A priest, a confessional booth and a slew of fictitious sins helped one Oak Harbor resident discover her funny bone.

Delia Pierce made her stand-up comedy debut when she opened “That Gay Comedy Show” at the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon on Saturday, the opportunity she has long sought after to poke fun at the material life has given her.

Hosted by Gina Touche, part of the drag group House of Touche, Saturday’s show featured six comedians total in an event which, aside from showcasing talent, benefited the Lincoln Theatre.

Pierce recalled a “very responsive” crowd that night. Her set, albeit short, received plenty of laughs for the “naughty” humor on display.

“We brought the house down,” she said. “It was such a phenomenal show. There was a lot of talent on that stage.”

All of the comedians at “That Gay Comedy Show,” Pierce said, were part of the LGBTQ+ community except herself.

Supporting the LGBTQ+ community is important to Pierce, an ally since 1977 when, as a senior at Bethel High School near Graham, Washington, she witnessed the ridiculing of a classmate for his feminine mannerisms. Motivated to action, Pierce penned a speech “debunking the myths of homosexuality” and took it to a state speech and debate competition.

In response, and to Pierce’s dismay, a teacher spit at Pierce’s feet when she next encountered her in the school hallway after the speech.

“I was expecting that from my fellow students, but not from a teacher,” she said.

Pierce continues her advocacy, like when she submitted a letter to the editor of the News-Times in 2023 conveying her support for the LGBTQ+ community’s inclusion in the military.

Yet advocacy was not the only reason Pierce pounced on the chance to open at “That Gay Comedy Show.”

“I’ve always loved being on stage, and I’ve always loved making people laugh,” Pierce gushed. “Comedy is my passion.”

Explaining the longevity of that passion, Pierce recalled an incident at church as a young girl raised in a Roman Catholic family. Some of the details are fuzzy — like what exactly she told the priest — but Pierce remembers slipping into the confessional booth and admitting she had sinned. That was not true, and neither were the “outrageous” sins she fabricated on the spot in a panic to escape the booth, thinking herself trapped.

“The joke is now, when I go to confessions, I bring my lawyer with me,” Pierce said.

Once Pierce and her family moved from the Philippines, her birthplace, to the United States, Pierce pursued her drama dreams. She participated in a two-year theater program at Pierce College in Washington, where she and her classmates took their talents on theater tours in Alaska and Mexico.

Pierce has since accumulated 200 live performances.

“(Performing has) taught me how to command a stage. It taught me how to be a good speaker. It taught me how to be comfortable in my own skin, and it taught me not to get nervous,” she reflected.

Comedy-lovers can catch Pierce at her next gig Saturday, Sept. 13 at Off the Hook in Oak Harbor.