Conversations with Kristin Key

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristin Key.

Hi Kristin, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started stand-up comedy in the small dusty West Texas town of Amarillo, TX. I’m the daughter of an evangelical Christian minister and I grew up super Jesus-y. When I came out of the closet at 16, to put it mildly, it did not go well. I was asked to leave my church and lost most of my friends. My family and I had a strained relationship. I dropped out of high school and moved out of my parent house. I did manage to get my GED and start college but was extremely depressed. Life as an openly gay woman was too much for me. I went BACK in the closet to protect myself. That was the darkest time in my life. (I promise the story gets more uplifting very soon!) At 19, while attending college to be a paramedic, I decided to try our local comedy club’s open mic night. I was contemplating suicide… so stand up didn’t seem so scary.

From the moment I touched the microphone, I found my happy place. I fell in love with stand-up and have done it regularly since that day. My comedy career began as the house MC for the Amarillo Comedy Club. Every weekend, I would open the show and introduce the professional comedians. Some nights, when the club was short-staffed, I would also hostess and sometimes wait tables as well as MCing. I would just let the audience know that their drink service would be suspended until I was done with my jokes. They were usually cool about it. During my first year working for the comedy club, I was offered a few gigs in the surrounding cities. I would drive to the even smaller cities nearby to perform in TERRIBLE dive bars and was THRILLED to be paid $50.Being paid meant that I was a professional comedian and that was all I had wanted.

One regional gig would lead to another. Before I knew it I was 25 and had driven to over 30 states to perform comedy. I played every one-nighter, comedy club, casino, and bowling alley across Middle America. My hometown comedy club had shut down because the owner died and I decided to move to a larger city to pursue my comedy dreams further. I chose Austin, TX. Shortly after moving to Austin. Last Comic Standing began casting season 4. They would hold “Cattle Call” and ANYONE could have a shot to be on the show if they were willing to stand in that long line.

I showed up at 4am. I waited in the line all day long for my shot. I had 90 seconds to impress the talent scouts and what do you know? I made it on the show. I was one of 12 that made it “Into the House” on Last Comic Standing that season. I was on NBC all season long. Most importantly, I got to tell my jokes on national television. It is still one of the highlights of my life. Last Comic Standing opened so many doors for me. I was able to move to Los Angeles and I began playing bigger and better comedy clubs and venues.

With a little success came a massive alcohol problem. I had been performing since I was in my late teens, but I had always been a closeted performer. The closet is a dark and lonely place on the road. The next ten years I spent on the road battling my inner demons. In 2009, I was arrested for public intoxication. (I had driven my car the wrong way up an off-ramp… but somehow talked it down). In 2013 I nearly died in a fiery car rollover.

In 2016, I got sober. I also came out of the closet professionally. I was able to FINALLY perform authentically. Once I began talking about my life as a gay woman, I was also able to talk about all of the little things I had been in the closet about as well. I had been self-censoring EVERYTHING from my love of cats to the fact that I crocheted. Once I was able to just be myself on stage, stand up became an absolute JOY again. I had always been a closet musician, it was around this time that I really leaned into the guitar and began playing throughout my act. That was a game-changer. I began having so much fun playing, and singing, and joking and CONNECTING with the audiences. Wouldn’t you know… soon after getting sober, I was offered another TV opportunity (NBC’s Bring the Funny) and a special with Dry Bar Comedy. I was approached by a cruise agent and they asked if I wanted to try performing at sea. I jumped at the opportunity!

I LOVED performing on cruises so much that I filled my calendar with them… that was 2020. February of 2020, I boarded the Grand Princess cruise ship. I spent way longer on that ship that I had planned. We were the ship famously shown on the news circling the San Fransisco harbor. Then President Trump did a press conference saying if it were up to him, he’d leave us out there. Needless to say, moral hit the toilet that day.

We were quarantined, bussed to military bases, and while we were waiting out our 14-day quarantine at Ft. Travis, Covid hit the rest of the world. When I was released from quarantine, LA was on lockdown. Pandemic began. During a pandemic, I started performing online. I agreed to do comedy shows, corporate parties, and I even started a few shows of my own. Entertainers don’t know how to sit still. I started the Kristin Knows Blank podcast (a podcast where I play a Mad Lib while interviewing a fellow comedian) and Friday Live @ Five (a Live Streaming comedy music show on FB and YouTube)

When the world reopened, so did I! The cruises wanted dates, the clubs were booking, and the corporate work kept coming in. My calendar is full and I am very much enjoying life. I’m sober, I’m happy, I’m busy. Somewhere inside me, a 19-year-old girl from Texas is LIVING HER DREAMS.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I struggled with alcohol and drug abuse during my 20s and early 30s. Being the lesbian daughter of a Christian minister was difficult. I had been asked to leave my church. I didn’t know how to live in a world where I was told that God didn’t love me. I struggled greatly with my sexual orientation. I stayed in the closet until I was 35.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a musical stand-up comedian. I play the guitar, write funny songs, write jokes, and I perform it all LIVE in front of an audience. I do happy go lucky feel good comedy. I have short hair and am obviously gay, but my act is VERY family-friendly. I start my act with “My name is Kristin. I love cats, I crochet, and I’m married to a woman. Who’s ready to party?”

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Find someone who has what you want and ask them how they got it. My hero growing up was Susan Gibson. She wrote the song “Wide Open Spaces” and sold it to the Dixie Chicks. She also lived in my hometown of Amarillo, TX. One night, after her show, I asked her how I could be a stand-up comedian. I don’t know why I thought she would know the answer to this… she was in a band. Oddly enough, she said “My bass player’s brother-in-law just opened up a comedy club! Talk to Bobby!” I did. The rest is history

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kristinkey.com
• Instagram: @thekristinkey
• Facebook: @kristinkeycomedy
• Twitter: @thekristinkey
• Youtube: @kristinkeycomedy
• Other: tiktok.com/kristinkeycomedy