We caught up with Grace Helbig and Mamrie Hart hosts of the This Might Get Weird podcast, who also happen to be New York Times best-selling author’s, Youtube OG’s and best friends to talk about their upcoming tour, how to turn roadblocks into open doors, what it’s like working with your best friend, and the weirdest things to happen on the pod.
Photo: @Atwes
Let’s start with introductions. Can you tell us a little about yourselves and gives us a rundown on what the This Might Get Weird podcast is?
MAMRIE: So, Grace and I are best friends who met each other over a decade ago in NYC. We were both put on a sketch team together at the People’s Improv Theater, but our friendship was really cemented after that ended. We both lived in the same neighborhood in Brooklyn and had a mutual love of bloody Marys and creating funny content for the internet. We’ve been besties/partners in creative endeavors ever since.
GRACE: With the podcast, we wanted to give people a little voyeristic look into what we catch up on when we aren’t rolling for an internet video or what we talk about for the thirty minutes over coffee before we dive into a video. don’t know what it is, but Grace and I have a natural tendency to get ourselves into strange situations.
MAMRIE: We also seek them out. Especially since we started the podcast.
GRACE: So, now we go on our own solo adventures and, basically just live our lives, then come together once a week to catch the other one up over coffee. It’s a lot of belly laughs and shock and random tangents.
MAMRIE: We call it an ‘hour of your week that you won’t completely hate.’
Can you tell us a little bit about TMGW’s origin story? I know there were a few iterations prior to what it is now, can you tell us a bit about that? And why you ultimately decided that a podcast was the medium you wanted to be using?
GRACE: TMGW was born out of a pivot. Mamrie and I got the opportunity to create a Monday to Friday digital series with a production company who brought us the idea and was also picking up the production costs. We wanted to be your 12-minute episode, weekday morning weird Kathy Lee and Hoda.
MAMRIE: Hoda once told me I was hot but that’s beside the point.
GRACE: It is. Basically, Mame and I busted our butts for eight months creating this show and trying to bring our pre-existing online audiences over to the party. While we had a loyal base, ultimately it wasn’t the numbers the production company wanted and we got the call that we weren’t gonna be filming anymore episodes.
MAMRIE: But we also weren’t going to stop what momentum we had. Sure, the base was small but it was mighty. So that morning when we got the call, Grace was at my kitchen counter 30 minutes later, discussing ways to bounce back and also having a Moscow mule way too early to admit. We felt more fired up than fired.
GRACE: So we decided to not skip a beat and turn ‘This Might Get’ into ‘This Might Get Weird’ the podcast, the next week. We owned the I.P. as executive producers so why not?
You definitely didn’t let your show being canceled slow you down. What advice do you have for people on how they can turn their roadblocks into new opportunities?
MAMRIE: I’m a big believer in anything that’s worth doing is gonna take hard work. But there’s also something to be said about the path of least resistance. You might have the building blocks for something great, but they just need to be rearranged. Like ingredients in a dish. Put together the wrong way and it could be disgusting, a different way, it's delicious. Also, sorry, I've been binging Top Chef so it's on my brain.
Photo: @Atwes
You have known each other for a long time, what’s the best and the hardest part about working with your best friend? What advice would you give other women who are wanting to pursue a business endeavor with a friend?
GRACE: Always get your own hotel rooms!
MAMRIE: Ha. YES! When Grace and I were starting out touring with live shows, doing a travel series, going to conventions we were trying to scrape by and save money anyway we could. Most of the time this meant Grace graciously letting me take the pull out couch. But as soon as you can, make sure you can create literal personal space.
GRACE: At the end of the day, you need to make sure that if shit hit the fan, you guys would still want to be friends. Working with your best friend is the best, but you still need to be friends first.
MAMRIE: Plus, audiences can smell bullshit, especially in comedy. Our podcast is about having fun with each other. If that isn’t there, people will feel it. Grace and I are in no means perfect. We're legit friends so, of course, we've had our ups and downs. On those down beats, we don't go on tour. We aren't in each others faces. We take a beat, work out our shit... and then can work together. You can't force it.
Let’s talk about your upcoming tour! Give us all the deets and what fans can expect from the show?
MAMRIE: OH MAN. We are so excited to get back on the road.
GRACE: Since our podcast isn’t formatted, it’s kind of impossible to go onstage two nights in a row and podcast for an hour. So we are making it a hybrid, part podcast, part stand up and only part-ly figured out so we need to get to work.
And finally, what’s the weirdest thing that has happened on the podcast?
GRACE: Mamrie accidentally pleasured a furry at CatCon a couple weeks ago.
MAMRIE: Grace swallowed her nose ring twice, and accidentally drugged her self. Also, Devon Sawa has started directly responding to us via Twitter
GRACE: Mamrie left her vibrator at an airbnb last weekend. And who knows what will happen on this tour. COME OUT! Seriously, its the perfect weird outing for you and your group of gals to have a couple cocktails and hear some tales. No previous knowledge needed.
Buy tickets to the TMGW Tour and prepare to laugh you a$$ off.
MORE ON THE BLOG
Missed out on Gina Bianchini’s incredible session from our Offsite? No worries! We’re sharing her insights on building a thriving community that feels like a real network, not just an audience.