30-04-2025
YouTube star Julie Nolke brings one-woman live sketch comedy show to Hollywood Theatre
A decade ago, Julie Nolke started doing YouTube videos as a way to promote herself as an actor.
The initial hope was that the platform would be a live-action portfolio of sorts that could help Nolke land some acting gigs. But, as it turns out, the videos, which she made with her director husband Sam Larson, blossomed into a full-fledged YouTube channel career that today boasts well over a million subscribers. Her online work has earned her three Webby Awards and an Excellence in Writing Award at Toronto's Buffer Festival, an international digital video fest.
'Originally, it was just to practise and keep our skills sharp, so that when the right job came around, we were ready,' said Nolke, who lives in Toronto. 'But before we knew it, the whole model changed. And it became its own career, which has been really, really cool.'
While YouTube content creator is a prominent title for Nolke, her acting career is still in play. Just recently, she was nominated for two Canadian Screen Awards, for Best Supporting Performer, Comedy, and Best Ensemble Performance, Comedy, for her work as Sam on the CBC series Run the Burbs.
Acting for TV/film and content creating aside, Nolke is also busy focusing on her one-woman show, Dying on the Outside, which makes a stop at Vancouver's Hollywood Theatre on May 8 for two shows.
'Dying on the Outside is a one-woman sketch comedy show that takes inspiration from what I do on YouTube and brings it to live theatre,' said Nolke.
Nolke's YouTube success, she says, started gradually and was 'a bit of a frog-and-boiling water' situation.
'It started out with let's just practise. We have all this creative pent-up energy,' said Nolke. 'Let's just make stuff without the intention of ever being famous on YouTube, which I'm an avid believer that you should never try to be famous on YouTube. That's not the purpose of that platform.'
Things began to 'click' and, in 2016, the couple were able to quit their day jobs to focus on the Nolkes' YouTube channel. They were also busy creating YouTube content for others.
The videos are hilarious. A recent one, titled Every Canadian Right Now, nails our current and collective freakout brought on by Trump's 51st state pronouncements and the continuing tariff madness.
'This is a Jann Arden household now. Who am I kidding? This has always been a Jann Arden household,' says a frantic Nolke as she culls her record collection of anything not — Dolly Parton aside, because, well Dolly Parton — Canadian.
Nolke said a big bonus on the YouTube creation front is the immediacy of the platform. You make it, you put it out there, and people respond.
'I think people love it. I think that there's something beautiful about being in comedy on YouTube, because you can get direct feedback from your audience as to what they want. And you can turn around and create something the following week,' said Nolke, who also has half-a-million followers on TikTok and another 200,00 on Instagram. 'Unlike traditional broadcast and television, which takes months' worth of production, I can see what my audience is into, how they're feeling, what they're yearning for, and I can create that content with a very, very quick turnaround … It allows you to be very topical.'
That instant feedback acts as inspiration for Nolke. A great example of that being her eight-part Explaining the Pandemic to My Past Self series, which has pulled in close to 50 million views.
'I was seeing in the comments that it seemed like a no-brainer to make the second, then the third, and then it kind of just became this series that people wanted,' said Nolke about the series that was produced in 2020-22.
Whether she is talking about quitting drinking and having to 'raw-dog social interactions' or explaining that her toddler is 'unhinged,' Nolke's videos are timely, funny and completely relatable.
'When it comes to the content of my videos and what I'm going to make something on, it's usually my daily lived experience,' said Nolke, who is the mother of a two-year-old son. 'The hope is that if I keep it as authentic as possible, then other people will relate to it.'
When Nolke and her husband began their online journey 10 years ago, they found themselves having to explain to people what it is they did. There were always plenty of questions.
'I think most people understand what that is now. It was, 'I'm a YouTube creator,' and they'd go, 'Wait, what is that? How do you make money? What is that like?,' ' said Nolke. 'Whereas now, it's so much more in the zeitgeist.'
In those early days, the YouTuber creators were often thought of people who were unable to make it in the traditional entertainment business. Nolke happily reports that view is very outdated.
'Now, I think people are understanding. 'Oh, the people who turn to YouTube are the ones that had the get-up-and-go drive. They had that innovation. They were creative, and they just wanted to make stuff well.' And you also bring an audience with you,' said Nolke. 'They didn't want us before, and now they do. The last word is always good.'
After a decade of creating content, Nolke encourages actors to embrace the platform as well as other social-media sources.
'I would say, if anybody is trying to get into the acting industry, you should be making stuff for online platforms,' said Nolke. 'You should be making TikToks and Instagrams or YouTubes. The barrier for entry is so low, and it's just such good practice for your craft.'
While the comments sections on her videos are alive with feedback and questions, Nolke noticed she began to see followers as numbers and realized she still very much needed live artistic interaction in her life. That's what prompted her to write her comedy show.
'There's still a disconnect between you and the (online) audience,' said Nolke. 'I had a bit of reality check with myself and realized I've clearly had some disconnect. So, I thought I'd love to go back to my roots, go back to theatre, actually meet the real people who are behind these numbers. And that's what kind of prompted the writing of the live show … It's so fulfilling.'
Dgee@
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