Comedian and illustrator Mo Welch has made a name for herself by mixing sharp humor with emotional honesty. Her latest special, Dad Jokes, dives into her childhood experience with a mostly absent father. The story builds up to a road trip where she reunites with him after 20 years.
In tonight’s Brief But Spectacular segment, Welch shares her thoughts on family comedy and the lessons we inherit from our parents — whether they are present or not.
Mo Welch, Comedian and Illustrator: “I never thought the traumatic stuff was funny because I always loved one-liners. The first one-liner in Dad Jokes is, ‘I hate dad jokes. Every time I hear a dad tell a dad joke, I’m so happy that mine abandoned my whole family.’”
Welch grew up in Normal, Illinois. She is the second of five children. There was only one business nearby—a gas station called Turner’s, where her mother worked. Her mom would bring all the kids there until the manager asked her to stop using the station as a daycare.
Mo Welch describes herself as a shy child who spent much of her time drawing, playing basketball, or being alone. Her father was in prison when her older sister was born. Welch jokes that she was technically conceived during a conjugal visit. “I was built for comedy,” she says. Her father was imprisoned multiple times for stealing TVs from Sears, eventually serving years for a large, expensive theft.
Her father was both physically and mentally abusive. Welch recalls the last time they left home: “He kicked my mom while she was changing my sister’s diaper. That’s when my mom said, ‘I’ve had enough.’ She left, and we never came back.”
In college, Welch worked as an editorial cartoonist. She started doing comedy after taking an improv class. “I chugged a few beers, blacked out, and killed it,” she recalls. “That’s when I knew this is what I wanted to do forever.” Like many comedians, she had some early success followed by years of struggle.
After nearly ten years in comedy with little progress, Welch found herself staying at her mom’s house, feeling stuck. One day, she began drawing a depressed-looking character on a pad of paper her sister had. She wrote a simple caption: “My friend just bought a house, and I’m having a Pop-Tart for dinner.” She decided to draw one cartoon every day for a year and ended up with 360 drawings.
Her big break came when one of her cartoons was published in The New Yorker. She was overjoyed.
Her new special, Dad Jokes, is part documentary and part stand-up. It follows her journey from Los Angeles to central Illinois to meet her father after two decades.
Mo Welch says, “I was terrified. You could see my hands trembling.” When they finally met, her father showed up for her in a way she had never experienced before.
Months later, her dad had a serious motorcycle accident. Welch traveled to Tennessee to visit him. “There was a bit of him showing up for me, and then me showing up for him.”
Welch eventually got married to someone with a stable upbringing and strong parental support. She reflects on marriage with a practical view: “If it doesn’t work, you can always get divorced.”
Now a mother herself, Welch understands that parenting is about showing up. “Kids just need to know someone has their back. That’s how I feel with my daughter.”
“My name is Mo Welch,” she says, “and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on dad jokes.”
