AMNA NAWAZ: Comedian and illustrator Mo Welch has built a career blending sharp humor with emotional honesty.

Her recent special, "Dad Jokes," explores her childhood with a largely absent father, culminating in a road trip to reunite with him after 20 years.

GEOFF BENNETT: In tonight's Brief But Spectacular take, she reflects on family comedy and the lessons we carry from our parents when they show and when they don't.

MO WELCH, Comedian and Illustrator: I never thought that the traumatic stuff was funny because I always loved one-liners.

And the first one-liner from "Dad Jokes" was, I hate dad jokes.

Every time I hear a dad tell a dad joke, I'm so happy that mine abandoned my whole family.

I grew up in Normal, Illinois.

I am the second born of five kids.

There was a gas station a mile away.

It was the only business in town.

My mom worked there.

It was called Turner's.

And she would bring all of us there.

And then eventually the manager was like, you have to stop your day care.

I was a shy kid.

I used to spend all my time drawing, playing basketball, doing things by myself.

My dad was in prison when my older sister was born.

And then I was technically a conjugal visit.

That is how I was made.

I mean, it was like I was built for comedy.

My dad went to prison for stealing TVs from Sears on more than one occasion.

But I guess he stole a big enough and expensive enough TV where he was in there for years.

My dad was physically abusive and mentally abusive.

The last time that we left, he kicked my mom while she was changing my sister's diaper.

And my mom was like, I have had enough.

She left and we never came back.

When I was in college, I was the editorial cartoonist.

And I started comedy and stopped drawing.

The first time I did stand-up, I took a class at the improv theater.

I chugged a few beers and blacked out and killed.

And I was like, this is what I'm going to do forever.

Famously, what happens is you have a few good shows and then you bomb for, I don't know, five years.

After almost 10 years of doing comedy, nothing had happened.

I was staying at my mom's house.

I was like going to the Panera Bread every day.

My sister had a pad of paper downstairs, and I just drew this character that looked really depressed, and my friend had just purchased a house.

And so I just wrote, "My friend just bought a house, and I'm having a pop tart for dinner."

And then I said, oh, I'm going to draw one every day.

And then at the end of the year, I will see how many I have.

And I had like 360.

I jumped up and down the first time I got a cartoon in "The New Yorker."

I was ecstatic.

My latest special is called "Dad Jokes."

It is half-documentary and half stand-up special.

The documentary part follows me traveling from Los Angeles To central Illinois to meet up with my dad, who I haven't seen in 20 years.

QUESTION: Were you scared?

MO WELCH: I was terrified.

You could see my hands just trembling.

He showed up for me, and that was like the first time I really felt like he showed up for me.

Months after, my dad got in a terrible motorcycle accident.

I traveled to Tennessee to go see him.

There was like a little bit of like, he showed up for me to help me, I don't know, see him for the first time.

And then I showed up for him right after that.

I ended up getting married because I fell in love with somebody who was just like, she did have like a great upbringing of, like -- and parents to look to.

And I thought to myself, how I feel about marriage is, if it doesn't work, you can always get divorced.

After becoming a mom, you just realize that it's all about showing up.

Children just need to know that someone has their back.

And that's how I feel with my daughter.

My name is Mo Welch, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on dad jokes.

AMNA NAWAZ: As always, you can find more Brief But Spectacular videos online at PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.