason. Well,
Maria Bamford 21:02
it's very anyways, it's, it's lovely, and I love, yeah, I do a doing a show tonight that's more of a book show, but I, I like the democracy of an open mic where. But But even though I'm not getting democracy because I am getting put up earlier, so let me just say, Huh, interesting. I have benefited from my own prestige, and I better, you know what? I think I'm going to make a commit to the next mic I do. I'm going up last, I'm closing the show. You could
Brian Heater 21:45
go first and last.
Maria Bamford 21:47
I might be too good idea. I did host an open mic in my neighborhood, um, want to say like, four times, but it was so because it's Los Angeles. Open mics are so long, like, 70 people, 70 people will sign up, and it became overwhelming. And also, the thing about Los Angeles, which is that people will say they'll want to switch their place. So they'll go, Hey, I'm number 17, but I got this spot at the Hogshead winery over in West Hollywood at 745 so can I go up third and switch with Brian, who's with Siwa, and see what he's going to go up. But you know, like we're at a weird open mic and no one's here, what's going on? You can go on in the bathroom like anyways, it just makes me laugh, just the machinations of us all, including myself.
Brian Heater 22:54
It's just now occurring to me, you know, we were talking about Scott doing stand up, and it's occurring to me that he decided to do, stand up when you weren't present,
Maria Bamford 23:03
yes, yes, which I think was a fantastic idea, because I for sure, I think that would be, I would be a little anxious about drawing in front of him, I think just because, just because you're self conscious, you know, and he just wanted to see what it was like. And he totally did and and did it a number of times. And he's great, he's really funny, he's very and has a really, I mean, as everyone does, but because he's my beloved, he has an insanely unique way of thinking. He once memorized a whole basketball sports column, and then recited that aloud as as his act for about three minutes. It was so fucking funny, and yeah, just a banal basketball game described on stage. A
Brian Heater 23:59
little bit of anti comedy, perhaps.
Maria Bamford 24:04
Oh, it really, was really good. So, um, yeah, he's wonderful. This is,
Brian Heater 24:12
this is such a key part of the book that we're extensively here to talk about that the day of you did together. Is I finding the difficulties of finding that person in your life with that sort of compatible weirdness,
Maria Bamford 24:28
yes, yeah, and also somebody who's down, like, that's the one thing, like Scott and I, I think we're both old, old enough, or, I don't know, whatever the miracle was of like both of us being at the place, the same place and the same time to go. Let's do this like we are both willing to put in the effort. Because I just hadn't ever done that before with any. One or I also, yeah, I kind of ascribed to the whole thing of like, oh, there, yeah, I'd fallen in love many times before, but often based on fantasy where it's like, I didn't really know who the person was, or, yeah. So this, the great thing that I really fell in love with, that we had in common was that Scott was like, I think we can make this work. You know, let's go to therapy. Let's go to a weird couples weekend. Let's do all the things, and, and, and that said, I don't want to have the hubris of saying, Oh, we know what we're doing and we figured it all out, because that that is not true at all in any way at all, but that that has been really special to me, to find somebody who, yeah, had, as was as interested in, in, in making a creative, beautiful life together, as as I was, you
Brian Heater 26:12
touched on something interesting there. And this is in the book as well. And I don't know if I've ever heard anybody really contextualize it in this way that there, there's almost this just pragmatic decision of like, all right, starting now, we're going to do what we can to make this thing work.
Maria Bamford 26:32
Yeah, because I think, and I don't know, just because I hadn't had any success the other way, which is the way my parents did were just sort of like, Oh, you just know, you know this is your person. And I was like, Huh? And I've always been a very frightened, anxious person, like, I don't know that I'm the bright person, like, I'm always on the fence about me.
Brian Heater 26:58
Like, yeah. What was it? Red flag factory, yeah, yeah.
Maria Bamford 27:02
Like, how the heck am I gonna think that someone else is gonna be safe, or, yeah, and, and anyone who I had, had a number of people who, whatever, you know, I fell in love with or whatever, who rejected me because I didn't seem safe, you know, because of mental health issues, etc. And so, yeah, and that was wonderful. Scott was just like, Yeah, my mom was mentally ill. That's okay, no big deal, you know, I'll, I'll drive you to the psych ward if you need it. And I've had some rough times with depression, even recently, because I'm just going through menopause, which can cause your mood to dip. And he's like, do you need to go? Do, you know? Like, what do you need to do? Do we need to go, you know, take some lithium and power down for a while, and that Yeah, and that just the knowledge that a huge thing that has been problematic in my life is is okay. And I don't know what he would say, but maybe he has something where it's like, you just feel like, oh, this thing that's been a problem for so many people is not a problem at all. There are other there are other things that are problematic, for sure. This
Brian Heater 28:33
isn't, this is in the top of the list of the things that are problems right now. Yeah, I think a big part of it, and this is something that I went through during the pandemic, probably a lot of other people. Lot of other people did was, like, really hitting that wall where I like, I finally, after dragging my free feet, did therapy and got my my OCD diagnosis. Of, you know, it sounds like so much of your adult life has been this journey of, like, figuring out exactly what's going on with you, and that's a big part, I think, of being able to connect with somebody, is once you have, like, a better idea of what it is that's going on, then you could know, yeah,
Maria Bamford 29:12
yeah. I mean, and, I mean, it's nice to have a name for it, but then it's like, and then it's just the day to day. Like, yeah, you just got to keep going. You just gotta keep going because, like, oh, I have a name for it. Well, what do I do? Wear a hat says that, sure
Brian Heater 29:29
you have a name for it. But also, you know, with your partner it, you know, you can be like, Hey, here's, here's some things that you should probably know, and then we can get through this together. Yeah,
Maria Bamford 29:37
yeah. And that it's not, yeah, but that it's definitely not personal, like, because I know, you know, I get super irritable. I get problems sleeping. I then I'll get whipped up and get, like, a real great idea I was getting. And very excited with spring coming. I was like, you know, having a whole lot of, what was my I, yeah, I was just like, trying to say hi to every single person I met. Scott's, like, Wow. All right. Like, hi. How are you? Hi, how are you? Hi, how are you? Which great idea in theory, but, you know, exhausting, yeah, so, yeah, it's like somebody who, yeah, and there are other things. I mean, I think everybody is odd in their own special way, even if their oddness is that they aren't odd at all, like that, I think is so strange.
Brian Heater 30:49
Those are the most suspicious people. For sure,
Maria Bamford 30:51
we have a neighbor who is so normal, like she is just like, what did we tell her? We told her something yesterday that we had, we had a dog, a dog park party at our house, but we had 17 dogs over the house, and there's so many dogs, and it was really wonderful. All these dogs. Dogs, of course, peed in the corner, and then one dog was drinking from the toilet. It was kind of like a big it was like a drunk party, but no one was yeah, it was like a frat dog. Like a frat party, frat, dog party. Our neighbor just looks so horrified. And then, and she'll often say things like, I know this is weird. And then she'll say something that is so like, you put chocolate chips in it. That's the end of the story. Like, like, just like this, it's, or does, it doesn't seem that odd so, but maybe that is her oddness. Is that she is so normal
Brian Heater 31:55
to me. You know, it's kind of off putting to hear that she was freaked out by the idea of a lot of dogs.
Maria Bamford 32:06
Yeah. Oh, here he is. Oh, my gosh, it's a spiritual viewing of Mr. Scott Marvel Cassidy. He's here. He's he's had a little bit of um, he's here. He's had
Brian Heater 32:21
some work done.
Maria Bamford 32:21
He's had some work done. I
Scott Marvel Cassidy 32:23
just had two hours of dental work.
Maria Bamford 32:25
He said, two hours of dental work. Two hours of dental work. I was
Brian Heater 32:32
telling Maria at the beginning of the conversation that I've never had somebody who so didn't want to talk to me that they scheduled two root canal surgeries.
Scott Marvel Cassidy 32:42
Talk I did not want to go. Yeah, I did not want to go.
Brian Heater 32:48
Yeah. I mean, you look okay, you sound all right. It's
Scott Marvel Cassidy 32:51
all numb. They just put temporary crowns in so I can eat mush for the next two weeks.
Maria Bamford 32:58
Yeah, but it's so good when talking about the book hog the laser eyes,
Scott Marvel Cassidy 33:03
well, we wrote it in 20 that's all I'm
Brian Heater 33:09
getting at you. That's
Maria Bamford 33:13
it. We're not on only fans. No,
Brian Heater 33:17
no, no. I know I meant the book story, not the Oh, the book story. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry, no,
Maria Bamford 33:23
bookstory, no, that's that Scott has, uh, yeah, I was, I mean, I was not, you've heard me say, but I can say it again. How much I appreciated that you really accepted my mental mental health issues and that it was okay, that I was who I was. And can grow a beard if you and I can grow a beard if I went sometimes, and that, you know that that might be an ongoing thing. It wasn't like, Oh, you got on the right meds, and it is an ongoing it is, I know I was just telling him. I said, you know, I wasn't feeling good. And said, Hey, do you need to go to the hospital? And not not yet, but who knows, but I got issues. Yeah, got Scott's got issues. I didn't want to speak on your behalf, but Scott's got his own semi suburb obelisk in the sea.
Brian Heater 34:16
How were the last four years? I mean, in terms of just kind of coping with everything,
Scott Marvel Cassidy 34:20
what's with the last why last pandemic? We were talking about
Brian Heater 34:26
the importance of like, of chit chat earlier. And obviously, you know, that kind of limits your ability to be social and interact with other people. Well, I
Scott Marvel Cassidy 34:34
was just telling my dentist that because he was talking about me being a painter. And I feel ashamed saying this, but I really enjoyed it, not having to go out and paying, being able to work, and not having any appointments or any social
Brian Heater 34:51
activities. Scott, I talked to so many cartoonists, and I've heard that dozens of times, so I don't, don't feel too good about that. I Good.
Maria Bamford 34:59
Oh, that's funny. That's, oh, that's hilarious. Yeah, I didn't mind it either. Like, I love doing zoom shows every day. I was like, but she had
Scott Marvel Cassidy 35:07
one of our biggest crowds on a zoom show, biggest crowds
Maria Bamford 35:10
on a zoom show. But also, my mom was in the process of dying at that time, and I got to be with her the whole time, kind of, as a result of having all the free time in the world and and so that was a real fantastic gift, because I had had it not my mom was even like, my mom was very much. She liked a shiny object. So if ever I had the chance to work, she'd be like, Honey, go work. Oh my god, you're gonna meet Meredith Vieira like and so I know she had no excuse. She had to be around me for her la the rat last six months of her life.
Brian Heater 35:58
That's another thing I get to a lot, specifically from touring musicians with kids that they just, you know, you've got to go out there and you've got to do your job, and that does what it does to, you know, your social and personal life. And this was finally opportunity, you know, you were forced, you were, you're, in a sense, forced, to be with your family.
Maria Bamford 36:16
Yeah, yeah, that's good. And I don't, yeah, but I, of course, you know, I think I'm sometimes he's more social. Sometimes I'm more social. But I do, I do love people. I love having people around and like we go to the dog park, go to the coffee shop, the gym, when I can force myself to go to the gym, I I definitely need people. Yeah, that that is wonderful. Face to face communication.
Brian Heater 36:52
I think a big part of me figuring myself out over the last, you know, several years, has been figuring out what it means to be introverted and kind of reconciling the fact that I can, you know, like talk to strangers on a podcast or go on a stage, but if I'm at a party where there's not 14 dogs and just a lot of people standing around, I'm going to be the guy in the corner the entire time. That's something that, like, I can never really, you know, figure out about myself until fairly recently.
Maria Bamford 37:25
Yeah, no, I, yeah. I like parties where I'm the host. I'm okay being the host, because then where you know everybody, well, yeah, and you also, you'd have shit to do, because then it's like, you go, Oh, I can let me help you, or let me put this over here, or let me wander into a corner of my house where I know no one will be well. Oh, and the book sold out. It sold out, and they just restocked it yesterday on fantagraphic. So, so that's exciting, and, and, yeah, just be, we're delighted. Being
Scott Marvel Cassidy 38:05
on Fantagraphics is an absolute dream to come true. It's insane because I just, I've been publishing my own comics since I was 20, you know, just Xeroxes. You know, maybe 10 people would see it. And then we also are in two recent mad magazines, yeah, yeah,
Maria Bamford 38:25
we did, or Scott did we, we, we did a spread for Mad Magazine. And this the premise of it was stink lines through art history that often fart lines were were removed from famous words, famous pieces
Scott Marvel Cassidy 38:44
of art, like Soros in the park, or, you know,
Maria Bamford 38:50
the sphinx. The sphinx had a giant stone. So they
Scott Marvel Cassidy 38:55
asked us for 10 ideas, and the stink lines was one of the lesser good, lesser ones. And that's when they went. I was like, Dao,
Brian Heater 39:06
what were your top ones? What was rejected?
Scott Marvel Cassidy 39:08
I can't remember, because we were just so shocked. I think there are more erudite and and they're
Brian Heater 39:15
more erudite than famous farting paintings.
Maria Bamford 39:17
But the stick doesn't work out because, like, the then we talked about how, at the end, just how art can stink because it's not representative of, inclusive of all people who are doing art. And, yeah, so it was awesome, and,
Scott Marvel Cassidy 39:36
but then some people were upset. I just want it to be funny.
Brian Heater 39:42
I have IBS. I have a hidden disability, and I feel like I have not necessarily been represented through art and history, so I appreciate that representation. Awesome,
Maria Bamford 39:52
nice. Oh, my. I have a friend who has IBS. I feel, yeah, it's rough. Every time I talk to her, she's all. Like, I think I'm just gonna start eating grape jello. That's all I want. Just grape jello. I
Brian Heater 40:07
don't think that's gonna be good for your intestines. No, I
Maria Bamford 40:11
know, I know. But it's like, I think after a certain point you just kind of give up, like, in terms of, anyways, she's just been through a lot. She's been through a lot. Do you find that relatable?
Brian Heater 40:21
Scott, of not eating solid foods? Oh,
Scott Marvel Cassidy 40:25
right now especially, yeah, I've been eating applesauce. I just had rice and some kind of gravy, yeah? But actually, I'm losing weight, so I'm kind of psyched.
Brian Heater 40:35
Your teeth look great, by the way, thanks.
Scott Marvel Cassidy 40:37
The back teeth that are, yeah, it always is the back, yeah, I grind my teeth. So
Brian Heater 40:42
the rabbit is in the background. Oh,
Scott Marvel Cassidy 40:46
little cave. Got
Brian Heater 40:48
a little castle. That's
Scott Marvel Cassidy 40:50
awesome. Yeah,
Maria Bamford 40:51
what's your name?
Brian Heater 40:53
That's Juniper. Juniper.
Maria Bamford 40:56
Well, here you want to see, man,
Unknown Speaker 40:58
I do. I if
Maria Bamford 41:03
you can see him, yeah, yeah, I can.
Brian Heater 41:05
He's
Maria Bamford 41:06
not doing a lot, but, yeah, he's not doing a lot, but he's He's handsome. He's handsome as all get out.