When it comes to her standup comedy, Julie Kim jokes that she has no moral compass.

“I like to start off by thinking that nothing is really off limits,” she says to me via phone. “If I have a joke that maybe, you know, paints my husband in a bad light, he may not love the joke—but if it’s doing really well, I’m probably going to do it. And he’s probably going to be okay with me doing it if it’s a really good joke.”

Like most comedians, Vancouver-based Kim mines her own life for content. (When we first hop on the call, she mentions that she just tried to phone ICBC but got one of the digits wrong and ended up on a sex hotline. I mention that it sounds like fodder for a future joke, and she agrees, saying she would have called back—for the plot!—if she wasn’t worried she’d be charged by the minute. Comedians aren’t made of money, folks! Which brings Kim to another point: go to shows! Support your local comedians!)

“I’m not a mean-spirited comic anyways,” Kim continues. “I mean, sometimes I go on little rants and sometimes things sound angry—but I’m a woman, and every woman, I think, has had experiences that would make her quite angry. So I’m okay with that part. But I’m not mean-spirited. It’s not like I’m caught often saying something controversial or alienating a group of people.”

She pauses.

“Except for men sometimes.”

Unsurprisingly, her best jokes are the most relatable ones—be it bits on breastfeeding or which parent her daughter loves more. Her pregnancy was actually seen by many people as a negative thing, but she’s been able to use motherhood as a way to connect with her audiences.

“When I got married and was pregnant, to other people it was like the end of my career. People would actually say, ‘Oh no, you were doing so well!’” she recalls. “Ironically, after I had my kid, I started talking more about personal everyday family things, which made it easier in a few ways. One, the people in audiences are normal people who have jobs and families. So instantly, it became the case that I was more of a relatable comic. But also, I didn’t really have time to waste, so I became more of a vulnerable and personable person who talks about stuff from real life. That actually has been my strength in the last five years or so.”

Kim, a beloved local favourite (who actually won Best Comedian in the Straight’s Best of Vancouver awards), has headlined shows across Canada and the US, and has performed at just about every Just For Laughs festival imaginable. Later this month, she’s having a homecoming of sorts when she headlines two shows at the Biltmore; more than just a chance to once again woo her hometown crowd, the shows are shaping up to represent a much larger moment.

“We’re recording for an album, so my objective is to make sure the jokes are very clean,” she says to me. “Not topic-wise, but I want to do a really good, polished delivery. Even though there will be something like 300 to 400 people there, because it’s for an album recording, there is potential for millions of radio spots or streams. So it’s going to be bigger than that night for me.”

Kim also has a healthcare sitcom in development with production company Pier 21 (Run the Burbs), in which she’ll play a doctor who loses out on a big promotion in the US and finds herself back home in Canada, running a lacklustre walk-in clinic. She’s equally excited and level-headed about it all, noting that while she’s thrilled to have got the show (which she created) this far, there are lots of concepts that snag development deals and never make it to air.

“It could end up being like the biggest thing in my career yet, or it might not work out,” she muses. “It’s kind of just like comedy: let’s just do our best, take some shots, and see what lands. And have fun in the process.”

Julie Kim is at the Biltmore Cabaret on November 24. The early show is sold out, but the late show (doors at 8pm) still has tickets available for $26.50.