Shondee Superstar

Lashonda Lester was on the verge of breakout success in the national comedy scene when she passed away from kidney failure in 2017, just a year after becoming the first Black comedian to win the Funniest Person in Austin competition. Released posthumously by Stand Up! Records, this release compiles three performances recorded at Austin’s Velveeta Room between 2016 and 2017. The performance captures her self-assured, fast-talking delivery, pulling stories directly from her highly unusual life history.

Lester shares anecdotes from her previous lives as a Detroit professional wrestling manager and a brief, accidental stint as a pimp, which she claims she stumbled into while trying to apply for a different job. She contrasts her upbringing in Detroit, which she calls the “Murder Mitten”, with her life in Austin, alongside jokes about chronic illness, the absurdities of the medical system, and teaching high schoolers. The material is unsentimental and direct, punctuated by her distinct voice and complete lack of self-pity as she describes her daily dialysis treatments.