Robert Keller is a Toronto-based actor, comedian, writer, producer, and self-proclaimed WASP-y Jew. He recently appeared on the iChannel stand-up comedy series No Kiddingand has also been featured in several commercials (including this one in French), a Fringe play, and an award-winning web series, to name a few of his recent projects. A 2012 Tim Sims comedy award nominee, he has become a break-out talent on the Canadian comedy scene, with his cerebral humour, knack for accents, and uncanny impersonation of Celine Dion(who he’s just slightly obsessed with). His monthly musical comedy show, Off Key Comedy, plays Toronto's Comedy Bar the fourth Thursday of each month at 8 pm.
These days, Robert can often be found working on his original pilot script and his hair.
The First Ever Toronto Edition of Laugh Out Proud IsHappening June 27, 28, and 29! June 5, 2013 It's official! The first ever weekend of Pride shows at the downtown Toronto Yuk Yuk's, aprtly entitled Laugh Out Proud, is happening on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, June 27, 28, and 29, 2013, and I'll be the MC! Our headliner is the explosively funny Jessica Kirson (The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, ABC's The View, Last Comic Standing), and we'll also be featuring several of the top queer comics in Canada as surprise guests! Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online through www.yukyuks.com or by calling the Yuk Yuk's box office at (416) 967-6431. And in the spirit of Pride, $1 of each ticket will be donated to the 519 Church Street Community Centre, which is where Mark Breslin began Yuk Yuk's way back in 1976 (when disco was a "thing"). Show time is 8 pm each night. For a sneak peek, check out our promo video by clicking here! Off Key Comedy Is Profiled in the Torontoist May 23, 2013 The new monthly musical comedy show that I co-host at the Comedy Bar on the 4th Thursday of each month with the fabulous Rush Zilla, Off Key Comedy, got its first press coverage today, courtesy of news and culture website, the Torontoist, which quoted me as saying: “This is definitely not your grandpa’s musical comedy." (Love it!) To read the full article, click here.
Gay Nerds Minisode #3 Launches March 9, 2013 Minisode #3 just DROPPED, y'all! We're giving the old Brat Pack a run for their money this time around! (And my girl Morgan Joy is bringing some teary-eyed Molly Ringwald REALNESS!) Check out the new minisode below, and then cast your vote for your FAVE of the 3 minisodes via our Facebook poll by clicking here. The one that gets the most votes will get its own full webisode! (P.S. If you haven't yet seen Minisodes #1 and #2, check them out on our YouTube channel by clicking here. And while you're at, why not go ahead and subsrcibe to our YouTube channel? GOOOOO.... Gay Nerds!)
Gay Nerds Wins an Indie Soap Award February 20, 2013
The 4th annual Indie Soap Awards, which "celebrate the best in independently produced, scripted and serialized entertainment created for the Web," took place at New World Stages in New York City last night, and my web series, Gay Nerds, beat out five other nominees to take home the award for "Best Opening Sequence (All Shows)"! We are now officially the "award-winning web series, Gay Nerds"! (And who knows what Season 2 may bring...)
The First Gay Nerds Minisode Has Dropped, Y'all! February 17, 2013 Holy silence of the lamb shanks, you guys! I am so excited to present the first of 3 new "minisode" teasers from the hit web series Gay Nerds! (I think you'll agree that I'm totally bringing utterly-confused-and-might-be-a-lesbian-but-then-again-maybe-not-Jodie-Foster realness here!) Stay tuned for the next 2 minisodes, and then vote for your favourite on Twitter or Facebook! The one with the most votes will get a full episode in our upcoming season. #gaylambs
Mark Your Calendars for March 28, 2013 January 21, 2013 Can't say too much yet, but keep your evening free on Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 8 pm because I am working on a very special new monthly show that will premiere that night at Toronto's Comedy Bar (945 Bloor St. W., just west of Ossington), which will combine comedy and music all in one! (It's kind of like the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup of shows!) This is going to be an evening of sheer musical comedy joy that you won't want to miss! Stay tuned for details.
Just in Time for Christmas, it's "Christmas Baby"! (With Apologies to Carly Rae Jepsen) December 24, 2012 Check out my début as a recording artist on the hot new Christmas parody single, "Christmas Baby" (sung to the tune of "Call Me Maybe" and featuring lyrics and vocals by Heidi Brander and me)! Just in time for the big day, this super-dope track--which tells the magical story of the birth of the little baby Jesus--is sure to warm your cockles! (I also predict it's going to tear up the Billboard charts in 2013.) To hear the song, click here.
Kosher Jokes Sells Out and Ben Mulroney Shouts Out December 3, 2012 What a night last night was! I was so honoured to be a part of the Toronto edition of the third annual Kosher Jokes for the Haladays--a stand-up comedy show touring 3 cities (Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal) that brings together Jewish and Muslim comics for a night of collective laughter and celebration. The brain-child of Jess Salomon and Eman, this unique show stopped in Hogtown at the Lower Ossington Theatre last night and completely sold out! (They even had to add chairs at the back of the room--and then it was standing room only--just like Cats!) The show got a nod from the Toronto Star as well as BlogTO, but perhaps my favourite shout-out was from Ben Mulroney, star of CTV's eTalk, who was in the audience last night and who tweetedthis morning that last night's show was (and I quote) "absolutely hysterical: top to bottom, a great line-up of comedians!" Well said, Ben, well said. (Below is my blurry pic with him and his lovely wife, Jessica, post-show.)
My Interview with Richard Ryder on Toronto's Proud FM 103.9 October 22, 2012 To listen to this interview, which aired today on Toronto's Proud FM 103.9, scroll to the bottom of my "Press" page, which you can view by clicking here.
My Tims Sims Award Nomination October 16, 2012 It's official: I am now a nominee for the 2012 Tim Sims Award! On September 10, I was honoured to be given the opportunity to perform for a packed house at the Toronto Second City Theatre alongside 20 of the most promising new comedic acts in Toronto in a prestigious showcase known as Fresh Meat. (You can watch my performance by clicking here.) Following that, the jury narrowed the field down to five finalists—and iturns out, I am one of them! The four other finalists and I will now be performing in a final showcase, known as the Cream of Comedy, on October 29! The show will be hosted by the hilarious and multi-Canadian-Comedy-Award-winning Kristeen von Hagen (Just for Laughs, SHOWTIME, Comedy Central), and the winner—who will receive a $5,000 cash prize—will be announced at the end of the show! DRAMA!
Episode of 3 of Gay Nerds September 19, 2012
This episode features an actual hydraulic lift. (Don't ask what we had to do to make that happen on our shoe-string budget...) All I can say is: I hope Sigourney Weaver is watching.
Episode 2 of Gay Nerds July 23, 2012
Can you guess which classic early 90's movie we are satirizing in this episode? I'll give you a hint: Michelle Pfeiffer in a black patent leather onesie. Enjoy.
Epsiode 1 of Gay Nerds the web series has launched June 22, 2012 After months of hard work and anticipation, the first episode of my new comedic web series, Gay Nerds, has finally hit the interwebs! I think it is hilarious and quite original. (But I'm a tad biased, obvi!) Please check it out and, if you like it, share it! Also, come see us perform Gay Nerds (the play) live on stage at the Toronto Fringe Festival between July 4 and July 14. I can assure you that the play is completely different than the web series, and full of fun surprises. More information about our Fringe show is available here, and tickets may be purchased online here. And stay tuned for Episode 2 coming soon to www.gaynerds.tv!
My Set at Absolute Comedy Toronto April 14, 2012
I got the chance to perform this past week at the popular Absolute Comedy Club in Toronto, and the audience was awesome! You can watch my set here. Rate it and leave me comments, please! (No seriously. I need your love. It nourishes my soul.)
My First Dramatic Film Is Launched March 26, 2012
I had the great privilege of being cast as the lead in a dramatic short film entitled Taken, which was shot on location near Cambridge, Ontario in November 2011. Post-production on the film was recently completed, and you can watch the final cut here:
On-Camera Hosting for Canada Business Ontario January 13, 2012 Canada Business Ontario, a joint agency of the federal and Ontario governments that helps entrepreneurs start and expand small businesses, recently released a series of promotional videos, co-hosted by me, in both English and French. To check them out, click here (for English) or ici (for Français).
My First Lead in A Dramatic Short: Taken November 13, 2011
On November 11, 12, and 13, 2011, I was on location shooting a new dramtic short film, tentatively entitled Taken, in the Cambridge, Ontario area, about 2 hours west of Toronto. It's a psychological thriller that poses a moral dilemma--can taking a life ever be justified? In the film, I play a man who is on the edge after he learns of a crushing betrayal by his wife; when he decides to right the wrong by taking the law into his own hands, tragic results soon follow. For pictures from the set, click on the new Taken gallery here.
My Debut at the Atlantic Theatre Company November 2009
This past October, I was featured in Ice Cream (Anti-)Social, an evening of one-act plays, including pieces by Christopher Durang, Mary Gallagher, and Howard Korder, presented by the Conservatory Class of 2010 of the Atlantic Acting School, at Atlantic Stage 2 in New York.
Fashion Can Be a B%$#! Sept. 2009
In May 2009, I taped a pilot for a new dramatic series entitled Green Room, which takes you behind the scenes at a bustling NYC fashion sales agency. I play Phillip, the irascible and eccentric fashion publicist. Our pilot has was chosen as an "Official Selection" in the Independent Pilot Competition of the 2009 New York Television Festival. (So look out Ugly Betty!) Viewing events took place from late September 2009 in Midtown Manhattan. (Click here for pics.) For more details, visit www.nytvf.com. And you can watch the trailer here:
