Podcast Summary: You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes

Guest: Mary Elizabeth Kelly
Episode Date: February 5, 2025

Main Theme

This episode is an energetic, playful, and insightful deep-dive into the creative life and inner weirdness of comedian, impressionist, and actor Mary Elizabeth Kelly. Discovered by Pete via Instagram, Mary Elizabeth shares her path from theater and commercials to viral internet fame, discusses the challenges of digital creativity and the internet’s double-edged sword, and explores her obsession with impressions and accents. The episode is filled with comedic riffing, authentic vulnerability, advice for creators, playful impressions, and a delightfully weird ghost story.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Discovering Mary Elizabeth: Social Media & Internet Comedy

[00:03-02:55]

• Pete recalls finding Mary Elizabeth on Instagram, playing the reel that “introduced” him to her, riffing on her knack for accents and character voices.
• “Crying with laughter...maybe 17 times in a row.” – Pete Holmes (00:21)

2. Cultural Quirks, Britishisms, and Expressing Love

[03:16-05:11]

• The duo riffs on British slang for fakeness and pregnancy (“up the duff”, “in the pudding club”, “bun in the oven”).
• Mary explains her tendency toward emotional openness versus her more private partner, sharing her “I love you” workaround by writing it on her partner’s back.
  • “I would write ‘I love you’ on his back.” – Mary Elizabeth Kelly (06:19)

3. Pregnancy, British Slang, and AI Tangents

[06:07-07:56]

• Mary talks about navigating pregnancy (“I’m up the duff!”) and how British idioms make everything sound better.
• Funny extemporaneous ChatGPT bit about British pregnancy terms.

“Are you in the pudding club? I’m having pud for two.” – Mary Elizabeth Kelly (08:27)

4. The Internet, Virality, and Creative Vulnerability

[11:09-16:34]

• Discussion about internet’s addictive nature, the fleetingness of viral success, the pressure to outdo oneself, and the divide between positive and negative reactions online.
• Mary reveals her “post and ghost” strategy when sharing new content to avoid comment-section stress:
  • “I post and ghost.” – Mary Elizabeth Kelly (16:34)

5. Originality, Stealing, and the Viral Ecosystem

[17:28-27:46]

• How creators balance originality, inspiration, and the possibility of accidental overlap with others’ ideas.
• Pete relays Conan O’Brien’s wisdom about consistency: “Just keep hitting your triangle... someone will go, what is that dinging I’ve heard for ten years?” (23:15)
• Mary shares her approach: credit inspiration, do due diligence, but keep moving creatively forward.

6. Comedy Trends, Impressions & Social Media Generations

[31:04-52:19]

• Evolution of accents, characters, and acceptable targets in impressions (“cringe Millennial core”, Gen Z’s and Gen Alpha’s bizarre internet slang like “Skibidi Toilet”, “Ohio riz”).
• Mutual confusion/admiration for how trends mutate and what generations find funny.
  • “Skibidi Toilet...it makes no sense...and the Gen Alpha children are obsessed with it.” – Mary Elizabeth Kelly (51:32)

7. Algorithmic Realities, Fake Videos, and Digital Discernment

[54:49-63:52]

• Pete predicts a future where internet content will become a personalized psychedelic AI feed.
• Both lament the proliferation of staged/fake “reels” and misinformation online, with people losing discernment.
• Mary tells how actors play “fake” viral videos for likes/clicks, and many believe them.
  • “There’s this person on TikTok...pretending to recover from dementia…and it’s so clearly fake.” – Mary Elizabeth Kelly (59:49)

8. Parenting, Pregnancy & Internet Judgement

[81:45-88:50]

• Pete offers advice about perspective during early parenthood (“Just pretend you’re camping”), and Mary discusses the public pressure around pregnancy and parenting online.
• Mary shares plans to keep parenting content to a minimum: “It’s going to be a parent-free zone for me...in terms of content.” – Mary Elizabeth Kelly (87:25)

9. Mary’s Journey: From Theater Kid to Viral Comic

[65:12-76:26]

• Mary details her background—studying acting, booking commercials (notably for the now-defunct “7Up10”), and turning to online sketches during the pandemic.
• Describes how her creative momentum online blossomed from playful accent videos and a viral bit about “mouth acting” (actors’ intense facial mannerisms: “mouth actors”).
• Addresses how she thinks about the algorithm and internet “success,” emphasizing passion > strategy: “I don’t want to put all my eggs in the Internet basket.” (74:50)

10. Impression Workshop: Touchstones, Trends, and SNL

[91:12-108:48]

• Mary and Pete geek out on vocal “touchstones” for impressions—key words or features to enter a character (e.g. “magnets” for Winona Ryder, “Andy Dufresne” for Morgan Freeman, “get in my belly” for Fat Bastard).
  • “For Jennifer Coolidge: ‘Oh hi, yeah hi...’” – Mary Elizabeth Kelly (104:43)
• Mary shares her SNL audition, which featured a morphing series of celebrity impressions—did not get the part, but cherished the experience.

11. Ghost Stories, Past Life Vibes, and Weirdness

[110:00-117:32]

• For Pete’s final “keep it weird” question, Mary recounts seeing a benevolent Civil War-era ghostly woman (possibly a past-life connection) in her mirror.
  • “I felt like she was taking care of me...and a couple days later, my mom sends me a photo from a Civil War graveyard and it says Calhoun—the name that came to my mind.” – Mary Elizabeth Kelly (114:38)
• Pete and Mary riff on Civil War history, death, and callbacks to 7Up Ten.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Audience & Originality:
  “For every crappy message, I get a message from a new mom being like, ‘I watch your videos when I’m breastfeeding at night… it’s the only thing that brings me joy.’” – Mary Elizabeth Kelly (27:00)

• On Comparison and Internet Trolls:
  “People are just cruisin’ for a bruisin’. They want to be like, ‘I see what’s wrong with this.’” – Pete Holmes (19:30)

• On Internet Success:
  “Sometimes, the joke needed to be more like a photograph than a performance—a moment.” – Pete Holmes (14:21)

• On Impressions and Trends:
  “Comedy comes in trends and waves…with big characters, nowadays people say ‘Millennial core—that’s cringe!’” – Mary Elizabeth Kelly (49:32)
  “An impression is either right or wrong.” – Pete Holmes (102:20)

• On Emotional Access and Pregnancy:
  “Pre-pregnancy, I was a crier, but now I’m feeling all of every feeling…they’re more easily accessible, I guess.” – Mary Elizabeth Kelly (37:37)

• On the Power of Creativity:
  “All you can do is just keep creating and keep making…for me, at least, there’s a sort of bubbling fountain of stuff I’m excited about.” – Mary Elizabeth Kelly (28:11)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Internet Fame Reel: 00:43–02:55
• Cultural Slang, Pregnancy, AI: 06:34–08:35
• Going Viral and Handling Negativity: 15:02–16:34
• Algorithm, Trends, Generational Humor: 49:32–52:27
• Fake Online Content Discussion: 57:06–63:52
• Pregnancy & Parenting Pressures: 81:45–88:50
• Ghost Story: 112:38–117:32
• Impression Techniques/Touchstones: 91:12–108:48

Episode Tone & Style

• Hilariously freewheeling, quick-witted, and full of asides.
• Self-deprecating, vulnerable, and genuine (especially about internet pressures and emotional health).
• Playful Britishisms and impressions peppered throughout.
• A bit of “comedy therapy” for creative neuroses and boundaries.
• Skips over self-promotion and leans into authentic conversation and creative joy.

Closing & Catchphrases

• Pete’s Traditional Sign-Off: “Keep it crispy.”
• Mary delivers in her own voice: “Keep it crispy.” (119:24)

This episode is a must-listen for fans of creative process, the weirdness of internet culture, the joy (and difficulty) of being publicly funny and sensitive, and the fine art of impressions. It’s a celebration of secret weirdness, honesty, and the magic that happens when two funny minds lovingly riff.