Kelly Carlin in conversation. Growing up watching her father, George Carlin, become a counter-culture hero, inspired her to live an unconventional, yet creatively fulfilling life. As a child she was already showing her many sides and interests – from writing skits and doing imitations (her Ethel Merman was quite good for an eight year old) to having to foster wisdom beyond her years to navigate and survive the insanity of her parent’s world of the 60s and 70s.

She began her professional life in her teens working in TV for her mother and father on various shows for HBO, and continued in TV production throughout her twenties. In 1993, at the ripe age of 30, she graduated from UCLA, Magna Cum Laude, with a B.A. in Communications Studies. While at UCLA, Kelly discovered her voice as a writer, which lead her to a career in writing for film and TV with her partner and husband Robert McCall. During this time, Kelly also pursued her craft through less mainstream projects, including writing and performing her one-woman show abut her tumultuous childhood and her mother’s recent death, Driven To Distraction in 2000.

In 2001 after two decades in the entertainment business, Kelly stepped away to get a new perspective, and received her masters in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate institute in 2004. She studied mythology, Jungian psychology and the intersection of art and the sacred. With her new found take on “the business,” her life and the world, Kelly knew that she wanted to deepen her exploration of the big questions and themes of life through her writing, performing and teaching.

She presently writes and performs personal essays, interviews legendary comedians for Laugh.com’s On Comedy CD series, teaches a class on living the creative life, and is writing her memoir which will explore her journey from living in the shadow to standing in her light.

She can be reached at www.thekellycarlinsite.com

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