Caroline Rhea brings her stand-up comedy to Sarasota

Like a lot of the stand-up comics who come to McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre or other venues around the Bradenton area, Caroline Rhea is best known for other kinds of performance on television.

She first came to prominence through her role as Hilda, the aunt of the title character on “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” and then became more widely known when she took over Rosie O’Donnell’s daytime talk show (which, of course, then became known as “The Caroline Rhea Show.”) O’Donnell herself selected Rhea for the show.

But Rhea has some serious stand-up credentials, too. In fact, she started doing stand-up before she began working as a comic actor, and certainly before she became a talk show host.

She got her start at Catch a Rising Star and other comedy clubs around New York City. She broke into TV with the help of “Comic Relief 8” and landed her own stand-up special as part of Bravo’s three-part “Funny Girls” series (2006), along with Joan Rivers and Paula Poundstone.

That’s awfully good comedy company.

According to reviews, her comedy club shows are personal and intimate. She draws from her experiences, including tales from the sets of “Sabrina” and her other TV shows. But she also moves away from her family-friendly TV persona and into material that has been described as “racy.”

Details: 6:30 and 8:45 p.m. Oct. 7-8, McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota. $27. 941-925-3869, mccurdyscomedy.com.

This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Caroline Rhea brings her stand-up comedy to Sarasota."