“Like a sitcom, my life is like a sitcom,” the Detroit-girl turned SoCal Clean Comedian Kerri Pomarolli said. So much so that she’s made it part of her schtick.
“I actually bought a house in February 2020. Talk about crazy. I think we closed in escrow on February 28, and then COVID-19 happened. So, it went insane for me,” she said. “Their dad, my children’s father, was going to quote, ‘just stay with us for a week,’ when COVID started, and he’s still on my couch. So, my life is hilarious.
My roommate is here, and my kids; it’s like it’s one big village all the time.” On March 13, when the State of California was shut down, Kerri had to cancel a sold-out 1,500-seat show and start to get creative with her usually-on-the-go life. “I’ve particularly adapted to it well, except for one tiny detail. No one is paying me to stay home with my kids. Besides the financials, I am a workaholic.
Even after I gave birth, I think I was back on stage 3 minutes later, breast pump in hand,” she said. “So, I’ve found a lot of different ways. I’ve found a lot of Zoom ministry people. I’m actually doing a Zoom virtual comedy show, virtual conferences, and virtual game nights. When people want me to come and do something live, on rare occasions, then I am happy to do that. I have a new appreciation for it.”
Not the typical stay-at-home-for-the-weekend person, nowadays Kerri finds joy in the simple things.
She has learned to find joy in cleaning her house, watching the Disney Channel, or doing something she loves like cooking a meal and hanging out with neighbors. “I just need to find a way to monetize it,” she said. Kerri also stays connected through Zoom prayer meetings, texting, and calling on prayer warriors. She credits daily devotions, declarations and keeping a prayer board with her kids to keep her on task. “Seriously, our children can come in handy when it comes to routine. They need that routine, so it’s really helped me,” she said. “My kids don’t have any problem putting big prayer requests up there. We’re believing and we’re leaving them up there until they are done. Kids are a great tool.
“ My faith can be weak and lame, but my 10-year-old is like ‘Mommy, we gotta pray,’ so we pray.”
She believes another positive is the renewed interest in family time. “I think one thing COVID-19 has done is give us time to think about things like our heritage — where we come from, traditions, and what they were doing back in their generations that we can learn,” she said. “And, obviously, the art of sitting down with your family at the kitchen table has come back, which is really exciting for me.”
In fact, it was funny dinner conversation that launched Kerri’s latest adventure, the “This Is Not a Good Idea” podcast with her 13-year-old daughter.
“Lucy wants to be a lawyer and a Supreme Court Justice, and I think she’s going to do that because she can lie with such conviction that I believe her. She’s not lying to the point where she thinks she’s lying. It’s just when you’re 13, you know everything about the whole universe and you probably figured it out,” Kerri said. “So, we were sparing over dinner, and she’s just so funny.
“Her dad is like this has got to go in your act, and I said this would make a great podcast. These arguments I have with her are like Princess Diana died in her apartment and she would argue exactly to the point with me that I’m checking with Siri.”
Kerri noted the mother-daughter duo is having fun. She hopes the podcast will bring laughter and open the door to more family conversations.
It’s a little bit edgy. Not in a bad way. But there’s really no topic that I won’t discuss with her because these days these kids know way more than we did. If we’re not on top of our game to be able to participate in these conversations, then we are going to lose them. So, I think it’s going to be fun,” she said. “They’re short, like 15 minutes, which is great because most kids don’t have a good attention span.” They can be found on her YouTube channel and podcast streams.
“I showed her the movie, ‘Grease,’ a beautiful movie, and she’s like ‘Oh, I get it. I have to wear tight leather pants and smoke to get a boy to like me.’
“Seeing the world through a 13-year-old’s eyes is a really entertaining experience compared to my 40-year-old eyes.”
But those family conversations didn’t stop with just one new YouTube creation for Kerri. “I’m thinking about doing a new cooking series because I found my grandmother’s old recipes — you know, the handwritten ones. I want to do something where I cook through the recipes,” she said.
“I’m not a good cook, but I’m going to give it my best shot. I always love to cook but I’m not gourmet. I want to call it ‘Cooking through My Roots,’ and I was joking that the subtitle was going to be ‘A Year in the Kitchen with My Dead Grandmothers.’ I want to do it on my YouTube channel, and I’ve already started my first episode.”
And, as if her life wasn’t interesting enough, this funny girl is also the author of many books and manuscripts. In fact, her first book, Guys Like Girls Named Jennie, recently signed a contract with Candace Cameron Bure and Candy Rock Entertainment to make it into a movie.
“We’re still in pre-production fundraising and partnering with studios. But with Candace attached, I’m just thrilled that she would want to partner with us.”
Kerri also works as a writer with the Hallmark Channel and is a co-author of multiple clean comedy scripts with Claire Lee. The writing duo has worked together for more than a decade and are currently shopping scripts to Netflix. To keep up on all things Kerri, be sure to follow her on her socials @ kerripom.
Kerri will also be bringing A Night of Laughter to the Arise Esther Virtual Conference. “I really want to encourage those women who feel hopeless in light of what’s going in the world, and their own world, that they can do something great.
“I want them to know that God can use them right where they are; they don’t have to wait to take that next step in their journey,” she said.
“They’re going to think their life is a lot better when they hear about mine. They’ll be thinking that I’m really not that bad. I’m not feeding my kids Coke Zero for dinner. I want to encourage women they are good wherever they are today.”
