What Exactly Happened to 90s Church Culture?

The number of people who come up to me after shows saying, “WAIT… we had the exact same church experience,” is honestly becoming a little concerning.

Like… what exactly was happening to Christianity in the late 90s?

Why were so many of us:

• Terrified of secular music

• Crying at church camp

• Wearing purity rings

• Apologizing for simply existing

• Becoming emotionally responsible for everyone around us by age 14

No wonder so many of us grew up into highly capable adults who cannot relax, over-function professionally, say “I’m fine” while actively unraveling, and feel deeply guilty sitting down for longer than 11 minutes.

Honestly, the audiences that laugh the hardest at these stories are usually the nicest people. Just deeply, profoundly exhausted.

And I think that’s part of why these rooms feel so meaningful. People come for comedy, but underneath the jokes is this shared realization: a lot of us have been carrying way too much for way too long.

That’s the heartbeat behind my live show, Nothing to See Here. It’s not just comedy—it’s a room full of emotionally over-functioning adults finally getting to exhale for an hour.

— Sheila