By Kelly Wiley

Moms usually encourage their kids to graduate high school, go to college and get respectable jobs. But, for Melanie Maloy, the experience was a little different.

Maloy said when she was younger her mom worried that she had no future in anything good, considering she graduated college only to find herself working as a waitress. But once her mom saw the creative side of her personality, Maloy said she found her calling.

One night Maloy took her mothers advice, performing at a comedy venue called the Pittsburgh Funnybone in Pittsburgh. She won a comedy competition that night.

“Most peoples parents would never encourage them to get into such an unstable kind of job,” Maloy said. “But, she (her mother) encouraged me to do it and I got up to the mic and I started to do it.”

For 12 years now, Maloy has made a career out of performing her gig at clubs, parties and prisons. Maloy said she also performs at colleges and was surprised to hear that she was the headliner for the 150th Comedy Caravan at the Cat’s Den Wednesday

Maloy said she enjoys delivering her routine at colleges. And even though she is up there trying to make the students laugh, it’s sometimes the students who give her a laugh or two.

Overall, Maloy said being a comedian is a pretty easy career. Although, she said she does put in some work switching up her routine for different venues.

“I talk about everyday things, and its not all stuff about being a woman,” Maloy said. “Sometime painful events are the funniest. Anything that I feel passionate about in a negative way is good material.”

Traveling a lot is also tough, Maloy said, but since she is headlining more shows, her schedule has slowed down. In the end, Maloy said the career itself does have its ups and downs.

“One of my friends just compared being a comedian to having a bipolar disorder,” Maloy said. “The highs and lows are so extreme; you hate it then you love it.”

Despite the ups and downs, Maloy says she still gets excited about shows. Maloy will be at the Cats Den Wednesday at 8 p.m. Admission is free.