Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Kelsi Roberts of Los Angeles

Kelsi Roberts shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Good morning Kelsi, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What is a normal day like for you right now?
I truly feel insane writing this, but a normal day for me right now starts at 5:30 am. I KNOW, YIKES! My toddler is doing this fun thing where he is getting up at 5:30 in the morning, ready to party like his life depends on it. So, what do we do? We party. After that, I proceed to down at minimum three cups of coffee and then get ready to teach Improv at The Groundlings or ImprovLA.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a commercial actress and improviser who has been performing for the last 18 years. I’m currently a teacher at The Groundlings and Improv LA and a performer at Upright Citizens Brigade, where my Maude team, Smokeshow, has just graduated to a house team. During the pandemic, like the rest of us, I was sitting at home drinking copious amounts of wine, going through all my stuff. I landed on some items that I saved from middle school and high school, where I landed on a diary that I made called, My Secret Crush Book. I was shocked at how grossly detailed I was in my crush entries, all adorned with a cutout picture of the crush and what my dream date with them would be. Truly, no exaggeration, one was “Going to Albertsons,” so my standards were high! With this newfound embarrassingly worthy journal in hand, I decided to create an improv show called My Secret Crush Book, where me, and a group of improvisors do a 45 minute long form set based off of one of the crushes pulled. We’ve had packed shows at The Groundlings, Lyric Hyperion and The Elysian.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
I feel incredibly fortunate to say my parents. Man, do my parents believe and support me. Even now, I’m a thirty-seven-year-old improviser, and they still come to all of my shows. They invite all their friends and neighbors to my shows, and it’s really brought me a lot of joy seeing them with all their support. They gave my brother and me so much creative freedom that I think we came out as such huge weirdos, and I love it. Something that sticks with me now, especially as an adult, is a phrase that my parents constantly said to me growing up, which is, “Why not you?” It’s such a great reminder in an industry full of “No’s” that it’s okay to believe in yourself.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
I think this is pretty common for most performers, but a constant fear is that my time is up, that my time at the “entertainment industry amusement park” is up, and that I never got a weird fast pass, or that I was never even able to get on the ride when it feels like so many others around you are getting on the ride so quickly. It’s just a reminder that success can look different and that stage time, performing time, and being surrounded by people who are constantly supporting each other is a win, and realizing that is the ride, just the fun of it.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Whose ideas do you rely on most that aren’t your own?
I switch out performers every show for My Secret Crush Book except for Jasmine Elist, Jackie Young and my husband, Daniel Robbins. They’re insight and ideas inspire me a ton. I trust them and their brilliance. I’ve been performing with them all for so long that I feel really aligned and connected to them.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What will you regret not doing? 
Honestly, creating more digital content. I come from a generation that is so stage-driven, and that is just how you made it. Now it feels like everything lives through videos for quick scrolling. Man, do I want to get better at that. Whenever I attempt to make a video, I get so overwhelmed with how hard it is. Is that nuts? I’m like, this feels like film school just to put u a weird character who hates peanut butter. But, just you wait, I WILL get better!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shmelsi/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelsi-roberts-b442505b/

Image Credits
Ian Zandi, Zack Arch, Sarah Sheikh Bridge, and Carlos Parada.