By Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer
Comedian Kristin Key had no idea what secret life her wife was leading.
But that secret has led to a new comedy outlet for Key, an Amarillo native who hit the national scene after cracking the Top 10 of the fourth season of Last Comic Standing in 2006.
Key will return home for an 8 p.m. Thursday show at Hoots Pub, 2424 Hobbs Road. Tickets are $10.
But about that secret: "My wife loves Legos," Key said. "I didn't know about it, but she had a secret covey filled with a stash of them."
OK, as secret lives go, it's not the most scandalous. But it led to a new audience for Key.
"As we find this out about each other, she loves to build them and I do not, but I like to bring them to life (in stop-motion videos) ... and write songs for them," Key said. "It's usually a way to justify whatever set we just bought — a firehouse set, for example.
"Anybody can have fun with it, but my friends who have kids, the kids go nuts for it," she continued. "It really brings comedy to a new level for me. Seeing them get into the spirit and sing along is really exciting."
Key launched a new YouTube channel, Happy Go Bricks, to spotlight the painstaking work that goes into creating stop-motion animation. That's in addition to her much more adults-only comedy channel, where she posts bits of her stand-up act, TV appearances and more.
"I still have the grownup shows that I enjoy very much, but I really like the kids' stuff. It's a simple humor," she said.
No, that doesn't mean she's contemplating motherhood herself.
"No, that would f--- up my Legos, man," Key laughed. "You should see the living room right now. We had plumbing issues and are getting all-new floors, so there are no floors in the downstairs bathroom and kitchen, and there are Legos everywhere because we're filming a new video this year. A baby would die here."
The Lego videos aren't the only new material Key released in 2017. She dropped two albums, as well: I'm a Hooker, her fourth standup album, recorded in October 2016 in Seattle, and Songs in the Key of Kristin, her first studio comedy music album.
Hooker "is kind of my coming-out album in a way," she said. "It's a lot more open way to talk about my life. I get to come out as a crocheter. ... It's very raw because I talk so much about crocheting and cats. It's not for the faint of heart."
Songs in the Key of Kristin, meanwhile, debuted at No. 7 on Billboard's comedy charts, Key's highest debut yet.
"I was really happy about that one. I think it sounds pretty good," she said.
Thursday's return home will feature some of the bits included on Hooker, though in different forms.
"By the time the album came out, I felt like some of the material still needed to be polished," Key said. "I think some of it has gotten better, some of it has gotten longer, and some of the album I don't do anymore. My act is constantly evolving."
Chip Chandler is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and on Facebook.
