I have been a huge fan of comedian Heather McDonald for over a decade now. She was one of my favorite panelists on Chelsea Lately back in the late 2000’s and my adoration for her and her unique sense of humor has continued to this present day. The California native stopped by Manhattan’s very own City Winery on Friday, July 26, for a show I won’t soon forget.
City Winery played as the perfect host for this kind of event. I first visited the South Village hotspot five years ago and was impressed by so many of its aspects from the decadent food I devoured to how big the space was for acts like Heather, 49, to perform as well as an area designed just for its wine making.
Heather took to the stage in front of a sold out and lively crowd around 8:00 PM that night. My interest in her comedy was brought to light again recently due to her hilarious Instagram parodies of The Real Housewives franchises where she replaces the actual cast members with Barbie versions that she makes and performs as in the comfort of her own home.
Those parodies, mixed with her fantastic podcast called Juicy Scoop, were two of the many reasons why I was excited to see what Heather was going to say on stage as I knew she was going to bring both of those worlds plus her everyday experiences to life for the audience.
I was right… and then some. What fascinated me about Heather was that she barely took a break during the two hours that she was on stage. She first came out dressed as the Hollywood Medium himself, Tyler Henry, and poked fun at his weird quirks and “ability” to know everyone’s life story by bringing a random person up to have a reading.
The momentum she built from portraying Tyler, 23, continued throughout the show, where Heather cracked jokes about several aspects of her life including her marriage, being a parent, dishing out advice to her single girlfriends and hysterical moments that happen when she’s on tour (her particular hatred for the state of Florida cracked me up the most).
One of my most favorite stories that she told was when she was trying bikinis on while her son waited outside her dressing room. He bolted at one point and she had to run through the Target in her bikini to try and find him with her private area being a bit bushier than normal. It’s so funny when you get the image of it but is also something that could happen to any of us which is what makes her so relatable.
Heather also reserved time to do a Q&A with the audience, which resulted in several of them asking her to do impressions of The Real Housewives and her thoughts on their lives today. I don’t think I have ever seen someone so brilliantly do the voices of Luann De Lesseps and Ramona Singer in my life and I was laughing my a*s off while watching her interact with her fans as these two larger than life personas.
Overall I had a fantastic time watching Heather do her thing and would go back over and over again if I had the opportunity to see her take to the stage one more time.
For more information on Heather McDonald, click here. For more on City Winery, click here.