The funniest people you might not know

I think I've found my new best friends. And they don't even know me.

Last weekend I discovered a YouTube channel called Just Between Us - a comedy channel from twenty-something, co-dependent best friends Allison Raskin and Gaby Dunn. And I am completely and utterly obsessed. (Side note: I'm out of practice so this post is very long-winded and poorly written!)

'Are you jealous of Gaby's boyfriend?' | Source: youtube.com/justbetweenusshow
L-R: Allison Raskin and Gaby Dunn

In their videos, they play heightened versions of themselves and are the complete opposite of each other. Allison's character is a straight, somewhat uptight and traditional woman who is seemingly unlucky in love, whilst Gaby is a very open and free-spirited woman with strong feminist views. The two started off making comedic love advice videos and sketches in 2014, but have recently dropped the advice content and now do a series called 'Is This What You Want?' in which their characters try out popular YouTube content such as tags and challenges.

Right, Wikipedia-type explanation out of the way and I can get into why I'm so damn hooked on this channel, these women and their characters. 

I have an obsessive personality, so when I like a TV show or YouTube channel, I have an intense need to watch every episode and everything else the people I like are in. But it's not just my personality that made me continue watching JBU, there is something so genuinely great and lovely about it. It kinda makes me feel included, like I know them and they're my friends answering my questions. It sounds weird, I know.

They've taught me a lot about friendship. The one Allison and Gaby share is something I can only dream of. Yes, they are characters but unlike some duos, it's obvious that it's not forced and the two ladies are genuinely best friends outside of their channel. In one episode, Allison says she sometimes worries they're only best friends for the money and business, which Gaby immediately dismisses, and this is something that really struck a chord with me. At school, you're only really friends with some people because you spend every day together, which is something I definitely experienced. But then I went to uni and I could be friends with whoever I wanted and I'm now only close with those I actually want in my life. And though some live hundreds of miles away, it doesn't matter because we make it work. Seeing Gaby and Allison's friendship really made me think about this and how glad I am that I went to uni and made lifelong friends.

'Domestic Partnership' | Source: youtube.com/justbetweenusshow

A lot of comments I saw during my JBU binge-watching weekend were "I'm more of a Gaby" or "I'm more like Allison", or ones saying they prefer one girl to the other and I'm struggling to see why commenters would pit them against each other. They are two very different, yet both very funny women and everyone should appreciate that. I love the prudish, self-depricating character Allison portrays and the non-apologetically outspoken feminist Gaby character who hates the patriarchy. We need both types of these women in both the media industry and the world. We should support their differences, not pick who is prettier or who is funnier because that really couldn't matter less.

I'm not usually into YouTube comedy, most videos I've seen make me cringe more than laugh. JBU, however, just works. The writing is brilliant, the jokes are actually funny and the chemistry Allison and Gaby have is beautifully rare. 

Outside of the channel, they both do really great things. I think I'm right in saying Allison writes a lot of comedy sketches and stars in other webseries'. She's also the funniest person I follow on Twitter and Instagram and I think I've liked every tweet and post since I followed her. Allison suffers from OCD which is a mental illness I didn't really know much about. It's so much more than just the stereotypical traits and she talks about it in more depth in an a couple of JBU episodes and I found her journey really interesting. She also has an insanely cute therapy dog too called Sugar who makes regular appearances in videos. Oh, and her parents are her best friends so she probably spends a lot of time calling them as well.

'Unboxing packages from our moms' | Is This What You Want? | Source: youtube.com/justbetweenusshow

Gaby hosts a new podcast she's created called Bad With Money and also writes articles for numerous different outlets including The Guardian and Women's Health. The content differs from topics such as her struggles with money to being a bi/pansexual and polyamorous woman. I say bi/pansexual because before discovering Gaby, I'd never really heard of pansexual, and as a straight gal, the sexuality scale is all still a bit confusing to me (though she does explain the scale in an episode of JBU). I find her a very interesting person and I've learnt so much about things I never thought I would. My small, Nottinghamshire town isn't exactly the most diverse place. Yes, I know some gay and lesbian people but that's about the extent of my seemingly sheltered life. I've never met or even really heard of anyone being pansexual or polyamorous, other than that one poly guy Jules that Lucy and Rosie dated in Made in Chelsea. And even then polyamory was teased and made out to be some kind of joke. Gaby is a super feminist too which made me reevaluate how I think about feminism (and the patriarchy), so I'm thankful for that. It makes me feel educated.

I'm so glad I found this channel. I've lost my passion for a lot of things over the last six months or so and watching JBU videos and seeing how Allison and Gaby have built themselves this great brand seems to have sparked something inside of me. I'm hoping it's inspiration and passion. I'm also glad I found it for the laughs it's given me despite literally only discovering it a week ago. Not to be a Debbie downer but my Grandad passed away in September and death isn't something I cope with very well so I've just been in a bit of a rut really and as lame as it sounds this channel, these characters and the women that created them have really helped me to pick myself up, laugh a little louder and want to do something with my life. Plus, they really like That '70s Show, something else I'm obsessed with (I think I'm most likely to be Fez, except I'm not a foreign exchange student).

This post was meant to just be me expressing my obsession with a new YouTube channel I'd discovered but I worry I sounds like I've become an obsessed stalker of two women 5/6 years older than me that live on the other side of the world. Oh well.

P.S. My birthday is also in June, so like, can we be friends?