Kelly first surfaced on comedy stages in Austin, Texas with HBO's Aspen Comedy Festival auditions in the fall of 1999, followed by winning Capital City Comedy Club's annual "Funniest Person in Austin" contest in April 2000. Kelly was the winner of Comedy Central's 2002 Laugh Riots national comedy competition and was one of the New Faces in the Just for Laughs comedy festival that same year.
After many years of performing stand-up, Kelly made her acting debut in January 2016 after long-time friend Zach Galifianakis asked her to co-star in his FX comedy series Baskets. She co-stars as Martha, an insurance adjuster and friend of Chip Baskets (played by Galifianakis).
