Pioneering YouTube star Grace Helbig will be making her debut at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. Grace is a multi-talented US comedian and has amassed millions of views as the star and creator of the award-winning series, DailyGrace. She is also the co-host of the popular This Might Get Weird podcast. She will be performing a very personal show about her breast cancer journey entitled ‘Let Me Get This Off My Chest’.
After a decade of shooting, editing and posting videos of her own face for online content, she started to get sick of herself. She was burnt out, and even worse had a full-blown identity crisis about who she was if she wasn’t ‘DailyGrace’. So, she took a step back and went to graduate school, studying psychology, learning about CG Jung and Joseph Campell that gained her perspective about life outside the internet.
As she approached graduation, Grace started to feel the familiar anxieties about wondering who she was in the world and not knowing what to do with her life. And then, the universe answered those anxieties, with an unexpected breast cancer diagnosis a week after graduation.
Grace was surprised that her diagnosis gave her a huge sense of imposter syndrome. She was an indoor internet kid; not built for chemo, surgeries, needles or hospitals. The only saving grace, was that she very familiar with imposter syndrome. She was a YouTuber after all. And in the beginning, the traditional world of entertainment hated YouTubers. In a small way being a Youtuber had kind of prepared her for the overwhelming unknowns that could come in this healing journey...
Grace Helbig has written two NY Times bestsellers, Grace’s Guide: The Art of Pretending to be a Grownup, and Grace & Style: The Art of Pretending You Have It. She’s sold out comedy shows across the globe, starred in the movies ‘Camp Takota’ and ‘Dirty Thirty’, hosted The Grace Helbig Show on E!, and currently co-hosts the hit podcast This Might Get Weird. She has built a career on quick wit, awkward charm, and heartfelt storytelling. With millions of fans worldwide and a unique point of view as a long-time content creator, she's now bringing her signature comedy to the Edinburgh Fringe.
Grace Helbig’s debut stand up hour ‘Let Me Get This Off My Chest’ will be at the Pleasance Jack Dome at 7pm for the entire fringe. For tickets go to www.edfringe.com
What is the last thing you do before you go onstage (apart from check your flies and/or check your knickers aren't sticking out of your skirt and check for spinach between your teeth)?
I try to breathe slower and deeper and then I say out loud to myself “I’m going to try my best and have fun.” As if I’m a scared, excited child about to walk into my first day at a new school.
What irritates you?
When drivers don’t use turn signals (indicators). It’s one of the clearest and easiest forms of communication we have while driving. You literally call it an indicator. It’s a little level that’s already next to your hand. It couldn’t be easier. Just press it. It’s right there. Press it and let me know you want to come into my lane. I will let you in. Just communicate with me. A little heads up, a little token of your consideration for our mutual safety. I cannot read your mind. I swear this is not a projection of a deeper issue, JUST COMMUNICATE WITH ME.
What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done?
I guess the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done was go through breast cancer treatment. I really lived on the edge with that one. Pretty precarious from start to finish. Pretty life or death. Literally. Tom Cruise could never.
What is the most stupid thing you have ever done?
My friend and I got tattoos at 2am in Vancouver, Canada at the only open tattoo shop. The perfect time for tattoos, some might say. We were on a martini-fueled mission that night and nothing was stopping us. The woman at the front desk and the shop owner were very polite, very Canadian, very chatty, but the vibes were off. While we were filling out paperwork, we could hear someone in the back milling around, it sounded like they were loading guns. We looked at each other but shook it off, our tattoos were simple, and we’d be out of there quick. But while the owner was tattooing my foot the front desk woman walked in and said to him, “someone hit the windshield of your smart car with a brick again.” AGAIN? That poor, tiny smart car. He was pissed but finished our ink. We sprinted out of the place and into an uber before we both looked at each other squawking, “did you hear the guns?! “I think they were shotguns!?” I don’t regret the tattoo, but the situation was one of the stupider ones I’ve put myself in, eh?
What has surprised you the most during your career in comedy?
I have been completely surprised by the trajectory of my career. When I first started making YouTube videos it was a hobby. No one was a professional content creator; the industry hadn’t established itself in that way yet. The internet space was discounted and discredited in the eyes of traditional media, but I was in the right place at the right time. I had the right set of limited video editing skills, and the right fear of in-person auditions. To be able to become a professional new media content creator (the professional title for an objectively silly profession), has been the most surprising and exciting twist. To feel like I was there at the start of an industry is a bizarre privilege and something my younger self would be dumbfounded by. Hell, it’s something my current self is still dumbfounded by.
What do your parents/children (delete as applicable) think of your job?
It took years before I told my family that I was a Youtuber. To tell anyone back in 2009 that I got paid to make videos for the internet from my bedroom meant something very different…porn. Which I was definitely not doing. Quite the opposite actually. Nary a boner in sight while viewing my videos. Over the years my parents understood it more and have been incredibly supportive and proud. It’s still a bit confusing to all of us, but they’re the most encouraging bunch.
What’s the worst thing about being a comedian?
The unconscious cynicism and self-loathing that can build up if left unchecked. Over the years I’ve had to become more aware of my propensity for immediate self-deprecation. Making fun of yourself might start as a goofy gag, but you can really start hating yourself if you let the bit go on too long.
I think you are very good at what you do (that’s why I’m asking these questions). What do you think of you?
Oh god, you’re giving me a chance to prove I’ve worked on not hating myself with this question. First of all, thank you. I’m trying to accept compliments and not immediately assume sarcasm. I think I’ve worked hard while also given an incredible opportunity at a career that didn’t exist before I had it. It’s not lost on me how fun and privileged my work is. Which is why the preciousness of it rattles me. The digital landscape has changed dramatically over the years, and I’ve tried my best to keep up while staying true to myself. I think that’s all you can do really. And have fun. That too. I’m trying to do that too.
How much do you earn and how much would you like to earn?
In taking a step back from the industry over the past few years I earn less than I’d like, which is more than I currently earn.
How important is luck in terms of career success – have you had lucky breaks?
I do think I was making internet content at a lucky time. If I were to start today, I don’t know how I’d do it. Digital content is oversaturated to say the least. We’re in an era where everyone is a little bit famous, or adjacent to some significant fleeting form of recognition. Content is generated at an almost disturbing pace while audience’s attention spans are equally hurried and passive. It’s difficult to make your mark and hold someone’s most prized possession, their attention. To be able to dig my talons into this shifting landscape in the early days was incredibly fortunate.
Alan Davies has said that comedians fall into two categories - golfers and self-harmers. The former just get on with life, the latter are tortured artists. Which are you – or do you think you fit into third category?
I think before I got my breast cancer diagnosis, I was a quiet self-harmer. The success of the internet in those early years came like a typhoon that ripped me out of what I knew and turned my world upside down. It was incredible and disorienting. It was all so new. I didn’t know how to cope with all the feelings around it, big and small, and I put a lot of pressure on myself to keep up. Behind the scenes I felt like a tortured artist. Breast Cancer treatment forced me back into myself and reminded me that life is fragile, the internet is silly, and laughter is truly one of the greatest sensations. So, I’ve been getting on with life a little more lately.
Who is your favourite person ever and why – not including family or friends or other comedians?
Two answers. One, Andy Cohen, who is largely responsible for developing The Real Housewives franchise and has gifted me years of reality TV entertainment. And two, my oncologist, who is responsible for developing my treatment plan and gifted me years of continued life. Two men doing equally resonant things.
Do you keep your drawers tidy and if not why not? (please think long and hard about this question, it's to settle an argument with my girlfriend. The future of our relationship could depend on your response).
My underwear drawer is a contained mess. Much like myself? All of my drawers are in one drawer, and they are all clean. However, the drawer itself is a heap of chaos. It’s like an overgrown plant that hasn’t been pruned in years. Everything has been shoved in there over the years, with overflowing pieces trying to escape when I open it. I only wear the cleanest, newest sets that stay on top so who really knows what lies underneath. I hope this settles things for you. Now, can I be the flower girl at your wedding and/or the witness at your divorce hearing?
Grace Helbig’s debut stand up hour ‘Let Me Get This Off My Chest’ will be at the Pleasance Jack Dome at 7pm for the entire fringe. For tickets go to www.edfringe.com
PICTURE CREDIT - KIM NEWMONEY
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