If you've been around YouTube, Tumblr, or the general Internet over the past few years, chances are you've heard of Mamrie Hart and Grace Helbig, seen one of their videos on either Helbig's It's Grace YouTube channel or Hart's You Deserve a Drink, laughed, cried, and possibly had your life changed by their movie Camp Takota, or at least giggled over one of their GIFs. If you don't know who they are, do yourself a quick favor and Google them. Because you need to prepare to experience the comedy duo's punny improv live on Sunday, December 7, during their last stop of the This Might Get Weird, Y'all tour.
"We try to keep the show about 90 percent improvised so that if you're the sixth stop on the tour, you're still gunna get something new and fresh and not just going through the motions," Hart says.
Hart added that people are encouraged to participate during the show and tape and post portions of it online, which differentiates this show from their other shows, like the ones on the #NoFilter tour. Well, that and the fact that My Drunk Kitchen's Hannah Hart, the other third of this YouTube Holy Trinity who is in no way related to Mamrie, is not performing.
"Every time we go tour, whether it's Mamrie and I or Mamrie and myself and Hannah, we try to out-stupid ourselves from the previous tour," Helbig says. "What can we add to the show that is just so dumb that we can't help by cry laughing?"
We had the pleasure of speaking to Hart and Helbig over the phone this week and took the opportunity to do a little Q&A full of burning, serious questions. If you could take a selfie with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be? Helbig: There were three old women who smoked weed for the first time. That video that went viral not long ago. Yeah, I feel like I'd want a selfie with all three of them. Hart: And I would take a selfie with all the Golden Girls. So essentially we're just really into selfies with old ladies. We love hearing them go, "Well, why don't you have someone else take it?"
What is the most starstuck you've ever been? Helbig: The most starstruck I've ever been is I got to be in the second row listening to Barack Obama's speech at the White House engagement. And I was so shocked at my own starstruckeness. I wasn't expecting that. I was expecting to have a wonderful time and I was really excited to see the president but I was literally speechless and it was a very very cool moment. Hart: And on the flip side, mine was when I finally got to go to a taping of Iron Chef. It was Battle of the Iron Chef. . . It was all the top names.
Fuck, marry, kill: Hannah Hart, [YouTuber] Tyler Oakley, [The Fault in Our Stars author and vlogbrothers host] John Green? Helbig: This is so hard... Hart: I know what I'd do. I would, I would, oh man. I would fuck Tyler just to see him squeal. Then I would kill myself, offering up a spot for Hannah and John Green to marry each other because they are obsessed with each other. Helbig: Yeah, that's a great answer. Hart: Thank you. Helbig: Human sacrifice! The ultimate human sacrifice.
What is going on in your mind when you first walk on stage at a show like #NoFilter or This Might Get Weird, Y'all? Helbig: Usually when we first walk on stage it's always to a choreographed dance and an opening song, so what's going through my head is, "What the fuck is the choreography that we just figured out five minutes before we walked on stage." Hart: What goes through my head is like it kind of feels like everything we do on stage, since it changes, is a surprise for the audience so. . . it's kind of like a surprise party. Like, "Surprise, we're going to have fun so be cool about it."
What did you want to be when you grew up? Hart: I wanted to be an actress. I wanted to be Meryl Streep. Helbig: I wanted to be a professional gymnast, I wanted to be in a swim with dolphins program, and then eventually I just wanted to make people laugh. I didn't know exactly how I wanted to do that but I kind of graduated from college with that as my only goal and then everything else that's happened has just kind of been a happy accident.
What do you want to be when you grow up now? Helbig: Happy! Hart: I think we're doing it. I don't know if you can score a better gig than this. Helbig: I also hope I never grow up. Hart: Exactly. What I want to be when I grow up is still an idiot. And of course I still want Grace to be able to swim with the dolphins just 'cause I think it would be really funny because she says she wants to swim with the dolphins but I guarantee she'd be scared. Helbig: I'd be scared out of my mind. I don't know what I was thinking in fourth grade. Hart: She'd be terrified. Helbig: I would shit my scuba gear. . . It's their home. I would just feel so, ugh, bad. Hart: Yeah, it'd be bad.
What is the most unusual encounter you've had with a fan? Helbig: The most unusual in like a really great way was that we actually got to surprise our fan Coby on camera for HeyUSA and. . . we are so, it turns out, terrified of surprises and them going wrong because we were two just puddles of panic when it happened and we were the one[s] who had the idea to do this. And it ended up being really great but it was the most unusual day. Hart: Yeah, surprising him and then immediately taking him on a swamp alligator tour. Helbig: And it was hot as shit so I couldn't tell if we were having panic attacks or if it was just the weather in New Orleans.
What hasn't changed since you both started on YouTube? [Simultaneously:] Hart: Assholes in the comments. Helbig: My intelligence level. Helbig: I said my intelligence level, but. . . Hart: And I said assholes in the comments. Helbig: Yeah, that's never gonna change. Hart: Never, no. After nuclear war, there will be cockroaches and trolls from the Internet.
If you never had to hear one song again, what would it be? Hart: This changes daily. I think it would be Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas." I get no excitement when I hear it come on the radio. Helbig: What was that song, I think it was Rihanna and Drake and they're just saying the same lyrics to each other over and over and over again. Probably this summer, I feel like. Hart: I'm really bad at Drake trivia. Helbig: It's that one where they're literally just saying the same line to each other over and over and over, there's a beat under them but it seems like they have completely disregarded the beat and are just talking. And it is the most infuriating thing to listen to.
If you could name a Ben and Jerry's flavor, what would it be and what would it taste like? Hart: It would be a Mamrie Hart Hot Mama and, it would be like a spicy chile chocolate. Helbig: Whoa, mama! Hart: And it would also be soy so I don't get the shits. Helbig: Yeah, it'd be something that doesn't blow out my butthole. . . I think mine would be some kind of chocolate peanut butter something. I love Reese's peanut butter cups so damn much that it'd be something with that. I don't know what I'd call it, though. I'd have to think on that. Hart: You're like, "I'm taking this seriously." Helbig: No, I'm looking up this goddamned Rihanna song because it's going to bug me.
In a battle between Goose (Helbig's dog) and Beanz (Hart's dog), who would win? Helbig: Goose would rip Beanz apart unfortunately because of just her animal aggression that she has. But Beanz would win in a glamor shot contest, hands down. Hart: You know that scene in Jurassic Park where they put the cow out and the dinosaur just takes it in one bite, that's essentially what would happen. Helbig: It really would. It's just like nature and food chain sort of thing. It would be awful.
What are you most excited for about returning to Arizona? Helbig: I'm excited for the weather because the weather's shit in Los Angeles right now. Hart: I like prickly cactus margarita stuff. Yeah, I'm excited to get some of my cactus cocktail on. Helbig: I'm also excited because for us on HeyUSA, Arizona was definitely this like, we couldn't figure out Arizona. Like you get a vibe for every kind of person in the regions of the country we went to but Arizona felt like this really interesting melting pot of all different types of people. So I feel like the show there is going to be the most accurate definition of This Might Get Weird, Y'all. I feel like it's gonna be a really weird one.
Any final comments? Hart: We're just really excited to have Arizona be the finale stop on the tour and we hope everyone comes out and has a great time. Let's pack the house! Helbig: Yeah, let's have a weird time!
Get ready for anything but normal with Mamrie Hart and Grace Helbig during This Might Get Weird, Y'all at Tempe Improv, 930 East University Drive, Sunday, December 7, at 3 p.m. General admission tickets for the 13 and over show are $25 with a two drink minimum. For more information, visit tempeimprov.com or call 480-921-9877.
Editor's note: This post has been modified from its original version.
