BAKER CITY — Sarah Hester Ross is taking a break from her Las Vegas show to take her musical comedy on the road.

Her full-time gig is a dueling pianos bar show at New York-New York Hotel and Casino.

“I’m there weekly if I’m not doing my comedy show,” she said.

She’s touring around Oregon this month and will be in Baker City on Saturday, Nov. 16, for a show at Churchill School, 3451 Broadway St.

Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $22 in advance or $30 at the door. This show is recommended for ages 18 and older.

Hester Ross grew up in Tampa, Florida, and has been drawn to music since she was 3.

“I grew up in a musical household,” she said.

She majored in vocal performance in college and went to work as a worship leader at a church.

“Down the road, I realized that wasn’t a good fit for me,” she said.

She auditioned at Universal Studios in Orlando in 2011 and started performing in musical theater, then landed a role in a touring show that took her to Vegas for three months.

She’s been there ever since.

“I really, really loved it,” she said.

She’s been in Las Vegas for 10 years, and for the past year, she’s traveled her own show about once a month. This fall, she took her comedy in Scotland.

“American politics are extremely popular all over the world,” she said.

Turning online

The COVID pandemic temporarily halted performances, and that’s when Hester Ross focused on social media.

“I’ve seen a lot of traction and success, especially online,” she said.

She has over 2.4 million followers on TikTok and more than 284,000 on Instagram.

One of her bits was to create “Florida Man Friday,” when she shared a song about a Florida criminal. This stemmed from an online craze to enter “Florida Man” and a birthday in a Google search to discover an entertaining story. Then she sets it to music. For example: “Florida Man Threatens to Destroy Everyone with Army of Turtles.”

As for her other material, she describes it as “a spoonful of feminism.”

“Empowering women to be seen and heard,” she said. “Girls can be loud and it’s OK.”

Combining comedy and music is her way of addressing big topics.

“I think it helps with the conversation of these very serious topics,” she said.

Since building her online presence, she’s learned to balance positive responses with the negative ones.

“Learning how to go around the negativity and find the audience who wants to hear what you have to say,” she said. “The positive outweighs the negative for me. I’ve cultivated an audience who likes my stuff.”

Her comedy special “Don’t Mess with a Redhead” is on Amazon Prime, and she said her Baker City show will have “bits and pieces” from that program.

“It’s more of a cabaret than stand-up,” she said.