Influenced by the work of Maria Bamford and the late Gilda Radner, Collette had a lifelong dream of becoming a comedian.
However, this goal went unrealized for some time.
“I went to college for four years and got a degree and did everything you were supposed to do,” she said. “And then I was like, I don’t want to do any of that I want to do comedy.”
The next 10 years saw Collette slowly gain more acclaim for her work. In 2012, she was a semi-finalist for CMT’s “Next Big Comic.” Soon after, she began to tour with the “Nobodies of Comedy,” a troupe which highlights unknown comics.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
This chapter of her career culminated in 2019 when she decided to quit her job and focus on comedy full time.
From there, Collette started appearing on podcasts, local news stations and more. In 2022, she partnered with Dry Bar Comedy to release “I Made You This,” her first comedy special.
Recently, the comedian has a viral video clip poking fun at male relationships. It has amassed more 14 million views and nearly 700,000 likes.
But the unfiltered nature of the joke has led to some pushback.
“Men hate me in the comments, which is always fun.” she said ironically.
This type of reaction is nothing new for Collette, however she originally hoped her work wouldn’t cause controversy.
“I would say one of the biggest challenges was I didn’t really want to say my opinion on things because I thought it would lead to confrontation with the audience,” Collette said. “So I would just do jokes about things that didn’t matter. You know, like shopping at the mall or restaurants or things like that.”
“It wasn’t until I started talking about my opinion or the way that I see the world that I really feel like I started to get good.”
This free spirit is reflected in her second comedy special “The Errors Tour,” released last year. During her set, she jokes about American History, funerals and even the Cincinnati Zoo.
Her Ohio upbringing isn’t just referenced in her jokes either. While she travels all over the country, including upcoming stops in New York and Utah, Collette makes an effort to stay as close to home as possible.
“I usually have a mental threshold of about a week before I start going crazy and wanna go back home.” Collette said. “I think still the longest I go is like almost two weeks and every time I’m like ‘I’ll never do that again.”
Between tours, Collette also performs at local venues. She has an especially strong connection with one comedy club, located in Augusta.
“I actually feel like I have fans there now.” she said. “They’re like ‘we wait all year for you to come back’ so that like makes my day.”
While Collette’s fame has taken her across the country, she also tried taking her comedy beyond the shores.
“I recently went on my first cruise ship to perform and I immediately quit cruise ships,” she said. “So you will not be seeing me at sea.”
Collette has even expanded beyond comedy, writing the children’s book “You are Actually Quite Small” in 2022. With illustrations by fellow comedian Laura Sanders, the book is designed to help children cope with anxiety.
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
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Kelly Collette can be found on Instagram at kellycollette or on her website kellycollettecomedy.com
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