Kelly joined the civil service as a messenger boy at the age of 15. While working at the Office of National Education he met Tom Collins, a wit with a talent for light verse. The pair joined the Mount Argus Players amateur dramatic society, where they met Arthur Booth. After the Mount Argus Players disbanded, Kelly and Booth joined the Rathgar Players, and, discovering a shared passion for cartooning, decided to launch their own humorous magazine. Collins was recruited as a writer.