Amelia Dimoldenberg rose as an Internet sensation through her iconic show: Chicken Shop Date, an independent celebrity talk show. These unserious interviews with celebrities take place in local Chicken Shops, as according to Amelia, “you would never take some there seriously on a date, which is why it’s the best place to go on a date”.
In a Podcast episode with Colin and Samir, Amelia spoke about how she plays on the awkwardness of first dates through blunt, enthusiastic and slightly desperate humour: “the awkwardness of [mockumentaries] I found very inspiring for the kind of comedy I do [...] it can throw the audience and the guest off”.
At 17, Amelia began a column in her local under 21s magazine, where she framed conversations as dates. In 2014, Amelia decided to film her first Chicken Shop Date with British rapper, Ghetts, which got over 1000 likes in 2 weeks on YouTube; from there she slowly grew an audience over the past 10 years. As this grew in popularity, Amelia started to post in different Chicken Shops where she was joined with celebrities and icons from diverse backgrounds, from well-known actors and YouTube stars to up-and-coming rappers and influencers. As of today, Amelia has gained hundreds of millions of views with over 100 episodes uploaded to YouTube.
Chicken Shop Date has birthed many iconic moments (“Are you not ashamed of yourself, are you not embarrassed?”) and remains as a key source of entertainment for many, even encouraging the return of short-form interviews.
Now, Amelia serves as an inspiration for many aspirational creatives as she presents the importance of ‘making things that are quality and that aren’t polarizing or divisive [...] stuff that’s good’, preserving the idea of originality being key to growth in a creative future.
Now, as an avid viewer of these weekly episodes, some of her most interesting and hilarious interviews are with Andrew Garfield, Billie Eilish, Louis Theroux, and Jack Harlow, which I recommend everyone check out, especially any creative minds wanting to explore how one subverts the familiar narrative of interviewing and filming.
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https://www.thecut.com/article/amelia-dimoldenberg-chicken-shop-date-youtube-interview.html
COLIN & SAMIR: How Amelia Dimoldenberg built a hit YouTube Show by The Colin and Samir Show
NELLA ROSE: https://youtu.be/1oIuNN5aVhI?si=irQhNNUvbWKdqhne