ST. LOUIS — We have all been through a great deal recently and some people have had to deal with more than others.
Meredith Hopping fits into that category but instead of crying about it, she is laughing. Comedy is bringing her happiness and empowerment.
“It’s euphoria. It is the height of human connection,” Hopping told 5 On Your Side.
She wants people to laugh with her and at her stories that are about her.
“My routine, it is unapologetically me. Being 6 feet tall already in 7th grade there’s a lot of questions you ask God. Why God why,” she laughed.
But not all of Hopping’s life is funny. The idea of doing stand-up comedy emerged during one of her toughest times.
“I was suffering from pretty horrible postpartum depression,” she said.
And then just before the pandemic hit, her marriage fell apart.
“The world kinda felt like it was falling apart. Divorce was absolutely the most heartbreaking and earth-shattering thing I had ever gone through,” Hopping told 5 On Your Side.
Comedy and the comedy community helped her put the pieces of her life back together.
“They were people that loved me, wouldn’t have survived without them,” she said.
The single mother of three is now thriving on the St Louis comedy scene.
“It is almost my fulltime job,” she said.
She may not be a fulltime comedian just yet, but comedy is giving her life fulfillment.
“There’s a stillness and a peace I think that comes with doing what you are called to do. Once I started doing something so life-giving to me, I realized how much more I had to give,” she said.
Hopping is no doctor, but a dose of her jokes seems to be good medicine.
“I had no idea that this new unexpected thing could be better than anything I could imagine,” she said.
You can learn more about when and where Meredith Hopping is performing on her Facebook page.