Atlanta Comedian Heather McMahan Loves The South, And It Loves Her Right Back

Mary Shannon WellsFri, October 16, 2026 at 12:41 PM UTC

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Credit: Megan Clark

When Heather McMahan pops on my screen to chat via Zoom, she’s dealing with a problem that afflicts many Southerners during the fall—post-football watching sore throat. “I was at the Ole Miss game this past weekend,” she says. “I think I ran into too many old familiar faces in The Grove, and it just hit me as soon as I got home.”

The University of Mississippi alum can’t afford to skip a day of talking right now, though. The beloved comedian and podcast host just released her third special, By a Thread, on Hulu. The concept? “It’s like if you took the craziest year of my life and put it in a salad spinner, and then tried to make a perfectly curated meal out of it,” she jokes. “It was a brain dump of all the wild things that I put myself through in the last year.”

Heather’s first two specials, Son I Never Had and Breadwinner, were both filmed in the South (at the Lexington Opera House in Kentucky and the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, respectively), so it was no surprise but a pleasant comfort that she chose to shoot By a Thread in the South as well, at the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee. “Knoxville has always been an incredible community for me,” she says. “And the size of that theatre is so perfect. It’s just the best intimate experience.”

Credit: Megan Clark

For the Atlanta native, filming in the South was a natural choice. Even though Heather spent years living in both New York and LA, “Atlanta always pulls me back,” she says. She and her husband “re-fell in love” with Atlanta when they relocated during the pandemic and decided to stay for good.

After recently moving to a new neighborhood, she was reminded why living in the South is singular. “I had gift baskets dropped off, I had neighbors who sent me a rolodex of all the painters, drapery guys, HVAC guys, electricians,” she laughs. “This sense of community here is so beautiful, and everyone really does look out for each other. In the South, someone’s gonna drop off their grandmother’s pimiento cheese recipe and give you their electrician. God forbid if your lights go out in the middle of the night; they’ve got you.”

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The sense of belonging Heather feels with her new neighbors is similar to how her fans connect with her and each other. Despite having almost 1 million followers on Instagram, Heather still seems to each one of them like she could be their bestie. Between posting personal Instagram Stories that seem like a Snapchat she sent to your own group and gabbing with guests or solo on her podcast, Absolutely Not, Heather has maintained her relatability despite three (and a fourth incoming) national comedy tours, a frequent guest spot on the TODAY Show with Jenna Bush Hager, and a role in a hit Netflix movie, Love Hard. But don’t worry about her getting too big for her britches—she says her family and friends from home keep that in check.

“At the end of the day, they’re like, ‘She better bring something to the potluck, too. And Heather, we know you’re a horrible cook, so you’re bringing something store-bought,’ ” she laughs. “I know what I’m good at, and I know what I’m bad at. And I’m not making casseroles. Let me be the one making the cocktails in the corner and making everybody giggle. That’s what I’m good at.”

Credit: Megan Clark

And she will definitely be making people giggle. Aside from having By a Thread out on Hulu, Heather is also hosting her second “Absolutely Knot” cruise in May, and she just announced more tour dates for 2027. The sense of fellowship that her fans experience is personified in the cruise. “It’s hard to describe the cruise except like four or five days of the most fun you’ve ever had on the planet,” she says. “There’s themed parties, there’s entertainment 24/7, there is something for everyone on the cruise, and that’s what’s so exciting about it.”

But when she’s not sailing the seas or flying to perform around the country, she’s in Atlanta, “power walking in Piedmont Park” and spending time with her mom, sister, husband, and adored French bulldogs, Rigatoni and Macaroni. Of course, her three lifelong girlfriends—two of which have very Southern double names—are always around. “I feel so blessed that we’re all still very close, and these are my girls,” she says. “These are my Chicks. You know, if Earl had to die, that’s who I’m calling. When I find good people, I really hold onto them as long as I can.”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”