You know Janelle James from the acclaimed ABC show Abbott Elementary, where for five seasons she has played an unfiltered principal whose ruthlessness is matched only by her fabulousness. You may also know her from her showcases on Netflix series The Comedy Lineup and The Standups. She’s been in the standup business for almost 15 years and recently filmed an hour-long special coming to Netflix. 

On June 19, she brings her best stuff to Las Vegas as part of the Aces of Comedy lineup at MGM Grand.

“I’m excited for people to find out more about my talents as a funny person and professional clown,” she says. “Abbott has definitely been a windfall for me in that I have a bigger, new fan base, people who may not know that I’m a comedian. But I’m excited for people to find out that I can be funny in both ways.”

You recently finished filming a special at the Vic in Chicago, and you got your start in comedy in Illinois. Did that feel like a homecoming? 

I started more downstate, not in the city. I chose Chicago not because I started there, but in my travels as a comedian, it’s frequently been my favorite place to perform. A lot of comedians and musicians say that. The audience is always great and ready to have a good time, and there’s a lot of theaters. 

Now you’re bringing it here. Do you have any Vegas stories you’d like to share? 

I’ve definitely performed in Vegas before, opening for some other comedians. I think the most memorable Vegas moment was when I saw the Backstreet Boys at Sphere. I didn’t think of myself as a Backstreet Boys fan before this, but my friend is, and she was going to go by herself. I said, absolutely not. … I had so much fun that I got depressed for two days after. I think I was filled with so much dopamine and joy. I’m not on Backstreet Boys’ payroll, but I would definitely recommend that show.

You were a standup comedian and a TV writer before you landed your role on Abbott Elementary as principal Ava Coleman. How was that transition into the limelight? 

In the first and early seasons, I was mostly just [telling] jokes, which I’ve already been practiced at. It’s a skill to be able to do a well-timed joke and have jokes land, especially the mean things that my character says, and still remain charming. 

[Abbott] was my first big role. I think I got lucky in that this character I’m playing is hilarious and a big jokester. I think [show creator] Quinta [Brunson] probably drew out my acting talents. And as I continued, she could see that I had other layers to my acting skills, so that’s been drawn out over the seasons.

The description I see used often is “scene-stealing.” And you’ve notched several Emmy nominations and won a Critics Choice award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. 

Well, thank you. I feel like if you can command a 1,000-seat theater by yourself with a microphone, TV is nothing. [The awards] weren’t anything I ever thought about or actively worked toward. … This whole side of Hollywood is so new to me. I had no idea about the process of awards and what they were. I never really paid attention. So everything else on top of this amazing job and experience is just cake.

You’ve been doing a lot of fashion shoots lately. You dress differently than you did in 2018. Would you describe yourself as a fashionista?  

I’m a child of the ’90s. I just loved fashion. I remember being obsessed with Madonna and her seemingly homemade style. Everybody used to cut up a T-shirt and use half of it as a headband and a skirt. I loved that whole scene. I remember wanting to move to New York, purely for the aesthetic, and I did. I briefly went to fashion school. I did not finish. But in that time, I worked throughout the fashion industry as a publicist, ... a tailor and salesperson. I just always loved clothing. I’ve always had all the magazine subscriptions, and love all the classic supermodels.

What’s funny is, then I got into comedy. [And] I kind of killed all of that within myself, because it’s such a boys club. I took the route of defeminizing myself in order to be taken seriously, and kind of forgot that I had this interest and style within me. And then I got to play this character and remember, oh yeah, I am a bad bitch. And so, it’s come full-circle. And I’m back again, loving clothes. People are like “Oh, you’ve changed.” And I’m like, it’s been in me the whole time.

What can we expect at your Aces of Comedy set at MGM Grand? 

I like to say that most of my special is about murder [laughs]. Isn’t that hilarious? I fancy myself a comedian that tackles dark topics, so if you like that, come on through. 

Politics are impossible to ignore, at this point. How do you handle that topic in your comedy?

I speak about politics in the same way I do anything else. I try to find a common theme and common ground, and then try my best to make it funny. I wouldn’t call myself a political comedian, but it’s something I’m living. I’m an adult, and I think that’s part of our responsibility to pay attention to what’s happening around us. So I do comment on it. 

In Vegas, you’re playing the same room as Jay Leno and Arsenio Hall, some of the greats. Seems to me like you’ve “made it.” As a comedian, how do you know you’ve “made it?”

You don’t make money for a long time, and so, to get paid to tell jokes, I think, is when you’ve made it. Getting paid in actual money and not sandwiches and drinks—because that’s what you get paid in, frequently. That’s all we deserve until we start making people laugh in earnest. Getting paid and then having a hotel room paid for, and a place to stay after the gig, not sleeping in my car. There’s so many non-luxurious tears to this. After you work in certain spaces and not get paid for so long, any compensation seems amazing. 

This is a job that I like to call extended adolescence. Once we’ve made it, we have so much fun. I make people laugh for a living, I laugh at my friends for a living. What a dream.

JANELLE JAMES June 19, 9 p.m., $58-$88. MGM Grand Theater, mgmgrand.com.