GLASGOW, Ky. — Misty Hurt’s office is dimly lit, a contrast to her quick, sardonic wit. Antique furniture fills the room while flamboyant nods to The Golden Girls peek out from shelves and corners. On her desk, a flip calendar delivers a fresh joke each day.

The setting offers a glimpse into the personality of the Glasgow woman who, by day, works as a deputy county clerk and bookkeeper in Barren County.

But outside the office, Hurt is chasing a different career, one she hopes will eventually take her on the road as a touring stand-up comedian.

That dream recently took a significant step forward.

On Aug. 10, Hurt will perform at Nateland Live, a showcase at Zanies Comedy Club in Nashville inspired by comedian Nate Bargatze.

Unlike traditional open mic nights, comics don’t simply put their names on a list. Performers are invited or selected after submitting material, making the showcase one of the city's more coveted opportunities for up-and-coming comedians.

“I feel like Nateland Live is a really big deal. I take that very seriously,” Hurt said.

The invitation came much sooner than she expected.

After returning to comedy in January, Hurt began traveling anywhere she could find stage time, performing in places ranging from Mayfield and Murfreesboro to Louisville and the Smoky Mountains. Each appearance introduced her to more comedians and more opportunities.

“It's very organic, and the more shows you do, the more comics see you,” she said. “You do these shows to show your commitment, to show your talent.”

One connection led her to the booking producer for Nateland Live. Hurt reached out, submitted recordings of her stand-up and waited.

“They’re looking to get fresh talent into Nateland Live on the show, so I just reached out,” she said.

Several days later, the invitation arrived.

“I was like, ‘You just tell me when to be there, and I’ll be there,’” Hurt said. “It’s exciting. It’s a little scary.”

The opportunity felt especially meaningful because Hurt expected it would take years to get there.

One of her goals was to perform at Nateland Live, something she thought would happen after at least two years of grinding through open mics, not six months.

Long before she was telling jokes onstage, Hurt built a career behind the scenes in Nashville’s music industry.

After studying music business at Belmont University, she landed an internship with Capitol Records Nashville. Before that, the only job she had ever held was at K-Mart in Glasgow.

She later worked as a music publicist for a former Capitol executive at a boutique public relations firm during a period when the recording industry was rapidly changing.

“It was a very pivotal time in the industry. We had five big record labels which shuttered down to just two, so it was tough,” Hurt said. “A lot of people ended up not getting industry gigs.”

After more than a decade, burnout set in.

Life eventually brought her back to Barren County, where she married, later divorced and slowly drifted away from stand-up.

Even so, she never really stopped being funny. She kept telling stories, making jokes and wondering if she still had what it took to perform.

Earlier this year, she decided to find out.

That previous career in Nashville has unexpectedly helped her comedy journey.

“Music Row was such a small town, and I could go back right now,” she said. “You don’t burn those bridges, and so many of the people that I met then are people that I’m talking with now. Nashville’s become such a hotbed for comedy right now, partly because of Nate.”

Looking back, Hurt can now see that comedy had quietly surrounded her for years.

One of the artists represented by her agency wrote many of Larry the Cable Guy’s comedy songs and has since become one of her supporters.

“It’s just funny when you look at these things. So many of the things from my time in Nashville to now have leaned toward comedy,” she said.

Those life experiences have become the foundation of her material.

Compared to Leanne Morgan but “more feral,” Hurt’s routines revolve around Southern life, dating as a middle-aged woman and life after divorce.

“That'll put some fuel in your tank,” she said. “My ex-husband always called it ‘my little comedy thing’ like I wanted to be a ballerina or an astronaut. I still wear my ring because, you know, one of my signature jokes is he went to Jared and I had to co-sign. If you’re not laughing at that joke right now, you might want to check your FICO score.”

She credits her family for giving her plenty of stories to tell.

“I've always had a family that's been doing stupid stuff,” she said. “I come from a family of storytellers, too.”

Unlike many comics who rely on profanity or explicit material, Hurt has intentionally built her act around clean comedy.

“If it’s a joke I can sit down and tell your grandma, then I'm good with it pretty much,” she said. “I think when you’re clean, it just opens a lot more doors for you.”

Her sets are carefully rehearsed, often timed down to the minute. As she gains more stage experience, she’s learning to adapt when unexpected moments happen in front of an audience.

Still, self-doubt remains one of her biggest opponents.

The entertainment industry has a way of making performers question themselves, Hurt said, particularly after spending years in public relations where success was often measured by followers, branding and visibility.

She also lives with bipolar disorder and anxiety, conditions that sometimes make her question whether she should continue performing at all.

“It just hits me out of the blue,” Hurt said. “I’ll put off rehearsal for a show or I’ll just decide I don’t know if I want to do this or not. It’s really hard.”

Even after a successful performance, she sometimes walks away convinced she bombed.

“I have a really bad habit of judging myself. I go back and think a set didn’t go well, but I go back and look at the tape and they’re laughing,” she said.

Despite those moments, Hurt keeps returning to the stage because she believes comedy gives people something they often need most.

“Humor is such a universal language,” she said. “Nobody grows up with a really easy life. We all have things that our families have battled, but one of the things in my life has always been humor.”

Recently, while writing jokes at a restaurant, a waitress mentioned she had been having a difficult day and asked Hurt to tell her something funny.

The moment reminded her why she keeps doing stand-up.

“I made her laugh, and at that point exactly, I was like, ‘You know what? I could go home right now. I had a great set last night, and I made this poor woman laugh that’s had a horrible morning.’ That's really what the important part of it is to me: to use it as my own kind of therapy.”

On Aug. 10, Hurt will bring her clean, Southern brand of comedy to the Nateland Live stage at Zanies in Nashville. Tickets are available online for those who want to see a hometown comedian at what could be the start of something much bigger.