During her Schmoedown career, “Lights Out” Laura Kelly competed in the Star Wars division. Drafted by Shannon Barney in the 2020 Schmoedown draft, she was a member of KOrruption during Season 7: The New Era and Season 9: Reboot, and a member of SWAG during Season 8: War. Here are her reflections on the show we all love, in her own words.
Looking back on the Schmoedown, what is the most memorable moment that you were personally involved in?
The most memorable moment for me was playing in-studio in October 2019. I played a #1 Contender match against Andrew Dimalanta. It was my second match ever and my first in the studio, under all of those lights. And it had been a really, really long time since I had been so far out of my comfort zone. Besides being a really fun experience overall, it was a good, necessary reminder that I can and should step out of my comfort zone now and then.
Which of your matches would you say is the best you played?
Probably the match against Eric Whiteley. I played a perfect match against Mollie Damon in early 2021, which was great, but the questions got considerably harder as the season went on. My win again Eric is probably the one I’m proudest of.
Which match that didn’t involve you would you say is the best you ever saw?
Alex Damon vs Andrew Dimalanta when they went into 700 rounds of sudden death (or however many it was). Even in its digital setting, it was the most thrilling and stressful match I ever watched and it was so, so fun!
How would you describe the Schmoedown’s impact on you?
Profound. The Schmoedown changed my life in a lot of amazing ways and introduced me to some amazing, talented, hilarious people.
What will you miss most about the Schmoedown?
I will miss having an outlet for all of my competitive energy and having a use for all of this Star Wars knowledge. All that trivia comes in handy on Force Toast and on The Jedi Way, but I put a lot of time and effort into memorizing things I will never need to know again. I’m also not good at maintaining long distance friendships and I will miss having an excuse to see and talk to my faction-mates, managers and the other Star Wars competitors.
Laura Kelly can be found on Twitter @ShutUp_Laura.
