Kelly Taylor

In a theatre full of people, Kelly Taylor sat anxiously behind a curtain waiting to take the stage. In Hamilton, Ontario, a long way from his hometown of Prince Albert, Taylor was doing his first show at a theatre. The only comic on the bill, he thought to himself “you’ve made it man, this is it.” Looking back now Taylor laughs, “That was a noon college gig, that was not making it.”

17 years ago, Kelly Taylor started his journey as a comedian and father. A university student at the time, pursuing his Bachelor of Education, Taylor had other visions for his career. “I always knew I wanted to do comedy. I just didn’t know how to get into it,” he says. His first gig was a corporate function for his mom’s co-workers, a show that’s rarely a comedian’s first. The show went better than expected and led to more opportunities. At the time, his girlfriend and now wife, Karen was pregnant with their first child, “I used comedy as way to get out of the house,” he reveals laughing. He was doing comedy almost full time in his last year of University and barely getting to class but managed to finish school and get his degree.

It's not about the recognition or an ego thing, it's about happiness. Everything I love is here. I love PA."

Taylor started off doing bar shows - drinking beer, telling jokes and getting rowdy to connect with the crowd. Always in party mode, he found it hard to transition to corporate events. Different audiences forced Taylor to evolve and write new material. Not even a year into comedy, Kelly Taylor was headlining and working towards bigger things.

In 2005, with less than three years under his belt, Taylor placed second in the Just for Laughs Homegrown competition,which launched his career. “It’s how I got my manager. There was interest from Universal, Happy Madison and Jimmy Kimmel,” he explains. This led to a Canadian college tour where he was named Canadian College Comedian of the Year.

A U.S. college tour soon followed. With an older drinking age in the States, Taylor had to adapt his material, “You were the alternative to drinking. So that year, I started writing a new hour with my big jokes about colouring and jenga.”

No stranger to tough crowds, Taylor cringes talking about one of his worst shows. In just 20 minutes, he went through an hour of his best material, “The whole crowd was against me. I was just getting further into this hole,” he says, shaking his head, “I remember thinking ‘Why am I here? Why am I doing this?” The next night, he followed it up with his best college show.

Doing over 200 shows a year, comedy has taken Taylor around the world, he hardly imagined it would secure him a permanent gig in his hometown. In 2016, local radio station XFM approached Kelly to co-host their morning show. Used to the unpredictability of the comedy business he had a hard time imagining a full-time job, especially one that required him to be in bed before his kids. After a few meetings, taking the job was a no brainer, “They’re giving me every day off that I need for comedy and telling me if I’m not having fun, quit. How can I say no?” he says. At first, he felt awkward not knowing radio but enjoys not having a script and says the job has been fun.

His passion and excitement for comedy is clear, “Comedy has been a holiday for life. It’s the dream job. It feels like you never have to work,” but nothing lights up his face more than talking about his family. “It’s (being a dad) the best! Anything that’s a lot of work, the more you get out of it,” expresses the father of four. Daughter Kade (17) and sons Van (12), Rooke (9) and Tripp (5) complete the Taylor family.

Being on the road, away from his family can be tough he explains, “When I have to miss the kid’s stuff, that's when it’s (comedy) work and not fun anymore.” Although their family enjoys travelling and takes vacations alongside Kelly’s shows, he can’t see them living anywhere but Prince Albert. In a city like Toronto or Vancouver he would have more opportunities and more on his bio, but Taylor says that’s not what’s important to him. “My wife loves to travel; she was up for anything, but I like it here,” he says.

Taylor grew up in Prince Albert playing hockey, camping and enjoying the outdoors, things he still appreciates today. When he’s not telling jokes, he’s cross country skiing at Little Red River Park, playing shinny on his backyard rink or backwoods camping in Northern Saskatchewan. He also loves golfing, “Cooke (Municipal Golf Course) is unbelievable, it’s one of the best courses.” Another favourite of his in Prince Albert is Little Red, “There was a fire by Little Red this summer. I was like if Little Red burns, we can move,” he laughs adding, “I live at Little Red. I love it out there.”

Although he still travels often for gigs, Taylor feels like he’s found his niche in Saskatchewan, where hockey functions are right in his wheel house. At this point in his career he feels accepted in the industry, it wasn’t always that way. “I do a joke about it...people ask where I’m from, I say Saskatchewan and they say, ‘so where do you live now?’” He wasn’t taken seriously for years; people thought if he was good, he would leave, but Taylor put on great shows and proved that where you live doesn’t define your success, “It’s not about the recognition or an ego thing, it’s about happiness. Everything I love is here. I love PA.”