Liza Koshy, welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Thank you, thank you. It's an honor to be here.
An honor to speak with Emmy-nominated Daily Show.
-Congratulations on that. -Oh, oh, oh, shucks, oh...
I appreciate that. Um, no, but for real, though,
you know, it really is amazing to have you here
just because you have managed to find a way
to do everything in your life exceptionally well.
You've managed to turn what you were doing on YouTube
into a presence on Instagram.
You moved it to another platform.
You've now moved into TV. You've moved into film as well.
And as we saw in the clip that we just played,
you're in a new movie that...
well, you're playing a character who's a dancer.
And, I mean, that's pretty much you, right?
That's pretty much me.
I'm pretty much just playing myself in most things that I do.
But I tapped into a little bit of Channing Tatum.
I, uh, channeled the Channing for this one.
But yeah, I'm so excited.
I've been dancing online for years,
and I didn't realize that I was auditioning
for this role in this movie to be "the best dancer,"
and I say every time, like, we have "the best damn editor,"
'cause I'm definitely not the best dancer.
But, uh, it was fun. It was so...
It's a dream come true.
You know what, I feel like you're good at...
you're good at, uh, self-deprecating humor,
but you are actually-- I remember the first video
I saw of yours, I was like, "Oh, this is funny.
She's acting like she can dance, which is very funny."
And then I saw another video, and then I was like, "No.
"She can dance.
-Like, she can dance dance." -That's right.
I couldn't find any research.
Are you, like, professionally trained,
or is this just, like, you were just like, "No, I just dance,
-I have it in my bones"? -You couldn't find anything.
I cleared out Google. Uh, no, I started dancing,
um, at the age of four, so I started doing, like, ballet
and jazz and tap, took a little hiatus in middle school,
and then went into drill and dance team in high school,
had my Friday night lights dream,
and, uh, in Houston, Texas, so I call myself Off-Brand Beyoncé.
Still working on the thighs, though, but...
I'm a professional dancer now, and I'm very proud of that.
You've taken the following that you've gathered
in all these different mediums, and now you've gone, "Hey,
I want to use this following to get people to vote."
And you teamed up with Michelle Obama...
-That's right. -um, to...
to get people to the polls.
Tell me a little bit about that.
Yeah. So, I feel like my journey,
or my audition for Mrs. Michelle Obama,
was back when I interviewed President Barack Obama in 2016.
So, I auditioned to work with Michelle.
And, uh, that really started my journey,
and that journey continued whenever I, uh...
in 2018, went into a couple of high schools in Texas
with Ms. Alicia Keys and Ms. America Ferrera,
and got to go and speak out to Gen Z,
go and speak to kids in crowds at their school.
And to see, like, a 16-year-old, like,
raise their hand and be like, "I don't know how the hell to vote,
but I can't wait to do it when I can."
So, that was so exciting and invigorating
to see that, like, movement and empowerment in just one kid,
so I thought, why not do that to all the kids
that... in an audience that I have online?
And, uh, now I'm so happy and honored
to be working with When We All Vote
and getting the vote out. Gen Z is so... scary.
They're brilliant, but I'm terrified of them,
and I'm, like, right on the cusp of Gen Z and millennials,
so I feel like it's my job to, like, coddle millennials
after they've been cyberbullied by Gen Z.
So, I... I'm right on that fine line,
so I'm... I'm talking to both crowds here.
And... and I love, you know, I love how brilliant they are.
They will make, like, a cinematic masterpiece on TikTok,
but yet they don't know how to vote.
They have all the information in the palm of their hand,
but yet, there's the shame in, like, not knowing it.
So, encouraging Gen Z to, like, step out of that shame,
step into empowerment and get excited about voting,
having your voice heard.
Like, it's okay to care about issues
that affect your day-to-day life.
Your journey has been creating, you know, from your...
from your house, bringing us to your couch,
telling us stories from your home,
-Right. -and then you were, like, working so hard,
and you got into TV, you got into Hollywood,
and now Liza Koshy's star is blowing up.
And then coronavirus hit, and now all the TV shows
are coming from your house and from people's apartments
and from the couch.
Do you feel like you got... you got to the mountaintop,
but it turns out it was, like, in the Valley?
Like, is there a part of you that goes like, "Wait,
this is what I've been doing my whole life"?
-You're back on the couch? -No. Well, I'm happy to be back
on my parents' couch, uh, being, like, a parasite
and just sucking them love...
uh, sucking them of their love and peace.
(laughs): Um, but I'm proud, because I get to help...
You know, traditional, transition into digital,
which is an honor to be able to do,
you're doing my job now, Trevor. You look good doing it.
And it feels good, it feels good to be back
in, like, a familiar space but with, like, brand-new eyes
to see the world in a different way
after I've been in traditional production
or I've been a director and executive producer now.
So now I get to come at content in such a new way
and try to blend those worlds, is, like, a mission.
And it's all entertainment now, right?
Like, it's not traditional digital.
It's, like, you're just being entertained,
or you're being informed, and there's a lot out there.
And now it feels like a lot of You... You-Tubers,
who at one time were considered the "kids on YouTube,"
you're now, like, leading conversations,
you're now talking about social justice issues.
You've evolved, like, as a group,
which is really interesting to see.
Do you think YouTubers are also taking themselves more seriously
than people used to take "YouTubers"?
I think so. I think we're holding ourselves up
to a different standard.
At least I am, in an evolution of a creator
and-and producer that I've been.
I think, you know, we realized how crucial and how important
our platform can be, and how powerful our voice can be.
And especially with the world shifting, too,
like, I think we're all having this internal shift.
You know, if you weren't introspective before,
you definitely are now, looking in the mirror too long.
So I think it's just a matter--
it's been a matter of time for people
to care about, you know, social issues, political issues,
and-and-and, um, you know, express their voices
and opinions online and kind of guide their audience
to resources that, you know, they're tapping into
or that they're excited about.
I got to thank you because I am a sponge of information
and you are an absolute wealth of knowledge.
-And, uh... -(Noah laughing)
...hoping... I'm a suck up for sure
but, uh, I soak it up, too, so thank you
for being, like, my place to go to, to, like,
inform myself all the more.
Um, but, yeah, I'm just happy
to share those resources with my audience.
I think a lot of other creators have, too,
and When We All Vote I'm so happy to share that
as a resource to figure out how to vote
where to vote, when to vote and...
you know, in the different world we're living in,
that's-that's adjusted, so keeping yourself up to date
with the newest information.
Well, you thank me and I thank you
for teaching me how to make a show from home,
so, Liza Koshy, thank you so much for joining me.
(laughs) Thank you so much.
You're killing it, though, you're killing it.
Makes it... make a TikTok, make a TikTok.
(Noah laughing)
They're harder than they look, man.
-They're hard. -They're very hard.
They way... they take more time
and they're way harder than they look.
Liza, thank you so much, man.
Um, good luck with everything.
I hope I see you again.
Appreciate it. I hope so, too.
Bye, guys.