How Welcome to Flatch's Queer Star Holmes Fights Sadness With Humor
Welcome to Flatch. “But I thought that I would just be doing other jobs to be able to do that because my favorite comedy is improv, and that’s not something that is [usually] paid.” Holmes has appeared in some shorts and TV series but says it wasn’t until they were hired to star in Welcome to Flatch that they were able to call performing a career.Based on the British mockumentary sitcom This Country, Welcome to Flatch follows a documentary crew that goes to the fictional town of Flatch, Ohio, to film cousins Kelly Mallet (Holmes) and Lloyd “Shrub” Mallet (Sam Straley) as they move through their eccentric lives.Holmes, who is queer and uses she/they pronouns, became involved with the show in 2020 after having moved to Chicago to pursue improv.
At the time, they were spending their days working odd jobs at the gym, the butcher shop, and an escape room, and were doing stand-up and improv in the evenings. “When I was younger, I broke it to myself that you’re going to still create art and your job doesn’t have to be your passion,” says Holmes.During that period in her life, Holmes took the advice of one of her exes and downloaded Twitter.
Soon after, Holmes started posting improvised videos of characters or situations that she found funny, and in January 2020, it caught the attention of Paul Feig (A Simple Favor), executive producer of Welcome to Flatch.“The internet amplifies what you’re able to do career-wise so much.
It’s crazy because I do think that the internet is really bad in a lot of ways, but it can also be really good, just like most people,” Holmes jokes.“It really did get me the audition, and I had to work through that in my head.
