We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kelly Collette a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kelly, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I started standup comedy by going to open mics and shows 3-4 days a week for a year before I ever got paid to host a weekend at a club.

There is no better teacher than real experience. You can read all the books on writing jokes, you can practice in the mirror, but until you go up on stage and try them out, you don’t know anything. You constantly have to work on a joke until your body language, delivery and voice are doing the joke justice. And even then, it’s up to the audience to like it. It can be the funniest thing your Friday night crowd has ever heard, and your Saturday crowd will hate it.

Kelly, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started standup comedy in 2009. I had always been a funny kid but I wanted to wait until after I had a degree to decide I didn’t want to use it.

My first big festival I did was the Lucille Ball comedy festival where I got to be on their live album recording. Then I did San Francisco Sketchfest, Laughing skull, limestone and a few more. I was chosen to be on the best of the Midwest showcase at Gildas Laughfest. My jokes made it to Sirius xm and NPR.
I then recorded a comedy special for DryBar, during covid.

Because so many venues were shut down, I started painting for fun. And I kept painting because it was good for my mental health. Soon after I started getting commissions for work. It felt wonderful to be able to pivot to this new craft.

I became an artist in residence for Acadia National park where my goal was to create something that combines my comedy and my art.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Share what you enjoy and help that creative person bring joy to others

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The measure of my success is my joy.

Contact Info:

• Website: Kellycollettecomedy.com
• Instagram: Kellycollette
• Facebook: Comediankellycollette
• Twitter: Kellycollette

Image Credits
Bird and Rose photography for headshots