Veteran comic Sandra Valls understands a comedian's job.

"Comedians are spiritual healers. That's what I believe. People like to laugh and people like to feel good," Valls said. "I'm interested in making you laugh, so you can raise your vibration so that when you have a high vibration you can deal with the world and the problems with your life."

Valls will stop by Portland's Funhouse Lounge on Saturday, Oct. 28, to play a one-night show presented by the Portland Queer Comedy Festival. The inaugural Portland Queer Comedy Festival took place over the summer and was the first multi-day, multi-venue festival to focus entirely on queer comedians and performers.

An adult comedy class at a junior college in Boston introduced Valls to comedy. Up until that point, being a stand-up wasn't something she'd ever really considered.

"I went to the comedy class to make friends," Valls said. "I go to this class, and I fell in love with comedy, and I did make new friends and a whole career came out of it."

Comedy has taken Valls, a resident of Los Angeles since 2001, to clubs all over the country. She's appeared on HBO, Showtime and even Nickelodeon. But it took Valls awhile to find her comedic voice.

"Finding my voice in comedy came from other people's comments. For example, I went through a breakup and I didn't want to talk about it onstage," Valls said. "I tried very hard to write observational comedy and a lot of people were like, 'You're funnier when you (gripe) about your ex-girlfriend. You're funnier when you're angry. You're funnier when things frustrate you.' "

Valls sees these times as opportunity, with comedians lining up to air their grievances and take part in political action. Her ability to channel her frustrations into humor is a tool she's more than willing to use.

"The role of the comedian is to bring awareness to what is happening in the world and in your life," Valls said. "Any injustice the comedian brings up, any injustice that is happening in your culture, in your movement, in your life, that's what the comedian talks about. We are the commentators on life and add a twist of humor to it so you can swallow it a little easier."

Valls admits political jokes are not her forte, and said she'd rather stay away from jokes that sound like complaining.

At the same time, she fully understands there's a lot more to being a political artist than calling out the president by name or enumerating your problems with a single piece of legislation.

"I appreciate comedians like (Jimmy) Kimmel. Some people directly name names and comment on what's going on, and some people like me simply represent who they are," Valls said. "I'm a woman. I'm a lesbian. I'm Latina. I'm 52 years old. The fact that I'm onstage representing Latinas, older women, lesbians and the LGBTQ community, that is a political move."

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SANDRA VALLS

When: 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28

Where: Funhouse Lounge, 2432 S.E. 11th Ave.

Tickets: $15, $75 VIP booth seating, funhouselounge.com, Brown Paper Tickets or 503-841-6734