Not many comedians start their careers on a whim, but that’s just what happened to Vickie Shaw. She may look like the woman next door – with blond hair, painted nails and lipstick – but this Texas native is anything but ordinary.

“Actually over the years people would tell me, ‘You should be in comedy.’ So I just went to an open mic just to say I had done it – for me. I did it for that reason only. Not because I expected to make a career out of it, or I thought I was really funny,” says Shaw.

Shaw will be in town on June 5 for The San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center’s “Women in Comedy Extravaganza”. Joining her in this two-woman show is actress and comedian Carlease Burke. The appearance is part of her national “Sick and Wrong” tour.

“Actually the very first time I got on an open mic I froze, and to this day I cannot tell you why I did it again,” recalls Shaw. “I did it and it just started to click. People thought I was funny. Slowly I got hired and just started working. It just kind of happened. It was strictly a fluke.”

Ten years later the youthful, 48-year-old Shaw is a seasoned stand-up comedian, mother of three and a lesbian. She came out of the closet at the same time she started her comedy career. Raised Southern Baptist, Shaw’s coming out process was challenging and took a lot longer than most. It was through comedy that Shaw found solace. It was one of the things that brought her out of the closet and into the limelight.

“Comedy was one of the catalysts. It’s about pain and life and frustration and what you’re going through and you’re laughing at it,” she explains. “In order to get in touch with emotions on a comic level … to laugh about it, I had to go there and part of it was being gay. Part of that was accepting that I was gay and I was okay.”

Shaw’s comedy has always focused on her life as a mother, a woman and as a gay person. She centers on the people in her life she feels the most passionate about – her family. Shaw has two sons, 24-year-old Matthew and 22-year-old Wesley, and a daughter, Hayley, aged 17.

“My kids were also one of my catalysts in that how can I teach them to live with integrity if I’m not living with integrity? My kids are phenomenal – they’re accepting, they’re loving and they’re completely confident in who they are and confident Mom will love them no matter what. …

“I’m not going to dress different, cut my hair, be ugly and wear comfortable shoes. I don’t do that. I wear heels, I’m blond, I wear jewelry and I love glitter. I’m from the South. That’s what I like,” says Shaw. “I haven’t changed and I never did. They just don’t want their mother going up to their school announcing it on the loud speaker.”

An aspiring actress, Shaw’s daughter Hayley has opened for her many times at some of her shows. “Here’s this little straight high school girl who comes out on stage and opens for her mom,” says Shaw. “She does some comedy and people are just floored. She wants to perform and it’s great. … It’s been such a positive influence, especially on a lot of lesbians that have kids and are not out. They just think their children would die, and here Hayley is on stage announcing me. They just can’t believe what they’re seeing.”

“My comedy has always been about my life,” says Shaw, “and it’s never been about anything else. I compare myself more with Bill Cosby in that I tell you a story about my life or what happened yesterday, or a week ago or last year. That’s what comes to me. That’s what’s important to me — my family and all that goes with it.”

Shaw also draws material from her love life. Shaw met her partner of five years, police officer Lori Patsch, off the stage on an Olivia cruise she performed for. They fell in love and Shaw eventually moved to Patsch’s home in Illinois.

“She couldn’t move, being a police officer. She had to finish up her retirement. Of course at my age that’s sexy. She’s cute so that’s a bonus,” said Shaw. In three years Patsch will be able to retire from the police force. The couple is considering a move to California at that time.

“If my partner does something stupid and it makes me laugh, well, it’s going in the act. I told her that when we first started dating, ‘If you can’t handle that then we don’t need to be dating each other because that’s how it works.’ My kids would say to her, ‘Yeah Lori, welcome to our world.’”

Shaw also touches on some prevalent issues affecting the gay and lesbian community in her act – issues like gay marriage and the presidential elections. And of course Shaw sees some personal issues, like marriage, as a political statement.

“I asked my partner the other day to marry me,” says Shaw. “She got all teary and I said, ‘Don’t get all upset, it’s about politics.’ That would be a political thing, for Lori and I as a couple to go (to Massachusetts), and come back and fight our own state. I would consider doing that. I would then have a ceremony with our families and children.”

The upcoming Presidential election has Shaw fuming.

“I really don’t like the Republicans by any stretch of the imagination. I hate Bush. I think he’s horrible and incompetent. Now let me tell you what I really think,” says Shaw. “I get frustrated with Kerry as a Democrat. It’s like I don’t even hear from the Democrats. Isn’t Kerry supposed to be campaigning right now? How come I never hear about what he’s saying? There’s a lot of stuff he should be just slamming on right now but he’s not. I think he could do more.”

Politics aside, Shaw keeps moving forward with her comedy and believing in herself. From an early age, she knew comedy touched her soul. Shaw was inspired by the work of Bill Cosby, George Carlin, Richard Pryer, Steve Martin, Bob Newhart and Joan Rivers, among others.

“My friends bought music records, but I bought comedy records. I have always been a comedy fan,” says Shaw. “I love it and still love it. I love what I do. Not a lot of people can say that.”