This week on Moms Unhinged, Andrea Marie sits down with Texas-based comedian Donna Lee, whose comedy career took a 12-year intermission while she raised her son and stepsons—only to come roaring back in 2024.
Donna shares what it’s like to return to the stage after a long break, the pressure comics face with social media today, and the hilarious stories of her Thai mom, her cowboy son, and why her family is comedy gold.
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to start over, balance parenting with passion, or just need a laugh about approval-seeking gone sideways, this one’s for you.
Mentioned in this Episode:
My mom called me from Lockhart one day.
Speaker:She had a little ranch and she had all these little animals
Speaker:and she got a new animal.
Speaker:She was very proud, so she called me and she said,
Speaker:Donna, today we have a new donkey.
Speaker:He's so very, very cute.
Speaker:But hee-haw all day
Speaker:and I said, mom, I'm at work.
Speaker:I said, I don't care that you have a new donkey.
Speaker:And she said, Donna, listen to me.
Speaker:He's so very, very loud.
Speaker:He hee haw all day.
Speaker:But he is so cute.
Speaker:And I said, mom, I'm at work.
Speaker:Let the ass do his job.
Speaker:And she had never heard that word in that context.
Speaker:And she said, Donna, he not call you name.
Speaker:You not have to call him name.
Speaker:I said, no, it's, it's in the Bible.
Speaker:It's not a bad word.
Speaker:It just means donkey or a mule.
Speaker:So anyway, some days goes by and she's at work this time.
Speaker:And I called her and I said, mom, you okay?
Speaker:And she said, Donna, Donna, everybody laugh at me today.
Speaker:I not know why.
Speaker:And I said, trust me, old woman, it was something you said.
Speaker:I said, what did you say today?
Speaker:And she said, Donna, ah, talk about how cute my ass is.
Speaker:But it makes so much noise.
Speaker:We are Moms Unhinged, a nationally touring standup comedy show.
Speaker:Join us in our podcast as we explore everything from motherhood,
Speaker:midlife, crisis, marriage, divorce, online dating, menopause, and
Speaker:other things that irritate us.
Speaker:Hello everyone and welcome to Moms Unhinged.
Speaker:My name is Andrea and I am your host today, and I am joined by
Speaker:the lovely, wonderful Donna Lee, one of our Texas-based comedians.
Speaker:Welcome Donna.
Speaker:Hi, thank you so much.
Speaker:I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So fun, so fun.
Speaker:And I keep joking that II just like, I just like having these podcasts
Speaker:so that I can talk to you guys.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:I don't always get a chance at the shows.
Speaker:It's so busy.
Speaker:Like, we're always like, I'm running around like, oh my God.
Speaker:I'd love to kick it off by just like finding out how you got
Speaker:started in your comedy journey.
Speaker:Like what prompted you to be a standup comedian and when did you
Speaker:get, when did you get started?
Speaker:I got started the first round.
Speaker:I've done been in comedy twice, so in 2006 I was in comedy for about five
Speaker:years and I became a really good opener.
Speaker:And I don't think that the normal lay person knows how hard that is to be
Speaker:an opener because I think she knows, the average person thinks, oh, that's
Speaker:the easiest thing to be an open.
Speaker:That's the hardest job to be deal with.
Speaker:I'm always reminding people of that, but I was very proud to say
Speaker:I became a really good opener.
Speaker:Like I remembered all the things and would, you know, memorize the credentials
Speaker:quickly and re remember to just tip your staff and next week so-and-so's coming.
Speaker:So all the good stuff.
Speaker:I did that for about five years and just started to dip my toe into
Speaker:featuring to being a good feature and do that a few times with some big names
Speaker:like DL Hughley and Leanne Morgan.
Speaker:And then I quit.
Speaker:I had to raise my son, and then I had a new marriage.
Speaker:So raising two stepsons that were about the same age as my son.
Speaker:So I took 12 years off and did one show a year, like one, you
Speaker:know, the obligatory fundraiser.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:A friend of mines having a big birthday party and wants me to
Speaker:do 10 minutes or whatever it was.
Speaker:But then I came back to comedy in May 2024.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And I've been doing it fulltime since then, so super happy.
Speaker:And I ended up on one of your shows.
Speaker:I reached out to you and I'll never forget that you were coming
Speaker:through Austin Moms Unhinged.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's super awesome, super awesome.
Speaker:And I love the fact that you, like, you joke that you quit,
Speaker:but you made a powerful choice to stay home with your kids and
Speaker:just, it's so important, you know.
Speaker:It's hard, especially, I don't know what ages were they when you decided
Speaker:to stay at home and stop doing comedy?
Speaker:That's a good question.
Speaker:It's 2006.
Speaker:My son was born in 2002, so he was little and my stepsons are one year
Speaker:and two years older than he, so they were all pretty little boys.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah and it's hard.
Speaker:It's like you've, especially, well, especially when they're that age, and
Speaker:especially boys, it's like they need a lot of they're busy, you know, little kids,
Speaker:toddlers are, and then even into like teen years, you know, they still need you.
Speaker:And especially then a lot of times, you know.
Speaker:Yeah, that's one of the reasons why I came back in is because they're all gone
Speaker:and adulting and they don't really need much of me anymore except to, you know.
Speaker:I have dinner every now and again and chit chat.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I feel like I did my part and they all gave me their
Speaker:approval to go back into comedy.
Speaker:And I was just asked the other day, why don't you cuss on stage?
Speaker:I love to cuss at home, girl.
Speaker:Like I cuss.
Speaker:I say the F word as many times as I can today, but on stage I won't
Speaker:cuss because I always swore that I would want my son to be proud of me
Speaker:and I never wanted him to grow up.
Speaker:When we all knew the internet was a thing forever.
Speaker:I just could not fathom that he would be an adult and find something
Speaker:online that embarrassed him about me.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So that's, that's so true.
Speaker:And that's why, I mean, I definitely feel like that's why I try and with
Speaker:moms and Hinge, we try and stay cleaner because it is like, it's more accessible.
Speaker:And plus we do have kids.
Speaker:Like, we don't, I don't want my kids finding that stuff either, you know?
Speaker:I think it's great.
Speaker:I mean, I cuss with my son like we cussed together.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But I didn't want him to see, like, I wouldn't have like a dirty body part
Speaker:joke online that he would ever find.
Speaker:You know, that's just me.
Speaker:Some moms don't mind and their kids don't mind.
Speaker:But I didn't wanna take that out.
Speaker:Yeah, so that totally makes sense.
Speaker:Totally makes sense.
Speaker:Well, that's awesome that you are back in it and going back in big,
Speaker:you've got a lot of shows and everything like that, so that's great.
Speaker:What do you think has been like the hardest part of reentering?
Speaker:Like did you feel, like, do you feel like things have changed
Speaker:since you were doing it before?
Speaker:Like, what was the?
Speaker:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker:Back in the day, there was no, there was social media, but it
Speaker:wasn't like it is now like when.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Head when I'm headlining now, there's so much pressure to fill seats
Speaker:in the room with Moms Unhinged.
Speaker:I'm always like, oh, thank God.
Speaker:A Moms Unhinged show.
Speaker:It's more stress on you, but it's it, they're pretty full.
Speaker:Like you just like, like comedy used to be, you just go to the venue,
Speaker:you do your comedy and go home.
Speaker:Now it's so much different.
Speaker:We have to do all the posts on social media.
Speaker:You have to do, you know, so the Facebook campaigns and boosting all
Speaker:these ads, and I am pretty fairly new to social media coming back into this.
Speaker:In 2024, I had 168 Instagram followers.
Speaker:And I didn't know what I was doing and I've had to work really hard to
Speaker:post a bunch of things and boost a bunch of things and it's stressful.
Speaker:And so when I started headlining more and more now it's just the
Speaker:clubs are like, well, you know, you got 15 tickets sold, you know.
Speaker:Your show's in a week, you know, what are you gonna do?
Speaker:It's really only comic and it's really, really hard.
Speaker:But I mean that the clubs do their marketing too, but I feel like there's
Speaker:just so much more stress than I ever heard about for headliners now.
Speaker:I've been hanging out with, they're just always stressed out beyond.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:That's been hard.
Speaker:But in just keeping out with social media and trends.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I can't even spell social media girl.
Speaker:I know it's so much, it's overwhelming, and there's like, I'm
Speaker:like, why can't we just be on one?
Speaker:Let's just all choose one.
Speaker:Yeah, right.
Speaker:I don't need to choose different sizes for different and different lengths
Speaker:and different blah, blah, blah, different hashtags and dah, dah, dah.
Speaker:It's like, yeah, just let's all standardize.
Speaker:Pick one, let's go.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:Now you, I wanna dive a little bit into, you talk a lot in your comedy
Speaker:about your mom, which is hilarious.
Speaker:It's so funny.
Speaker:And, but you, you've had this multiethnic, history background.
Speaker:So talk a little bit about that and what that's been like, especially with,
Speaker:you know, differences between your mom and your kids and everything like that.
Speaker:Yeah, my mom is from Thailand, so she's Thai and my dad's Irish, so
Speaker:I always joke that I'm Thai-rish.
Speaker:I always like I've learned that phrase.
Speaker:I'm sure there's more out there, but my first husband was very much a
Speaker:cowboy, a southern guy, you know, had horses and things from Utah, and so
Speaker:he had a really heavy southern accent.
Speaker:So my son took on that part of his dad.
Speaker:So my son, who's six foot three, wears a big cowboy hat, big belt buckle ball,
Speaker:and the cowboy boots, the whole thing.
Speaker:And he talks to me like this mother, how?
Speaker:How are you doing mother?
Speaker:Get her done.
Speaker:Like he says things like, it's literally the cable guy in my house.
Speaker:my mom, that was a really heavy Asian accent and she thinks that Sterling
Speaker:hung the moon because she wanted a boy.
Speaker:She always wanted a boy and most Asian moms.
Speaker:So she would just, oh, Sterling you everything to me.
Speaker:I love you so much.
Speaker:I'm like, mom, what about me?
Speaker:She's like, I love Sterling.
Speaker:Like she always just crossed over me.
Speaker:You brought me Sterling.
Speaker:Yeah, she's like, and then she told people for a long time that she
Speaker:gave birth to a boy and a girl.
Speaker:Ah.
Speaker:I'm like, you did not.
Speaker:You did not.
Speaker:But she'll tell everybody that.
Speaker:Yeah, Sterling was her son directly from her stomach.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:Yeah, they're cute together because Sterling, he has his heavy accent.
Speaker:He is like, Mimi, how the hell are you doing?
Speaker:What's going on?
Speaker:I'm coming home.
Speaker:I'm gonna come to your house to eat food for my heritage.
Speaker:And I'm like, it's just the way you say things Sterling, like
Speaker:your heritage.
Speaker:Like what does that mean?
Speaker:But
Speaker:So funny.
Speaker:He likes to, he gets a kick outta telling people he's Thai, so he, you
Speaker:know, he's got these massive arms, these super long arms because he is
Speaker:so tall, he looks like a supermodel.
Speaker:And he'll tell people, he'll walk up and go, bruh I'm Asian and
Speaker:you're not that Asian.
Speaker:But it's funny that you say that.
Speaker:And he's like, mother, my Mimi's from Thailand, so therefore I'm Asian.
Speaker:The cowboy hat throws people.
Speaker:I know, that's hilarious.
Speaker:That's so funny.
Speaker:So now your mom and your dad, how did they get together?
Speaker:Like Irish and Thai just definitely seems like we're, yeah.
Speaker:My dad is a, he's American, but his roots are from Ireland.
Speaker:He was in the Vietnam War.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:My mom, she's from Thailand, but she had a nail salon, I mean a hair and nail
Speaker:salon in Laos on the border of Vietnam.
Speaker:So the GIs would go to her hair salon and they would get the haircut cut.
Speaker:So my dad would go in and see this beautiful Thai woman, and she bought
Speaker:the salon from another woman named Vina.
Speaker:So at the top it said, Vina's.
Speaker:And so all the gis would go get their hair done by, you know, my mom Vina,
Speaker:at Vina's, and my dad was talking to the woman who was cutting his hair.
Speaker:He said, who's that beautiful woman?
Speaker:And the woman cutting his hair said, that's the owner in her broken English.
Speaker:And so my dad thought that, that her name was Vina.
Speaker:Her name was never Vina, but he called Vina for her the rest of her whole life.
Speaker:And when she told me that story, I said, why didn't you correct dad and say that
Speaker:wasn't your name that you bought the salon from, a woman from Vina she being this
Speaker:subservient Asian, she said, oh, I'm not.
Speaker:You never correct the man.
Speaker:I'm like, for 50 fucking years I
Speaker:are.
Speaker:And she, oh no I never correct him.
Speaker:Oh, that's hilarious.
Speaker:That is so funny, oh my God.
Speaker:He never asked, like he was like, well, we'll call her Vina's.
Speaker:That's so funny.
Speaker:So they fell in love, got married, came back here.
Speaker:Now did they come back to, did have you always lived in, did you grow up in Texas.
Speaker:I was born in Thailand, so we came back overseas.
Speaker:My dad was still in the Air Force, came back interesting story.
Speaker:My mom got really, really sick with uterine cancer in
Speaker:Thailand when I was a baby.
Speaker:Oh my goodness.
Speaker:She almost died and she spoke hardly any English and so they knew he
Speaker:was coming back here to the States and he had never even held a baby.
Speaker:He didn't even have to take care of me 'cause my mom took care of
Speaker:me when I was a little bitty baby.
Speaker:And then she got sick, they put her on a stretcher and they called my
Speaker:dad in from active service three times for him to say goodbye to his
Speaker:wife 'cause they just knew she was.
Speaker:Pass away.
Speaker:And so he told me the stories, like, I didn't know what I was gonna do with
Speaker:you because I'd never even held a baby.
Speaker:Now I'm stuck with this child and my wife is dying.
Speaker:And so she kept pulling through and so on a stretcher, they put her on a
Speaker:B-52 airplane with my dad's dog tags.
Speaker:And this is 1973-74 where there weren't, you know, computers
Speaker:like we have now to find.
Speaker:She ended up in like Iowa and my dad and I ended up in Hawaii and he
Speaker:said he held me and I was crying.
Speaker:And we ended up in Hawaii first and then over to Alaska for some reason.
Speaker:And I only had a onesie, like it's this whole crazy story that I really should
Speaker:write out because it's really interesting.
Speaker:And then it got back to the states in different states and then
Speaker:they finally were reconnected.
Speaker:My mom had a big, massive surgery, saved her life, and she pulled through.
Speaker:But I just always thought that was so interesting that she could hardly speak
Speaker:any English and she was on her deathbed.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:Old lady.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Tough.
Speaker:That's amazing.
Speaker:That's amazing.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:And how terrifying for your dad, you know, to from multiple levels.
Speaker:That's so crazy.
Speaker:And he did three tours.
Speaker:My favorite story about him is he's like Clint Eastwood.
Speaker:He smoked three packs a day.
Speaker:And every time I talk about him I'm, well, I just instinctively do this.
Speaker:'cause he always had his hand right there with a cigarette.
Speaker:But I said, why did you do three tours?
Speaker:Nobody does three tours in Vietnam, they do in Iraq, and you know, now they'll,
Speaker:I said, but now, back in the day.
Speaker:And he always spoke slowly and he looked at me and he goes, because the first time
Speaker:they sent me over there, I had to go.
Speaker:And then he took a long drag and he goes, and the second time I
Speaker:met your mother and fell in love.
Speaker:And then he took a long drag on the cigarette and he goes, and
Speaker:the third time I had to get your little white ass out of there.
Speaker:I was like, thanks.
Speaker:Oh my gosh, that's so crazy.
Speaker:Wow, wow.
Speaker:That's wild.
Speaker:And then, does your mom still live close to you?
Speaker:She actually passed away two years ago.
Speaker:Oh, I'm so sorry.
Speaker:I didn't know.
Speaker:No, no, no.
Speaker:I talk about her.
Speaker:I think that's my way of dealing and coping is that I talk about
Speaker:her as if she's alive on stage.
Speaker:And my dad has passed away in 2017, so in my, my routine, he's passed because
Speaker:he is part of my story of having passed.
Speaker:But yeah, I'm that stick my head in the sand person.
Speaker:My spirit animal is an ostrich, so I just pretend that she's
Speaker:alive and well in my act.
Speaker:Yeah but I think there is something about that, like still, you know, 'cause
Speaker:my mom just passed away and, yeah.
Speaker:And you know, I like, I was debating, I have this stuff, I have this material.
Speaker:And I was like, and I've sort of modified it a little bit to kind of talk about
Speaker:it, but 'cause it is still like part of us, it's still like such a funny story.
Speaker:It's funny and actually some of my stuff is about her at the end, like kind of with
Speaker:the Alzheimer's and dementia that she had.
Speaker:So I think it's like, it's just stuff that people can relate to.
Speaker:And yours is just so interesting with your mom.
Speaker:You know, just that the way she would talk to you and just interact with your son and
Speaker:just, it's just so, it is a way to keep them alive, I think, and keep them close.
Speaker:And yeah.
Speaker:I think it's special.
Speaker:Yeah, I'm glad you said that 'cause I debate on that 'cause when after
Speaker:I finish a show, every time somebody would come up to me and say, oh
Speaker:my God, your mom sounds so cute.
Speaker:Will you bring you to the next show?
Speaker:Or, we wanna meet your mom.
Speaker:Yeah, she's kind of here.
Speaker:She's kind of here.
Speaker:Like, it'd be really hard, but I'll try.
Speaker:Like, but I just like keeping her alive.
Speaker:And she never really understood standup comedy.
Speaker:They don't have standup comedy really in Thailand like we do.
Speaker:Really?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So she never really understood it, so she didn't really like, you know, not like it.
Speaker:She just didn't understand it.
Speaker:Yeah, that's so interesting.
Speaker:I didn't even think about that.
Speaker:Is that mostly Thailand or is it just all?
Speaker:I mean, I did a, there was a comedy club in Japan I performed at.
Speaker:Yeah, I'm sure that has standup comedy in Thailand, but she's lived
Speaker:in a really remote village, so she was never exposed to comedy.
Speaker:Until she came to the States and she doesn't like standup comedy.
Speaker:Not, she doesn't understand what it is, but she doesn't like it.
Speaker:I remember her watching like Johnny Carson, where she
Speaker:didn't understand the comedy.
Speaker:My dad likes it, but my mom, she did like slapstick Asian comedy,
Speaker:you know, pie in the face and really dumb, silly stuff like that.
Speaker:That she would laugh at, but actual just standing there talking with a
Speaker:microphone, that was not anything to her.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, I think so much of standup is sort of a, can be a kind of play on
Speaker:words or kind of this reversal and you have to, it can be really nuanced the
Speaker:way you know, kind of zig and zag with something that people think you're gonna
Speaker:say, and then you say something else.
Speaker:And that's what makes it funny.
Speaker:But like, if your English is your second language, I imagine that
Speaker:would be kinda challenging sometimes you're like, why is that funny?
Speaker:Yeah, sure.
Speaker:So my favorite story about my mom is that I wanted her to understand what I
Speaker:do to see if I could get her validation.
Speaker:Of course, we're always looking for that.
Speaker:So I took her to Oklahoma with me to a casino and Leon Morgan asked
Speaker:me to open and feature for her.
Speaker:So I was gonna do, be the first comedian to come out for 2030.
Speaker:600 people in the room.
Speaker:Big massive auditorium at a big, giant casino.
Speaker:And I thought my mom and I are gonna bond.
Speaker:She's gonna accept me.
Speaker:This is gonna be great.
Speaker:So we drive there, she's so excited about the casino.
Speaker:And then I said, well, I need you to come into this big giant
Speaker:room 'cause I'm gonna do my act.
Speaker:And then Leanne Morgan's gonna come out and you're gonna love her.
Speaker:'cause she's adorable.
Speaker:And this is a long time ago, like, I don't know 8, 17 years ago.
Speaker:And so I see my mom in the very first table, the big round tables.
Speaker:I see her in the front table, right in front of the stage,
Speaker:and I come walking to the stage, Donna Lee, everybody's laughing.
Speaker:It was a big full of room of 600 people.
Speaker:And I start to talk, and then two minutes in, my mom stands up and walks out.
Speaker:Of this giant auditorium, and I was so stunned that I couldn't even, I was
Speaker:like, I don't even know what to say.
Speaker:Like, I didn't, I didn't have crowd work ability at this point, and I
Speaker:didn't know where she was going, and I just could see my little Asian mom
Speaker:and her black hair just walking away.
Speaker:And so then I did my set.
Speaker:It kind of got in my head and to this day, I feel like Leanne Morgan
Speaker:was like, that wasn't as strong as I've seen Donnelly before.
Speaker:After the show, I thank Leanne Morgan.
Speaker:Of course she killed, did a great job.
Speaker:I leave and go find my mom in the casino and she's at a slot machine.
Speaker:And I said, I've been looking for it everywhere.
Speaker:I said, what are you doing?
Speaker:What?
Speaker:And I was mad and hurt and I was crying.
Speaker:It was devastating.
Speaker:And I said, what are you doing?
Speaker:Where did you go, mom?
Speaker:And she said, Donna, I'm not understanding what you say.
Speaker:I get bored.
Speaker:So I leave.
Speaker:Oh my God.
Speaker:True story.
Speaker:That is hilarious.
Speaker:Isn't that hilarious?
Speaker:I get bored, so I leave.
Speaker:Oh my god.
Speaker:She just like exactly what you said, she didn't understand
Speaker:the nuances of the stories.
Speaker:And even though I've told those same stories a thousand times at every dinner
Speaker:party that we ever had, and she would laugh, you know, it was just different.
Speaker:'cause if she was involved, she was very much the attention person.
Speaker:If she was involved in the story, she could laugh and you know,
Speaker:elaborate or say she said this or that, but the attention was on me
Speaker:and we had a very sisterly kind of.
Speaker:Relationship and it was just really, really hurtful.
Speaker:Now it's a funny story, but at the time I thought, I will never
Speaker:forgive you for the rest of.
Speaker:Seriously, like a big show like that.
Speaker:Especially like, you know, and not even, like, it doesn't matter
Speaker:if you don't understand it.
Speaker:Just like aren't you enjoying the people laughing?
Speaker:And enjoying your, you know, that's so funny.
Speaker:Like you said you wanted to be proud of you.
Speaker:Yeah, nuts.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Did you feel like she was, you were kind of looking for approval from her?
Speaker:Was it a hard thing?
Speaker:Yeah, that was, I'm an only child and I never really got my parents' approval, so
Speaker:my mom never really approved of anything I did, except when I married a rich man.
Speaker:Hmm well.
Speaker:That she approved of dad too.
Speaker:My dad too.
Speaker:But they, yeah, my dad who did like standup comedy, he didn't really
Speaker:care for me doing it, but he wasn't.
Speaker:But he, because I didn't really cuss and I told family stories, he
Speaker:wasn't embarrassed about it, but he never like went out of his way to,
Speaker:you know, he never told anybody.
Speaker:And my daughter does stand up comedy.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:It is a weird, it is a weird profession like that.
Speaker:It's kind of like, you know, it's not like an actor.
Speaker:You know, that sounds glamorous, but like standup comedian,
Speaker:and they're like, Hmm where?
Speaker:It doesn't hold the same cachet, you know?
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Yeah interesting.
Speaker:Well, that's frustrating, so, oh my God.
Speaker:But that's, that is a funny
Speaker:story.
Speaker:And so you've got, you've got the one son, how old is he now?
Speaker:And then you have two stepsons?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I have Sterling just turned 23, and then 24 and 25.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Okay, great.
Speaker:So they're all kind of launched.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So to speak, yeah.
Speaker:Husband can make his own dinners.
Speaker:Now we're good.
Speaker:He knows how to feed the wiener dogs, so probably trained, including him.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And you were telling me you've got how many dogs, how many cat,
Speaker:like what's the rundown again?
Speaker:So much.
Speaker:I don't know, girl.
Speaker:I think because I didn't have more than one biological
Speaker:child, I wanted more children.
Speaker:But then I was going through the divorce.
Speaker:I think I am, I'm hoarding animals and plants, so I have four mini
Speaker:wiener dogs, and they're all just the cutest thing in the world.
Speaker:I have four indoor cats, and then I have three outdoor cats, so 11 animals
Speaker:and a husband to feed every day.
Speaker:And then I have over a hundred potted plants all around my house.
Speaker:And then we just put in a whole bunch of landscaping.
Speaker:I haven't even included all that mess.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:Yeah, it's a lot.
Speaker:And I love it.
Speaker:Every morning I get up super early, like four 30 and I have all
Speaker:these little mouths around me just waiting to eat and we go out and
Speaker:there's just this, the happy place.
Speaker:I love it so much.
Speaker:Well, that's awesome.
Speaker:Clearly you like to take care of the things, you know, so that's great.
Speaker:That's great.
Speaker:I, my plant situation is survival of the fittest over here.
Speaker:It's like, good luck guys.
Speaker:Oh my gosh, you guys brought me another orchard to kill.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:man.
Speaker:So, yeah.
Speaker:I wanna hear, one of the things I like to ask on these is a, an unhinged story.
Speaker:Unhinged could be a story about your, well, we've heard some about your
Speaker:mom, but it could be just parenting.
Speaker:It's just, I feel like we all need to relate to something and how
Speaker:challenging it can get, right.
Speaker:I have a great story that just happened.
Speaker:So my son, who is just sent from the heavens, he's never been in trouble.
Speaker:He's never gotten in the inner timeout.
Speaker:I've never had to take his phone away.
Speaker:He never drank alcohol and I busted him like he he, none of that.
Speaker:He was just absolutely perfect his entire life and he still is.
Speaker:But he's graduating from a and m recently, and I said, you know, looks
Speaker:like a lot of your friends are getting married and are getting engaged.
Speaker:Are you, you and your girlfriend?
Speaker:You've been together for a couple years?
Speaker:And then he goes, mother, I'm not in a position to get
Speaker:engaged or married anytime soon.
Speaker:I can't believe you're bringing that up.
Speaker:I'm too young.
Speaker:I'm gonna get my thirties and have a lot of money in the bank, and then
Speaker:I'll get married and I'll be engaged.
Speaker:And he gave me, he was kind of coming at me a little hard
Speaker:and I was like, calm down.
Speaker:I'm just asking because you've been with your girlfriend and
Speaker:your friends are getting married.
Speaker:So fast forward a few weeks later, my husband and I are having lunch with him
Speaker:and his girlfriend, and his girlfriend's name is Gwyneth, and she's adorable.
Speaker:And she said, Sterling, did you tell your mom?
Speaker:And I said, tell your mom what?
Speaker:And he goes, of course.
Speaker:I told my mother and I said, tell your mother what?
Speaker:And he said, mother, I told you.
Speaker:I said, what are we talking about?
Speaker:And Gwyneth said, we got a house together
Speaker:and.
Speaker:Wait, and I couldn't wrap my head around it, but I didn't wanna say in
Speaker:front of her, you didn't tell me this.
Speaker:And so I just kind of played dumb and I was like, oh yeah, this is great.
Speaker:And on the inside I was melting away quickly.
Speaker:And so I thought, what's happening?
Speaker:And she said, do you wanna see it?
Speaker:It's right out there.
Speaker:We were in Georgetown, which is north of Austin, and they bought, they got
Speaker:a little house together in Georgetown.
Speaker:So we go to their house and it's adorable.
Speaker:But then the other side of me kicks in.
Speaker:At first I'm like, shocked, and then I'm mad.
Speaker:They didn't let me know because I would've gotten them a house warming gift.
Speaker:I would've had some sort of input.
Speaker:I mean something.
Speaker:So then I'm a little bit mad at Sterling for the first time, many,
Speaker:many years because I was like, what?
Speaker:And he just kept saying, I told you mother, I can't
Speaker:believe you don't remember.
Speaker:I said, you never told me this.
Speaker:I would've remembered.
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:That's a big thing.
Speaker:It's not like just like, yeah, it's not like, oh, I'm going out Friday night.
Speaker:No, this is.
Speaker:Yeah, and you just told me you're not getting engaged anytime soon.
Speaker:This is sort of the same thing.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So you are finding a lease with a human being, just like
Speaker:you would've given her a ring.
Speaker:So I calmed down and I shut up, and then I came home.
Speaker:And then Sterling called me a few hours later from his truck
Speaker:and he had me on speakerphone.
Speaker:And I said, are you alone?
Speaker:And he said, yes.
Speaker:And I go, what the hell, Sterling?
Speaker:And he said, he goes, what mother?
Speaker:I told you, I said, you didn't tell me shit.
Speaker:I said, you didn't tell me anything.
Speaker:And he goes, mother, I told you I was looking for a place in Georgetown.
Speaker:I said, you did not, you said that maybe, but you didn't say
Speaker:with a girl, my girlfriend.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:The best part of this whole story is just so true to form his words to
Speaker:me where he goes, I was just calling you to see how you were processing.
Speaker:I said processing.
Speaker:You don't have the G on the end of any word anymore, but I'm not processing.
Speaker:It a lot.
Speaker:And I had to kind of just let it go and they're adorable.
Speaker:And then I, now, he keeps inviting me over for dinner and he wants
Speaker:me to spend the night 'cause they have a cute little guest room.
Speaker:And I'm like, was so cute.
Speaker:Oh.
Speaker:I felt a little unhinged for the first time in a long time.
Speaker:'cause I didn't know how to, you know, take the information that I wasn't
Speaker:given that he thought he gave me.
Speaker:And I was just like, oh, I'm gonna kill you.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:Yeah, it is.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:It is funny and I think like, it's funny 'cause I think boys and, I mean, I know
Speaker:this is like a total oversimplification, but I do feel like boys, we just
Speaker:don't get the same information that.
Speaker:Girls give their parents.
Speaker:I mean, you know, obviously oversimplified depends on the relationship, but I
Speaker:know my sister gets play by plays of everything going on in my niece's life.
Speaker:You know, I am lucky if I find out like what school they're
Speaker:thinking about going to.
Speaker:You know, like all these big, big decisions, you know, it's like, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I totally understand that.
Speaker:But yeah, that definitely made me feel like a nutty, nutty mom for a minute.
Speaker:Yeah yeah.
Speaker:That's wild.
Speaker:That's wild.
Speaker:Oh, well this has just been so much fun.
Speaker:Thank you so much for being on the show.
Speaker:Why don't you tell people where they can find you and get connected with you?
Speaker:Yeah, my handle on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook is @donnaleecomedy, and
Speaker:then my website is donnaleecomedy.com, and you can find me everywhere.
Speaker:I'm trying to post like these youngsters are doing, so I stay as updated as I can.
Speaker:I know, I know.
Speaker:It's wild.
Speaker:It is wild.
Speaker:And yeah.
Speaker:That's awesome.
Speaker:Well, we'll have those links in our show notes too, so people can get
Speaker:connected to you and find out about all your latest stuff and yeah.
Speaker:Thanks again.
Speaker:Thank you for having me, Andrea.
Speaker:Bye everyone.
Speaker:Bye.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Thanks for listening and make sure you subscribe, share, and follow us on
Speaker:the socials to get more comedy clips.