Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/957795
56 DGA QUARTERLY that comedians tend to hit their groove toward the end of the first show and the beginning of the second. When she began directing comedy specials, seguing from music documentaries and concert films, she went back and studied the work of Marty Callner, who has shot HBO specials by Chris Rock, Robin Williams and George Carlin. "He likes a lot of angles," Hartman says. Also, "More cover- age is better coverage." This helped with Wood's Father Figure. Her Steadicam operator in Atlanta, accustomed to working in film, had some issues staying on a comic who was only making gradual, lateral moves for the better part of two hours. "They're used to moving forward and backward, and this is more of a dolly move," Hartman says of film vs. comedy "I THINK [MARIA BAMFORD] IS FASCINATED BY HOW A JOKE CAN HAVE A DIFFERENT FEELING IN A ROOM OF 10 PEOPLE." -JESSICA YU In each location—a living room, a bookstore, a bowling alley, all in Bamford's Eagle Rock neighbor- hood—a papier mâché mock-up of Bamford's dog is somewhere in the frame. Bamford did about 20 minutes of her set at each location, and the entire set at the downtown L.A. Novo Theater, where Old Baby concludes. Laughter, throughout Old Baby, is not guaranteed to validate—what emerges as powerful is Bamford's na- ked use of standup for connection and meaning. "Is that what a relationship is, is it just continuing to show up without any guarantee? I can do that!" Bamford deadpans. She is standing on her front lawn, performing for four people sitting on a bench. She gets a reaction, but it has an awkward social context com- pared to the sanctioned laughs she gets in a theater, describing her ex- periences at a psychiatric hospital or likening her penchant for filling out self-help manuals to "a 25-year game of emotional Sudoku." "I think she's fascinated by how a joke can have a different feeling in a room of 10 people and then be huge in a stadium," says Yu. Cherry-Picking the Most Telling Moments When it comes to a special, "one night only" is a misnomer. Typically, the hour is a fusion of moments, joke to joke, of a co- median's set over successive performances. Hartman has learned Jessica Yu (above) and her subject, Maria Bamford (left), played with the idea that comedy could be performed anywhere; Chris Robinson (below left) says his work with Tiffany Haddish is "about connecting with the audience." PHOTOS: (TOP LEFT) MAX GERBER/NETFLIX; (TOP RIGHT) COURTESY OF JESSICA YU; (BOTTOM LEFT) PHOTOFEST; (BOTTOM RIGHT) NACELLE CO./SHOWTIME