Catherine Shea: I don’t tell people I’m a single mom. I tell them I’m a single dad. People love single dads. They get invited to everything. We’re at parent night for the first grade class. We find out that Timmy’s dad is single. The woman across the room from me snaps into action immediately.

She takes off her wedding wing. Ring Game on sister. Game on. We’re still in the meeting. My phone buzzes. Another mom has started a chat. Help Timmy’s dad. The response is overwhelming. I’ll start the meal train. I’ll do carpool. I’ll jump in his bed. Moms are enthusiastic. I post that I’m a single mom. The moderator writes back.

Excellent. You can watch Timmy while I go out with his dad.

Andrea Marie: We are Moms Unhinged, a nationally touring standup comedy show. Join us in our podcast as we explore everything from motherhood, midlife, crisis, marriage, divorce, online dating, menopause, and other things that irritate us.

Hello everyone and welcome to Moms Unhinged. I’m your host Andrea, and I am joined by the lovely, wonderful Catherine Shea today. Welcome Catherine.

Catherine Shea: Great. Andrea, thank you for having me and thank you for being unhinged as well. I really feel in good company, so lonely before.

Andrea Marie: I know, I know. We’ve banded together, we’ve formed a gang.

Catherine Shea: It’s the only hinge that works in my life.

Andrea Marie: I know, know, I know. So, listeners, Catherine’s wonderful. She is actually a Colorado based comedian. She is actually coming to you right from my dining room, so that’s how she’s just right nearby. But she is Colorado based. Just wonderful has been performing with Moms Unhinged all over the place. We were just in New York last week performing together, so that was super fun.

So yeah. Catherine, tell us a little bit about how you got started into comedy.

[00:02:21] How the class clown became a comedian

Catherine Shea: Great. Well thank you for again, for having me. It’s so good to be here and for sharing your dining room with me. I feel like I’ve always been in comedy, but not necessarily in standup comedy. When I was young, people would say, oh, I heard you laughing at lunch today. I got terrible conduct reviews and classes because I was always kind of the class clown.

And, really just having fun laughing at things, has really been a through line in my life. even remember in when I first started off as a baby attorney, I talked to my parents on the weekend. I’d like, oh my gosh, work this week. You wouldn’t believe how funny I was, I mean.

Andrea Marie: So that is interesting. You wouldn’t think an attorney would be so funny. So what, you had this comedy, you know, pull towards the comedy, but then you went into law school.

Catherine Shea: Yes. So I had this pull into comedy, but I think wisely my parents advised me, “Hey, check out law school,” because they wanted me to be able to support myself. And I think very logically, and I’m very rules oriented and so in many ways it was a very good fit. But even in law school, I can remember, you know, moments where it was important to create levity because it can be so intense.

Andrea Marie: Yeah, yeah.

[00:03:47] The moment she realized she could actually do comedy

Catherine Shea: And so, comedy has got me through very difficult situations. I come from an Irish Catholic family and there’s a lot of dark humor, a lot of using humor to get through difficult situations.

So I had a career, I was in law for a while, and then in some other administrative roles in education and right before COVID started, I thought, started thinking a lot about what am I gonna do when my child moves outta the house? What’s my hobby gonna be? And of course, I thought about being a writer.

I love words, I love reading. Just seemed so lonely.

And then, started talking to people about comedy and maybe doing a class. And what crystallized it for me in the process is I was out at a restaurant with my ex, our child and cut through the bar. And three friends are out there together and my first thought was, well, why didn’t they invite me? Then I wouldn’t have to be at this awkward dinner with my ex. But they’d been there for a little while and we started telling stories and I started, they asked me about dating and what my life was like. He was my ex at the time.

Andrea Marie: Yes, yes.

Catherine Shea: And they were just laughing and laughing at the stories I was telling. I was like, oh, this is standup. You know, you got a drunk audience of three right now.

Audience of three, they are three sheets to the wind. They’re ready to hear my stories. And I just felt this connection with them.

And so the questions I was asking about comedy really crystallized. I’m like, yes, this is what I’m going to do for my creative outlet, my hobby, whatever.

Andrea Marie: Yeah, and sometimes the shows we go to, there’s just three people, three sheets to the wind, you know.

Catherine Shea: And so

Andrea Marie: grateful.

Not the Moms Unhinged shows, we usually have bigger audiences, but some of shows I’ve done, it’s been like, gather around the table people, let’s go.

Catherine Shea: Yes, yes, yes. And in your large audiences, there are likely three people, at least, who are three sheets to the wind.

Andrea Marie: Sure, for sure. Yeah.

Catherine Shea: The odds are.

[00:05:56] How a stand-up class turned into something bigger

Catherine Shea: So it was just been really fun. And actually one of those three women at that table connected me to Zoe Rogers.

Andrea Marie: Oh yeah.

Catherine Shea: I took her class and really found the love of comedy and community, connection through that class.

Andrea Marie: Yeah. That’s awesome. It is kind of interesting ’cause you’re up there by yourself. Comedy can be both. Like have, there can be a lot of community, but then there can also be like you’re just on your own.

You are usually, you know, writing on your own. Sometimes you meet for, you know, to kinda work, work through things, but it can both be a community and kind of by yourself at the same time.

But it’s kind of a neat, interesting blend there. Yeah, so you start, so you started doing comedy right before the pandemic then, is that right? Yeah.

Catherine Shea: Yes, that fall.

Andrea Marie: And so you had about four good months or what, you know?

That’s right.

Catherine Shea: Four or five months. My first show was in September, and then.

Andrea Marie: Right.

[00:06:58] Writing jokes during lockdown

Catherine Shea: We were shut down by February. I remember I did a newbie set at Comedy Works in Denver the Friday before we ended up shutting down, oh, sorry. The Tuesday before two weeks, 10 days before we shut down.

Andrea Marie: Sure. Yeah wow, wow. You got that in right under the wire. Who knew?

Catherine Shea: Snuck it in.

Andrea Marie: Yeah, that’s wild. And then did you do any COVID comedy while you were?

Catherine Shea: Oh yes. I was so in love with it. I kept looking for classes online, open mics online, and I found a lot and I met a lot of people. There was a great group called Women Smashing It, and they advertised. Chicks On Mics was one of the online groups that I joined. People that I’ve met since, people from Nebraska, from Washington, DC, California, Chicago.

And it was a great way to start meeting people across the country who are doing comedy. And it was super fun.

Andrea Marie: Yeah, so how would that work for you guys? Would you just, you would do a show? You would do like a Zoom show or something like that, or you would just get together?

Catherine Shea: Both, both. did some open mics, which were fun because then everyone was supportive of each other and you could hear the laughs. And then I did a few shows and that’s where you get used to the silence.

Andrea Marie: I know it was.

Catherine Shea: You could sometimes see people laughing in the screens, you know, laughing.

Andrea Marie: Yeah.

Catherine Shea: Lot of times you could not.

Andrea Marie: Yeah, it was. It was rough.

Catherine Shea: Yeah. Yeah, and it was a good way to get used to the pause and not necessarily depend on the laugh. Which you’re hoping is, has arrived, but you’re not so dependent on that as before you get into your next joke.

Andrea Marie: Right.

Catherine Shea: So did you do a lot of Zoom comedy?

Andrea Marie: I didn’t do a ton. We did a few shows. We did, I think we did one Moms Unhinged show. Yeah, we did one Moms Unhinged, Zoom comedy that, was run by the Louisville Underground actually. And yeah. And Merit was on that one, and she said. “Uh, yeah, I never wanna do that again. It was brutal.” It’s rough. It was a rough one.

[00:09:21] Comedy as connection

Andrea Marie: That’s so interesting. But it’s hard because if you just got started doing it, then, you know, and you love it, look, share. Why do you love it so much? What is it about it? What brings you into comedy?

Catherine Shea: I think initially it’s just I love to laugh.

Andrea Marie: Yeah.

Catherine Shea: Love it, and I love when other people are laughing and that what’s so magical about it is you’re connecting. The connection that happens when you both recognize the comedy in something and whether you’re telling that as a comedian. Or whether you’re being delivered that information, whether standup comedy or sitcom movies, whatever that connection.

I think is really magical. Seeing the absurdity of something and I think that’s what initially dropped me. I just love to laugh and I love to make people laugh.

Andrea Marie: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Catherine Shea: It’s a fun thing to do.

Andrea Marie: Yeah.

Catherine Shea: I mean, family dinners were most fun if you were all sitting around laughing at the table.

Andrea Marie: Yeah, for sure, for sure. Now you have, one daughter and she is now, no. So did you start? You started when your daughter was at home.

Catherine Shea: She was 14 and she’s actually my first audience and she’s helped me on so many jokes. I was teasing her. I said, when I get my Netflix special, you’re getting a writing credit. She helped me.

Andrea Marie: Yeah, writing credit for multiple things, both as subject matter.

Catherine Shea: That’s right.

Andrea Marie: That’s great, that’s great. So she was very supportive of you doing this.

[00:11:06] Raising a creative daughter

Catherine Shea: Lucky for me. She thinks I’m funny. She thinks I’m really funny, so that just encourages me more, you know? And during COVID spent a lot of time trying to keep her happy.

Andrea Marie: Uh huh.

Catherine Shea: You know, as a child it’s, I mean, it was rough for everybody and for our children, what a gruesome time. So I really tried to make sure that every day we were having, doing something fun.

And it became natural. It wasn’t like I was trying to force it, but really trying to keep things, have a sense of humor about our engagement, not about the situation, but how, what we were doing to respond. I knew that we were about to shut down.

And so I picked her up from her afterschool activity the day before the shutdown, and I said, we’re going out to dinner and order anything you want. And order two of anything you want, because I knew it was gonna be a long time before we were out again.

And so we went out, we had a great dinner at Italian restaurant, we got dessert and everything, which we normally, you know, we just try to make the most of every situation.

Andrea Marie: Right.

Catherine Shea: So it’s helpful that she thinks I’m funny.

Andrea Marie: Yeah, that is great. It is nice to, you know, at least not have the eye roll or whatever it is that teens do when, I mean, you might get a little of that anyway. Who knows?

Catherine Shea: Yes, On a lot of other topics.

Andrea Marie: Yeah. That’s so great. And now she’s very creative as well, so, what is she majoring in now? I forget.

Catherine Shea: She’s in political science, and during that COVID time, I did feel like both of us were using, the limitations to stretch our creativity. So I was working on comedy and she was writing poetry. She was playing her violin, she was teaching herself the piano. So she’s really driven by a lot of that. She’s a great writer.

Andrea Marie: Mm-hmm.

Catherine Shea: She was, don’t get me wrong, she was miserable like everybody else.

Andrea Marie: I know. It’s so brutal.

Catherine Shea: There were these moments and so I feel like we were encouraging that in each other, really trying to recognize what the other person was doing creatively. So we were on parallel paths.

Andrea Marie: Right, right.

Catherine Shea: In that process, yeah.

Andrea Marie: I love that, I love that. It is so important. And it was, it’s funny that you said, don’t get me wrong, you’re miserable. But it’s so true because there is a little tendency, I heard someone like romanticizing COVID times. I was like, what are you talking about?

Catherine Shea: Yeah.

Andrea Marie: It was brutal.

Yeah, it was. Maybe we were going on hikes more or whatever we were doing, but it was. Scary, yeah. And so I think that’s great that you use creativity and this outlet to help get you through, you know?

Catherine Shea: Yes.

Andrea Marie: And now we’re through it. And you are, doing a lot of comedy, performing on a lot of shows.

So that’s awesome. And you’re traveling around and I don’t know how, like what have you found since COVID? Have you been just pushing yourselves in yourself selves, like your two people self?

Catherine Shea: Well.

Andrea Marie: In that as well, or what?

Catherine Shea: Yes. Post COVID, back to the office, things like that. All of that happened. My daughter left for college two years ago, so in the last year, she’s been away and I’ve retired quote unquote from my regular, my full-time office job. And for a while I was saying was retired, but now I’m saying to people, I’m a full-time comedian.

Am I supporting myself as a full-time comedian? Not yet, but what I mean is like my days now are really thinking through being a comedian. So the writing in the morning, the business in the afternoon, the shows at night, really trying to use the skills I learned working in the office to be able to apply that to a creative life.

And just finding my stride now in the last few weeks with that sort of rhythm has been really helpful and just, it feels so good. Like when we were together in New York, the year before, I was pretty nervous. This year I noticed a big difference because I was thinking, this is what I do.

Andrea Marie: Yeah.

Catherine Shea: That just felt really good and it was so fun to be with you and with Alice Chan, our other co performer that night.

It was really great just to be with you all before the show. I love that time. Just the respect that I have for you and the other comedians that have worked so hard to be so good. You know, my family that was there. Just loved your show, loved your set, and with Alice too, and it just felt. Like this is where I’m supposed to be, so that feels really good.

Andrea Marie: That’s so great and it really does make a difference when you say, I am a full-time comedian. You claim that it like, it definitely, like you said, it doesn’t matter that you’re not supporting yourself. You’re growing a new thing. You know, we weren’t making, well maybe you were as a lawyer, but I was not making big money back in my twenties, you know, or whatever.

Catherine Shea: Exactly.

Andrea Marie: So it’s just like kind of starting something brand new that you’re, you know, growing and this, especially in this industry is challenging. It is hard to make a full-time living, especially right away. You know, that’s something that comes a little bit later. So that’s great that you are claiming it and like living into it.

Catherine Shea: Well, I really respect what you’ve done with all this, you know, ’cause you’ve started businesses many times and had successful businesses and you’ve started this too. And I just really admire people like you who have done that because I’ve just been so stuck within the bureaucracy, pretty focused on stability.

You know, not the stability of that sort of situation and never taken this kind of risk before.

[00:17:09] Would she have done comedy in her 20s?

Andrea Marie: Yeah, it’s definitely a risky path. And so here’s a question. Would you, do you think you would’ve done it in your twenties? Would you have wanted to take this path in your twenties? Do you say like, oh, if I hadn’t? I wish I hadn’t been a lawyer, so I could have been doing this longer, or whatever.

Catherine Shea: That question comes up a lot and I always say, well, I am not gonna second guess anything up to the point that my child was born.

Andrea Marie: Mm.

Catherine Shea: Anything that would’ve changed that path, I don’t wanna change that.

Andrea Marie: Mm-hmm.

Catherine Shea: And so I don’t look at it that way. And I think sure, that would’ve, yes, of course imagining that would’ve been great.

But also I’m so happy to have been a mother to be, become, you know, be a mother, that I wouldn’t want to change that. But I think about now a lot of us in this mom’s group who are newer, now we have material. Now we have life experience, now we have things to share. And so I’m looking at it more as a confluence of things to share.

You know, helping other moms recognize that they’re not unhinged. This is a crazy thing that we’re doing. It’s a really hard thing being a mom. And so now I would like to give voice to that in simpatico or in, you know, commiseration with the audience and the comedians like, yes, what we’re doing is really challenging and we’re doing it, you know.

Andrea Marie: Exactly.

Catherine Shea: I don’t think back, to that at this point. I’m just glad that the comedy voice was so persistent and consistent and now is given full, full breadth for what it can do.

Andrea Marie: Yeah, right. It’s almost like, you know, what is time? We forget, we still have so much time left and available to us and you know, you can still be a comedian for 20 years or whatever.

Catherine Shea: Yes, yes.

[00:19:10] The story that proves kids are always listenin

Andrea Marie: So, yeah. That’s awesome, that is awesome. I love that. And speaking of unhinged mom times I love asking this of our comedians.

Think of it, what’s a time that you had an unhinged moment? You know, either with your child or in your childhood? Share an unhinged moment story with us so we can all feel like we’re normal.

Catherine Shea: Well, this story is about my child, but reflex on me. And I remember we were driving home, or we were getting in the car and she was old enough to try and buckle herself into the car.

Andrea Marie: Mm-hmm.

Catherine Shea: And she’s buckling away and she can’t quite get it in. And she goes, oh, frock. And I’m like, what? She goes, oh, frock.

I was like, why is she saying frock? You know, like dress, literally, I’m thinking dress. She said, I said, well, why are you saying that? She goes, well, I’m saying it instead of Jesus. I’m like, oh, she’s not saying frock. And so it was like this moment, like, oh my gosh, I thought I was such a good mom. I didn’t think I used any bad words in front of my child, but apparently I used the word Jesus and the word frock. You know what I mean?

Andrea Marie: Yeah. That’s hilarious.

Catherine Shea: So it was, you think you’ve got everything under control and then your children do things that reflect back on you. So that’s a mild unhinged moment, but that’s the one that comes to mind right now. And it’s funny to think of her swearing at the age of 4.

Andrea Marie: I know. That is hilarious. I know. It’s so funny because you’re like. Darn it. You know, yeah. You think you’re doing pretty good, and then you’re like, yeah, well, we’re all muddling through here. We’re doing what we need to do. That’s our motto is barely holding it all together, you know?

Catherine Shea: Yes, yes. She did get herself buckled in.

Andrea Marie: Oh, good. Oh, good. See, you know, little swearing helps. I think

The motto. That’s the motto.

Catherine Shea: And I’ve learned, I can rationalize anything because apparently a swearing is a sign of intelligence. You can find anything you want on the internet.

Andrea Marie: That’s right, that’s right. Great.

Catherine Shea: Yeah.

Andrea Marie: Every theory is backed up by blog written by AI or whatever.

Catherine Shea: That’s right. That’s right.

[00:21:56] Life as an empty nester

Andrea Marie: Yeah. So now she, now you have been an empty nester for two years. How was the empty nester experience?

Catherine Shea: Thrilling. I felt this release to then go use that mental space to think about my other things, not necessarily myself. But, you know, reclaiming my life in a way.

Andrea Marie: Mm-hmm.

Catherine Shea: I think it’s natural to feel that your life is on pause while you’re parenting. So I had a lot of plans.

I had a lot of plans around comedy that I really wanted to get out, and I sort of hit the gas on that. I was teasing when I was still my office job. I was teasing my boss and I said, you’ve only seen the Catherine who’s had a child at home. Now you’re gonna get my full attention.

And he was like, I’m warning you. So it’s good for both my job and my child that they had competing, my interest, they were competing for my interest because neither one got the full on Catherine. And so I’m a bit of a type A really focused on things. So it worked out well to have that sort of balance. But of course I miss her.

Of course I miss, you know, being in our pajamas all day playing with Legos. And I miss all of that. You can’t go back though.

Andrea Marie: Right. It’s true.

Catherine Shea: So I’m really trying to be present and use all those stories.

Andrea Marie: Yeah.

Catherine Shea: In the comedy.

[00:23:42] Claiming comedy as a full-time career

Andrea Marie: Right. And you know, it’s great that you started comedy, you know, before. Now you’ve got this well established hobby that you can really lean into and it’s so fun and there it is social. You’re out and you know. That’s really great. That is.

Catherine Shea: It’s so great meeting other comedians and really being inspired by other comedians. Denver and Fort Collins have great comedy scenes. They’re just really vibrant and people are really in it to get better. You know, Moms Unhinged growing out of Boulder. You know, growing out Colorado was possible because of you and this great ecosystem that we have.

Andrea Marie: Absolutely. Just having so many, it wouldn’t have started in a smaller town without, you know, there’s a lot of women in comedy here, which makes it really great. And just I think like people like Zoe and Janae who are doing classes for people, that makes a great, you know, that’s really great too because as women leaders, they’re encouraging other women to.

To say, “Hey, this isn’t just something that guys do. We’re doing it.” You know, we’re out here in the trenches. So I think that’s really, a positive. They’re just positive role models out there for other

Catherine Shea: women

Andrea Marie: and other moms, so that’s great.

Catherine Shea: Yes, absolutely.

Andrea Marie: Yeah.

Catherine Shea: Yeah.

Andrea Marie: Yeah. I don’t think I have any other questions for you, but this has just been so much fun.

And why don’t you let the audience know where they can find you? Where can they catch up with you?

Catherine Shea: Great. So I’m not sure when this will air, but I think most of my shows, okay, great. So people can find me on my website at catherinesheacomedy.com.

They can find me on Instagram @catherinesheacomedy and they can find me with Moms Unhinged, where all the shows are listed for all the comedians.

Andrea Marie: So great. And yeah, definitely go follow Catherine. And we’re also posting some of her clips on our channels as well. So you gotta go check her out. We’ll have the links in the show notes and all of that. So thank you so much, Catherine, for coming on the show.

Catherine Shea: Andrea, thank you for having me. Appreciate all you do.

Andrea Marie: Ah, thanks.

Catherine Shea: Thanks.

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