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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

‘Not alone’ with Moms Unhinged

National comedy troupe Moms Unhinged will feature three comedians Wednesday at the Knitting Factory.  (Courtesy of Moms Unhinged)
By Megan Dhein For The Spokesman-Review

Moms Unhinged is a national comedy troupe based in Colorado, with over 50 comedians. On Wednesday, three of them are performing at the Knitting Factory.

Andrea Vahl, Moms Unhinged founder, has been doing comedy for 14 years. She was a public speaker, and took some comedy classes to try to strengthen her craft.

“I thought standup sounded really scary, but I took the class and absolutely loved it,” Vahl said.

From the very beginning, her act centered around her personal experiences, being a mom and going through a midlife crisis, she said.

“People could really related to some of those struggles of being a mother and just being a woman in this world,” Vahl said.

Vahl could see there was a hole in the market for this type of comedy, and with that, six years ago, Moms Unhinged was born.

She said that it started off slower, just performing a few shows. When the pandemic hit, they even performed a few Zoom shows.

After the pandemic, they decided to do more shows in the Colorado area, and they were all selling out, Vahl said. So, she decided to do more shows, but when those still sold out, they decided to take their show on the road.

“There’s a lot of male comedians,” she said. “A lot of woman comedians don’t get the same opportunities that male comedians get, and oftentimes are not put on as many shows. I think that’s what people respond to when they see this – their voice reflected in comedy.”

This year, they’re booked for 70 shows, but it will likely be more because they’re still booking. They’ve expanded to include comedians from other areas – Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, and New York – and have 50 comedians who are part of their group.

Vahl is thrilled to be able to offer the Moms Unhinged comedians profit sharing from their shows. In fact, some are doing enough acts that it’s now their fulltime job, including Vahl.

Vahl will be performing at the Spokane show, which will be headlined by Lisa Lane, and will also feature Jody Carroll, who is from the Seattle area.

Carroll has been performing with Moms Unhinged for four months, and has already performed in four shows. She was recommended by another Moms Unhinged comedian, Meaghan Elwood. Carroll said that so far, she has loved this experience.

“They’re the best shows ever,” Carroll said. She said her fellow comedians are extremely supportive.

“We’re all kind of this in the same stage of life and have the same sensibilities, values, and we’ve all been moms,” Carroll said. “We’ve all had the same comedy journey where we’ve done the bars and the clubs and the open mics. That was so fun and so fulfilling and I loved it and it was just kind of the experience that I wanted. But then to be with these women backstage is so refreshing.”

One of the big things Carroll noticed early in her experience was the audience. She was in the parking lot in her car putting the finishing touches on her makeup and “as I was sitting there, the cars would drive in and park and then out of the cars would pop, you know, the car full of like four or five women, and they were all happy and laughing and so excited to go to the show and taking selfies. Just a group of moms that were just ready to have a fun night out.”

Carroll has noticed there is something cathartic about people being in community with each other and laughing.

“You’re just feeling like, oh my gosh, we all have this thought and we all agree that this has been hard, this piece of it has been hard but we can laugh about whatever specific joke that one of us is telling you,” Carroll said. “You hear a room full of anywhere from 200 to 500 women all laughing in unison at the same thing and you’re just like, ‘Wow, I’m not alone.’”