A hometown hoot with homegrown roots, stand-up star Heather Shaw returns to an Orlando stage this week as part of a national tour.
Performing her first show in Orlando at the age of 25, Shaw got her start in crucial local proving grounds like Shit Sandwich at Bull & Bush and the competitive open mics at Austin’s Coffee. Her first show, an open mic night with Orlando laugh icon Preacher Lawson, garnered only a few audience members — and no laughs. Now, Shaw packs comedy clubs for 60 minutes of material.
Highlights of Shaw’s 11 years in stand-up include appearances on The Today Show, guest spots on podcasts like “Only Child” with Bob the Drag Queen and “The Good Guys” with Josh Peck, and a stand-up special Alright, See Ya!, released in May. Shaw has done plenty of voice-over work for animation, including We’re Going On a Bear Hunt and The Tiger Who Came to Tea. Her current tour, which includes a stop on Wednesday at Orlando’s Funny Bone, features more personal material, with jokes and stories drawn from her personal life, including stories from her recent marriage to wife Lilly.
“It’s new marriage stuff, it’s stories from starting in Florida. I’ve got some good stories from starting comedy in Florida, which is always fun, and stories from the road,” Shaw says. “It’s exciting building up this hour.”
Crafting a set isn’t an easy task. Some jokes don’t necessarily stick their landing, but the seasoned comedian knows how to poke fun at failure. “If I bomb, I know how to make a joke about what we all just saw, which was a bomb,” Shaw says. “I like to call it out and kind of make fun of myself for it.”
Shaw gives a joke three chances to hit, and then it’s out. One audience may not enjoy a certain joke, but that same joke could hit a home run in the next city. Trying out new material is part of the recipe in perfecting a show, and Shaw is prepared to cook up something good.
Earlier sets leaned more toward general-audience jokes and pop culture, and it’s high time for a change for the comedian.
“My first hour was kind of goofy, and it was just a lot of jokes I wrote, not about me or my life,” Shaw said. “So this hour I’m trying to be more personal with it, things that are happening in my life, and while also putting in some things that are going on in the world, and kind of blending that together.”
Touring the U.S. consistently since 2023, Shaw grabs inspiration for jokes from the cities she’s traveled to and adventures on the road, with the occasional return to pop commentary.
“I mean, Tom Brady just came out with coconut water that he’s calling Good Nut, that’s insane,” Shaw jokes. “But there are always stories like that in sports or in pop culture, in whatever’s going on.”
The comedy isn’t done once she leaves the stage, though. “Heather Shaw Is Kidding” is an hour-long podcast with over 220 episodes and 100 bonus episodes, each featuring an improv session with Shaw. With bullet points written and ready, Shaw improvises jokes about hot topics in the news and shares stories from her life. “I like just ranting about mostly pop culture and what’s going on in the news,” Shaw says. “I don’t write beforehand, and it’s just good practice of improvising and writing on the spot and coming up with jokes and being funny in the moment for an hour. That’s what I like about the podcast is that I can just run.”
Shaw’s rise to fame comes from not only her humor, but also the inescapable fact that she shares a striking resemblance to Jim Carrey, earning her the “Lesbian Jim Carrey” nickname from the internet. On TikTok, Shaw told the internet she was Carrey’s long-lost daughter, and fans loved it.
During COVID, Shaw grew bored at home in Orlando and turned to TikTok to get some laughs and start up a “family reunion” with Carrey.
“I was 8 when I first started hearing it,” Shaw says. “I just decided to convince TikTok that I was his long-lost daughter, and it worked.”
Shaw has no plans to stop doing comedy anytime soon. Continuing to work on and perfect her current set, she says it’ll be close to two years before it’s fully honed and road-tested. With plenty of tour dates and podcast appearances on the horizon, there are plenty of opportunities for Shaw to perfect new material. “I think it takes about a couple of years to make a really strong hour,” Shaw says. “And then I’ll make another special, and try to get into acting. I’m really open to anything. Adult film work. I’ll do it all.”
Heather Shaw performs at Orlando’s Funny Bone Comedy Club on Wednesday, June 24 at 7 p.m.. Tickets are available online now.
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