Entertainment / JFL Exclusive: Award-Winning Podcast Comedian Maddy Kelly Is The Next Gen Star

JFL Exclusive: Award-Winning Podcast Comedian Maddy Kelly Is The Next Gen Star

Entertainment Jul 19, 2023

by Meena Khan | Features Editor - Beauty

In our two-part special we sit down with two South Asian comedians who are making their respective sold-out appearances at this year’s Just For Laughs Montreal, the world-renowned comedy festival that has stops in Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and London. From L.A. (by way of Vancouver), Maddy Kelly is seen as the face of a new guard of stand-up comics coming out of Canada. While prepping for the JFL stage with her live adaptation of her award-winning podcast “Let’s Make A Sci-Fi“, happening on July 26th in Montreal and September 28th and 30th at Just For Laughs Toronto), she chatted with us about her route to the mic, the art of the best delivery, and why she doesn’t want to be a one-dimensional comedian.

Just for Laughs. Photo Credit: www.hahaha.com

Just for Laughs Montreal which runs from July 14th through July 29, 2023, is an internationally-renowned comedy festival, which began in 1983 at the Saint-Denis Theatre. The festival is like the Olympics for comedians from around the world ranging from icons to newcomers. CBC Podcast Presents “Let’s Make A Sci-fi” is a one-hour live adaptation of an award-winning podcast which Maddy co-hosts with fellow comedians Ryan Beil and Mark Chavez. Created in 2022 the 8-part series which revolves around the idea of making a Sci-fi pilot garnered worldwide attention by being named, “Best Podcast of 2022” by Amazon Music, “Best Podcast of 2022” by The New Yorker; as well as being noted as “A fun and lovely series” by Vulture. Their follow-up is “Let’s Make A Rom-Com”, which takes the same premise and applies it to this popular genre. And of course, making their debut at the Just For Laughs Montreal is the cherry on top for this trio.

JFL Exclusive: We Tell You Why Maddy Kelly Is The One To Watch: Maddy on Season 2 of CBC Gem's 'The New Wave of Standup Comedy'. Photo Credit: CBC — **JFL Exclusive: We Tell You Why Maddy Kelly Is The One To Watch: Maddy with her co-hosts (Ryan Beil, Maddy Kelly and Mark Chavez) of “Let’s Make A Sci-Fi” podcast.** Photo Credit: www.instagram.com

During the interview, I noted that Maddy’s dedication to the craft of comedy and down-to-earth demeanour made for a powerful combination as she continues her ascent in the entertainment world. With an Irish father and Indian mother, Maddy’s love for Kerala is deeply rooted thanks to her family’s love for food. “My family cooks a lot of South Asian food and my uncle is a great chef,” She noted adding that her favorite dish is Duck Curry.

A Comedic Family

In addition to bonding over South Asian dishes, comedy was another source of joy for her family. “It was cool to have a family with different backgrounds and ages,” Maddy recalled. “If you can relate to different kinds of people, it is a good training ground. My families on both sides are hilarious.”

Discovering Her Humour

“I was always trying to make everyone laugh,” said Maddy as she remembered her childhood. She experimented with her humour through high school (“I thought that I was being funny, but everyone thought that I was being weird”), but found her footing at the University of British Colombia where she joined the school’s UBC Improv group. “I was passionate and competitive about being funny and getting better. I started stand-up at 19. I watched a lot of it but never really thought that I would do it. Until I did.”

The humour talent runs deep throughout her family, even though she claimed, “I am the least funny person.” Maddy credited her cousin Nicky as an inspiration, “[she] was always clowning around and doing Russell Peters impressions. I was always trying to be like her.” Maddy is working on building her roster of impressions as well, “I am trying to do more and expand it more onstage.”

However, the overall allure of stand-up for Maddy is that it quenched her thirst for wanting to make people laugh and to be the focus of comedy. “I have always been such be a ham,” she laughed. “I wanted attention and to be on stage. I found a place where you can do that every single time. I never really looked back.”

When it comes to looking at others on the stage, “my favourite comedians are able to do alternative bits, really relatable stuff about their own lives and great political bits,” explained Maddy noting Wanda Sykes as one of her favourites. “I would like to be that kind of comic.” In her own work, Maddy is laying the foundation to achieve this goal because in addition to her prowess as a humourous podcaster, some of stand-up focuses on her own misadventures as a twenty something progressing in her career, finances and in life in general.

Maddy also finds inspiration by watching classic films such as Bend it like Beckham, “I played soccer and she (Jess portrayed by Parminder Nagra) was this Indian girl who wanted to go for something. I loved that movie.”

**JFL Exclusive: We Tell You Why Maddy Kelly Is The One To Watch: Maddy on Season 2 of CBC Gem’s ‘The New Wave of Standup Comedy’.** Photo Credit: CBC

The Art Of The Delivery

Comedians are notorious for having their own set of rituals before and after their set. She admits that she doesn’t have any sort of tradition prior to hitting the mic. “I am always trying a new routine, a new way of preparing, a new thing or a new outfit,” she mused. “I do think sometimes that I would have more success if I stuck to one thing.”

But she did say that she has one sort of interesting routine. “But one thing I notice is that I always tell someone that I am going to bomb. I don’t know why. It just makes me feel better. I say I am going to bomb and then I don’t. It’s not an intentional ritual.”

When it comes to finally getting on stage and delivery her material presence is key — and so is eye contact. “Onstage, I am present. Mostly you do jokes that you have done so many times, so there are lots of different tricks to keep it fresh. For the first two years I did not know that you are supposed to be making eye contact. I did not know where I was looking,” she laughed.

Maddy also relishes in her nervous energy. “I try to get nervous, like trying a new joke. I still have the energy of wanting to do a good job and making people laugh.”

The L.A. Canuck

Being outside of her home country of Canada, has allowed Maddy to appreciate her training and embrace the vastness of the comedy community in Los Angeles. “I have been lucky to have had an opportunity to work with talented people. But she does miss the close-knit camaraderie that the relatively smaller Canadian comedy scene provided. “In Canada everyone does everything because I think it is the way that we have been trained,” she recalls. “We all know each other so well. We watch each other every single night and we know each other’s jokes. It feels like comedy is more of a team sport. I do miss that aspect sometimes.” Regarding Los Angeles, Maddy notes, “It is just so big. They don’t even know each other. It is a massive scene. I have been so inspired in the last year watching LA comics. They are just so funny.”

**JFL Exclusive: We Tell You Why Maddy Kelly Is The One To Watch: Maddy Kelly**. Photo Credit: Just for Laughs

Now here we are at JFL and Maddy is excited, “It is literally my biggest dream since I was a little kid. I want everyone to be able to relate to me. I don’t think that half Indian, young women in their twenties have been considered everyman and are (considered by) people that can relate to everyone. I have a specific background and I take a lot of pride in trying to make anyone laugh, even if they are not like me.”

Congrats to Maddy and check out Just For Laughs Montreal website for full festival details along with ticket information at www.montreal.hahaha.com.

Main Image Photo Credit: Just For Laughs Montreal

Meena Khan | Features Editor - Beauty

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Meena (@meenalaregina) always loved the idea of exploring the non-conventional idea of beauty. Having grown up as a pimply chubby teenager, she wanted to see the change in the world that best reflected your uniqueness as well. Her well-received collection of blogs where she tries on various beauty p...

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JFL Exclusive: Award-Winning Podcast Comedian Maddy Kelly Is The Next Gen Star

by Meena Khan | Features Editor - Beauty

Meena Khan | Features Editor - Beauty

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