Sherri Shepherd discovered her superpower. She can’t fly across the country in the blink of an eye, she can’t lift a school bus stuck on the tracks, and while she may have donned a cape to a fancy event in New York, she’s never donned one to rescue a child falling off the Empire State Building. But the power she has is to make people laugh.
After going through some really tough times where she had to sleep in her car, her dream became a reality. Now she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “It’s forever,” she says. “I’d like to think this is what I’m going to leave behind. It’s so surreal. It’s a memorial to my hard work, my dedication, my ups and downs.”
The honor of receiving a star is a symbolic moment that comes full circle for her. In her early days when she didn’t have a place to live and couldn’t make it as a comic or an actor, she would often walk down Sunset Boulevard or Hollywood Boulevard because she literally had nowhere to sleep. “I saw the star and the name and thought, ‘One day, what if, what if…’ And then to know that I’m actually going to get the star, and maybe it’ll inspire someone else. I’m so excited.”
That attitude, that energy is just part of Shepherd’s charm. She went through these things, came out on the other side of them, and is now an inspiration to others. She often talks about her early years as an actress, many of which were uneventful, and about not having a place to call home. Many people will throw in the towel and reset their dreams. But she continued.
“That was the only thing that sustained me,” she says of her big dreams of performing. “That was the only thing that gave me some peace. It was my happy place. When I could act, when I could do stand-up on stage and make other people feel good. It was an escape from the life I had.”
Being a clown has always been natural for her and her family. “Shepherds are funny!” she says. “They’re funnier than me. They’re loud, they crack jokes, they’re like good people. I just pushed through.”
Shepard performed on stage during the Atlanta stop of her comedy tour.
But is he a stand-up comedian? That’s a whole different beast. They go on stage with the intention of making people laugh…and if they don’t…sad. They have to push through that. Continue. It takes persistence and belief that you are on the right path.
“It’s literally a metaphor for life. Even if things don’t go your way, you have to push through. I still have a diary full of tears,” she says.
It was a learning and growing experience. In those moments when she wonders if her audience will find what she’s saying funny, she has a loud, positive, reassuring voice in her head that overpowers the now-tiny shepherd’s voice that says, “You’re not good enough.” It is something that has experienced many victories. “‘You deserve to be here. God wrote it. You just have to walk in it. You have to. So slow down, be confident, and know that they’re enjoying the story. Because you ‘Because you’re a great storyteller.’ That’s why you have to keep trying, because the more you build confidence, the louder that voice becomes, drowning out the little voice that says, ‘You don’t belong at this table.’
Shepard, who co-hosted “The View” from 2007 to 2024, has made a lot of headlines thanks to her “if it’s in your head, it’ll come out of your mouth” moments, including some silly things she said on “Celebrity Family Feud.” That spontaneous nature is nothing new. In fact, she’s learned that the kinds of things that got her in trouble as a student are now part of her highly successful brand.
“Teachers used to say, ‘Shelly is a fun kid, but she’s the class clown. She never stops talking. She distracts everyone,'” Shepherd recalls with a laugh. “Those are the same things that make me the most money, the same things that keep me going viral. It’s literally my superpower, because I know that even if I can’t do anything else, I can make you feel good. I can make you laugh. I can make you laugh.” I remember a friend once saying, “You’re just a comedian. So what do you bring to the table? Making people laugh is nothing.” But with the current situation we’re in, I realize every day that the gift of laughter is so medicinal to the soul. ”
Shepard is currently preparing for her comedy tour “Make It Make Sense,” which will tour 20 cities in the United States in January. “I literally can’t wait,” she says with a smile. “The great thing about comedy is that it crosses cultural barriers. You don’t have to be a black woman to experience infidelity. You don’t have to be a black woman when I talk about aging and menopause. You don’t have to be black to know about hot flashes. Every woman of a certain age knows about hot flashes.”
And, of course, her nationally syndicated daytime talk show, “Shelly,” returns for Season 4. “I always dreamed of doing what I’m doing right now,” she says. “One thing I can say is that if you can get past the fear, on the other side of the fear there are all the blessings. There are all the open doors swinging open for you to walk through.”
So in season four, Shepard comes out and does a four- to six-minute comedic monologue. This is what the big guys do in the middle of the night. “No one comes out in the daytime space and does a comedic monologue. The last time someone did that was Ellen DeGeneres, and she did a great job of it. And I said, ‘I want to do it.’
When she did the math, she was horrified. That meant 18 minutes of fresh, new stand-up content every week. But she overcame that fear as well.
Shepard also wrote a children’s book, “The Sunshine Queens,” which is currently available on Amazon. Inspired by close friendships in Shepard’s own life, the book follows four friends as they overcome hardship and learn to always be there for each other.
Shepard will be speaking on stage about her new book, “The Sunshine Queens.”
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“I’m really excited because I’m so passionate about protecting children, especially young girls,” Shepherd said. “So I’ve put together all the stories with the Sun Queens that happened to me as an adult into stories for girls ages 4 to 8. I want little girls to know that you can do anything on your own, but it’s even better when you have a little Sun Queen with you. With a girlfriend, you can go further and overcome any challenge.”
Girls, we have all been friends for over 27 years. One of my friends is going back to 6th grade. And without the presence of queens in my life, I wouldn’t be here today. ”
