{"id":18589,"date":"2026-03-11T06:21:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T06:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/how-comedian-chonda-pierce-is-using-laughter-to-heal\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:06:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:06:07","slug":"how-comedian-chonda-pierce-is-using-laughter-to-heal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/entertainment\/movies-and-tv\/how-comedian-chonda-pierce-is-using-laughter-to-heal\/","title":{"rendered":"How Comedian Chonda Pierce Is Using Laughter to Heal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Comedian Chonda Pierce lives for making others laugh.<\/p>\n<p>The five-time Emmy-nominated performer known for her fierce wit, southern charm and Christian values has spent over two decades on stage, poking fun at herself and connecting with her fans. It came as a surprise then when the star\u2019s heart-breaking documentary <em>Chonda Pierce: Laughing in the Dark<\/em> released late last year.<\/p>\n<p>A deeply personal, moving look at tragedy, mental illness and the resilience of the human spirit, Pierce\u2019s film followed her family as they dealt with the death of the comedian\u2019s mother, a painful separation with one of her children and the loss of her husband all over the course of three years.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/post\/mara-measor-the-power-of-prayer-doodles\/\">READ MORE: THE POWER OF PRAYER DOODLES<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would have much rather have had a better documentary, a happily ever after,\u201d Pierce tells Guideposts.org of the film.<\/p>\n<p>Still, she chose to put her life in front of the camera because she hoped her experiences might inform others.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we sat down in the editing room, what we had was a story of survival and hanging on to your faith when it is the most difficult,\u201d Pierce explains. \u201cIt was just apparent that it could be helpful for people going through so many different types of drama.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Pierce, drama has never been in short supply.<\/p>\n<p>Raised in South Carolina with a preacher for a father, the comedian remembers her mother dragging her to community theater as a young girl.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe just knew I was always such a little ham,\u201d Pierce jokes.<\/p>\n<p>In college, while other girls were auditioning for leading roles and love interests, Pierce only had one goal: to make the crowd laugh. She got a job at a theme park called Opryland U.S.A. impersonating comedy legend Minnie Pearl. If there was ever a doubt that comedy could be a career, it was erased during those six years on stage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI always say comedy sort of found me,\u201d Pierce says. \u201cI just fell in love with hearing people chuckle. I fell in love with the healing that it was for me and my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For the comedian, laughter has been the greatest medicine. When she was diagnosed with depression she decided to share that battle on stage by being completely honest about her own experience with the disease.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy deep depression never showed up until much later in life,\u201d Pierce says, explaining how menopause and some issues from her childhood may have contributed to that initial downward spiral.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/post\/starting-over-after-losing-the-love-of-your-life\/\">READ MORE: STARTING OVER AFTER LOSING THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>She went to rehab which armed her with a set of tools she uses to this day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFind a doctor that understands these things,\u201d Pierce advises anyone else suffering. \u201cFind a great counselor. Keep moving and keep making an effort to feel normal. God gave every one of our systems in our body finite, incredible ways to work and when one of them breaks down your body will let you know. Pay attention to what your body is saying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She also wants to help erase the stigma that surrounds depression.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople won\u2019t get help because they don\u2019t want to be told they\u2019re crazy,\u201d the comedian says. \u201cWell I always tell people \u2018The whole stinking world is crazy, so join the club.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her journey with the disease has been so life-changing that the comedian and her brother started the Branches Recovery Center, which offers counseling and treatment to those with depression, anxiety and addiction, regardless of their ability to pay.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing from a middle class family, it was all we could do to cut and scrimp to get that bill paid,\u201d Pierce says of how expensive her own treatment was. \u201cSo we said let\u2019s find a place and hire some incredible people and begin to pray that God will send us a way to provide for the people that need this that can\u2019t pay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The center may be Pierce\u2019s proudest achievement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou always wonder what your legacy is going to be,\u201d she explains. \u201cMy brother and I have things that we\u2019re so blessed to see God remedied from such a dysfunctional childhood and that\u2019s one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, she views the work she does on-stage as the greatest way she can help others heal. Her latest project \u2013 a three part one-hour series called <em>Stand-Up for Families<\/em> airing on the Dove Channel &#8212; is one aimed at bringing the home back together.<\/p>\n<p>The comedian has paired up with other performers known for their dedication to \u201ckeeping it clean\u201d in order to bring a show to TV that will have kids and their parents rolling on the floor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe [wanted] everybody [to] share the couch and be together,\u201d the comedian explains.<\/p>\n<p>Whether it\u2019s baring her soul on stage, helping others heal from illness or just providing an hours-worth of laughs for families on TV, Pierce is grateful God\u2019s given her a job that brings others joy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that comedy is such a tool to open the heart, to loosen up the muscles, to loosen up the brain,\u201d the comedian says. \u201cI love that my job works at letting the walls down so that before I leave the stage we can leave people with something pertinent, something more than just a laugh. God knew how important it would be to laugh because he said it is a great medicine and when used properly, it is the greatest of medicines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Chonda Pierce Presents: Stand Up for Families airs May 3 on the Dove Channel. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Comedian Chonda Pierce lives for making others laugh. The five-time Emmy-nominated performer known for her fierce wit, southern charm and Christian values has spent over two decades on stage, poking fun at herself and connecting with her fans. It came as a surprise then when the star\u2019s heart-breaking documentary Chonda Pierce: Laughing in the Dark [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":27973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[51],"ppma_author":[470],"class_list":["post-18589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies-and-tv","tag-inspirational-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How Comedian Chonda Pierce Is Using Laughter to Heal - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Comedian Chonda Pierce Is Using Laughter to Heal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Comedian Chonda Pierce lives for making others laugh. 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