Comedian Chonda Pierce coming to Samford’s Wright Center on Feb. 26

Comedian Chonda Pierce coming to Samford’s Wright Center on Feb. 26

By Carrie Brown McWhorter

If you think there’s nothing funny about empty nesting, online dating or menopause, Chonda Pierce has got some stories you need to hear.

The Emmy-nominated comedian will bring her girls-night-out brand of humor to Birmingham on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. when her “Happily Laughter After” tour makes a stop at Samford University’s Leslie S. Wright Fine Arts Center.

Without a doubt, any time Pierce takes the stage there will be a lot of women in the audience but that’s the way she likes it.

“It gives us a chance to talk about the men,” she said, her trademark laugh punctuating the thought.

That’s not to say men won’t have a good time too.

“I tell ’em, ‘Come on in if you’re brave enough and take notes because you might learn a lot.’”

Pierce said she didn’t start out thinking her comedy would be for women but early in her career, engagements at women’s conferences influenced her choice of material.

“I have grown up with my fans and we’ve walked through menopause, empty nesting and loss together,” she said. “So my material has skewed toward what we discuss and laugh about as women.”

Pierce’s encouraging and uplifting attitude has helped make her the best-selling female comedian of all time. Throughout her career she has pointed her laser sharp wit at her conservative religious upbringing and the ups and downs of life, all filtered with a strong dose of Southern charm.

Finding humor and laughter in even the darkest circumstances is a gift from God, said Pierce, who has been open about her own battle with depression and her husband’s alcoholism and death from a massive stroke. She chronicled those experiences in the 2015 documentary “Chonda Pierce: Laughing in the Dark” and a book by the same title.

In April, Pierce will debut a follow-up feature film, “Chonda Pierce: Enough.” The film will be in theaters around the country for one-night only April 25. The film follows Pierce’s life after her husband’s death and seeks to encourage women who are redefining themselves after a tragedy or life transition. Though “Enough” is not a comedy, moments of laughter throughout the movie remind viewers that laughter is one of God’s greatest gifts.

“We are in such a stressed world and comedy gives you such a relief,” she said. “We know physiologically that laughing releases endorphins. It gets your circulation going and helps you feel better.”

God-given emotion

Perhaps more importantly laughter is an emotion God gave us, Pierce said. It’s a gift that if used properly can be a wonderful thing for a person’s emotional and physical health.

“The sad thing is that the devil is in the business of perverting anything good that the Lord gave us so comedy has also been taken in a dark direction,” she said. “I love that in the Christian market we are bringing back all the arts and redeeming them the way God intended for them to be used.”

‘Great package for women’

Music by singer/songwriter Karyn Williams also is a big part of what makes the “Happily Laughter After” tour a “great package for women,” Pierce said.

Williams has been named among Billboard magazine’s “Best Bets” and has collaborated with many of Nashville’s top songwriters. Her single “Rest In Hope” spent more than 30 weeks on the charts. Her latest recording is “Letting Go of Perfect,” a sentiment Pierce said speaks to her daily.

“At my age I should be retired and home taking a nap but Karyn has given me such a surge and delight that carries over to my comedy,” she said.

Tickets for “Happily Laughter After” can be purchased online at eTix.com or by calling the Wright Center box office at 205-726-2853. VIP tickets include early admission and a meet and greet time with Pierce.