“I let ‘em do whatever they want,” she said.

As far as Nerby’s humor is concerned, her comedy is family oriented. She tells stories more than she makes jokes, which is in the vein of Louie Anderson, who also got his start in the Twin Cities area.

“My family is nuts,” Nerby said. “I do a bit about being Minnesotan and having a name like Nerby and trying to make it in Hollywood.”

After growing up in Rochester and acting in the Twin Cities, Nerby lived in Los Angeles from 1986 to 1990 where she did mostly production work for television shows. She injured her back during a car accident and moved back to Rochester and later the Twin Cities, where she began her career as a stand-up comedian about 12 years ago.

“It was so funny because once I started doing stand-up, you write your own material — it’s just you,” Nerby said. “That to me was much more challenging than acting.”

Nerby has performed at comedy venues nationwide and on “The Comedy Gallery TV Show.” She’s been on many commercials ranging from K-Mart to McDonalds to Best Buy.

“She’s bitingly funny,” Bauer said.

Nerby met her husband in 1999 while on tour doing stand-up on military bases in Germany. He said it was love at first sight, but for her love happened through e-mails during the following months.

He has been serving in Kuwait for more than two years running a gasoline delivery operation. Despite her obsession with mailing care packages and videos to her six adoptees, Nerby said she never forgets to send things to her husband, too.