A Westbrook woman has found that making people laugh is a good remedy for her blues.

Tammy Pooler turned to laughter, seeking a cure for depression after her dad died from lung cancer in 2002. “I was depressed, I was devastated,” Pooler said. “How do you get over that?”

She and her husband, Ed, have two children, Ashley, 19, and Vanessa, 12. “Mom, when are you going to stop crying?” she said her children asked after her dad died.

Pooler took classes at the Comedy Connection in Portland for eight weeks. She studied comedy and performed at open mic nights statewide.

In her first appearance on stage with a large, live audience, she froze. She begged the manager for a break, a chance to go right back on stage. “I went back and did my routine,” she said.

Comedy proved to be good medicine for Pooler and she enjoys making others laugh. “Humor is therapy,” she said. “When you’re at the lowest point, you can pick yourself up.”

Now, she performs stand-up comedy at 7:30 p.m. on Saturdays at Liquid Blue in Portland. She’ll also be at the Galaxy in Old Orchard Beach on Fridays off and on through the summer.

Pooler, a graduate of Westbrook High School in 1984, has also played Faneuil Hall in Boston. Her Web site is entitled “Laugh your butt off” and she has appeared on the Scotia Prince, radio shows, TV commercials and benefits.

The memory of her dad now inspires Pooler. “You’ve got to say I’m not going to fail,” she said. “You can do anything if you set your mind to it.”

Her dad maintained his humor even as a hospital patient, making jokes about nurses. “My father always could make people laugh,” she said.

He predicted his daughter would be a professional comedienne. During her high school days, she would entertain her parents with comical descriptions of her dates.

Pooler mimicked how her boyfriend danced. “I went through the whole thing,” she said.

She was comical as a youngster and pulled a joke on her principal in a variety show at Saccarappa School.”When she was little, she was funny. Even at a year and half,” her mother, Gloria Ouellette, said.

Pooler owns “Kids Unlimited” on Warren Avenue. She opened the business several years ago to help her dad, who worked there. She said it kept him from dwelling on cancer. He would joke with the kids who came into the store.

Besides comedy, she is following her dad’s tradition of giving books to children. Pooler donates hundreds of books in the memory of her dad to area schools to boost literacy. “I buy all the books myself,” she said.

A hard worker, Pooler once ran a beauty salon simultaneously with her children’s store. She graduated from cosmetology school 12 years ago. But she sold the salon after her dad was stricken with cancer.

Working at McDonald’s in Westbrook, she earned the money for her first car. Later, she managed the store and another one in Saco.

Three years after her dad’s death, laughter still helps her cope with life and she loves to hear her audience laugh. “It’s an unbelievable feeling to make people laugh,” she said. “I crave hearing laughter.”