Queen of Clean Chonda Pierce brings comedy tour to Spokane

Chonda Pierce is one of the best-selling comedians in the country, and she’s done it without the use four-letter words or blue material. She’s vocal about her Christian faith, and she’s been labeled the Queen of Clean.

“I had a deep desire to maintain my faith and keep it clean,” Pierce said from her home in Nashville. “I wanted my kids to always be able to listen to what I was saying.”

Pierce, who performs in Spokane this weekend, got her start in entertainment at the now-defunct theme park Opryland USA, where she had a job impersonating comedian and “Hee Haw” cast member Minnie Pearl. She remembers sneaking her own comedic material into her scripted act, much of it related to her religious upbringing.

“I think all comedians talk about their childhoods and what they know,” Pierce said. “I grew up in a very devout, strict family. I was one of those Bible Belt kids that they used the belt on. I feel like I backed into this love for comedy.

“What I was familiar with was my church life and being a preacher’s daughter, all those funny stories of sneaking out and hiding stuff under your bed. … Most comics are cutting their teeth at comedy clubs on open mic night, and I was making the choir practice laugh.”

Pierce’s comedy deals candidly with her personal life – having children, dealing with elderly parents and her bafflement over social media. In some stand-up circles, there is something of a stigma to comedians who are adamant about keeping their material PG-rated, but Pierce says her career has never sputtered because of it.

“It wasn’t until years into my career that someone said, ‘You know, this could slow you down a bit,’ ” she said. “But I was already blessed to have a few gold records on the wall. If it was a deterrent, I didn’t feel it.”

Pierce has released several comedy DVDs over the years, and she’s also the subject of a recent feature-length documentary titled “Laughing in the Dark.” The film was originally conceived as a standard behind-the-scenes record of Pierce’s life on the road, but it developed into an intimate story about her struggle with depression and the deaths of both her mother and husband.

“I do worry if (the film) tells too much,” Pierce said. “The church world doesn’t always understand addiction and depression, so to be bold and put it all out there is frightening. And yet I’m very honored that someone thought this story was worthy enough to put in a theater.”

Pierce says her late husband inspired her best material – “He used to say that his job was to keep doing stupid stuff so I’d have something to talk about,” she said – and her newest routines focus on topics like the perils of online dating and approaching middle age.

“I talk about what I’m going through, what I’m learning,” Pierce said. “I love that kind of material. I love to look at something ordinary or ridiculous that we’re doing. Because I come from the faith-based community, any time you talk about Spanx or sex or girdles, I love to embarrass the room to death.”