A Smoshing Fan: How a Millennial Improv Group Changed My Life

Photo by Tim Mossholder on pexels

I discovered Smosh post-pandemic while on my lunch break when I worked at a hospital. While waiting for my veggie burger and sweet potato fries at the grill in the cafeteria, I scrolled across a video on Facebook that would send me down quite the path for the next several years.

Funny enough, I can’t remember exactly which video, only that it was a short clip. Either it was the black cat substitution story on “Smosh Reads Reddit Stories” or the washing legs in the shower debate on their old “Agree to Disagree” show. 

At the time, I was experiencing serious burnout as a case manager. Unfortunately, I would continue to experience serious anxiety and depression in the upcoming years. Even though I tried different jobs, got married, became a stepmother, bought a house, and received my license as a clinical social worker. It was a lot of change around the same time, and I was struggling to cope. 

Throughout those changes, though, I had Smosh. I listened to their podcasts on their SmoshCast and Smosh Alike channels during my long commutes and while doing chores around the house. When I wanted to kick back and relax, I’d put on their latest Smosh Games episode. I watched “Eat It or Yeet It” and “Culinary Crimes” on my lunch break and when having dinner at home. And you better believe I watched as many live shows as I could after becoming a fan (my favorite was “Smosh: The Sitcom”). 

At first, it was almost sad how invested I became. It was practically an obsession. There were nights I couldn’t sleep and ended up binge-watching their “Try Not to Laugh” show. But it was a symptom of other things I had going on. I wanted to get my mind off my life, and I desperately needed a laugh. 

It was weird. Even though I was trying to distract myself from life, Smosh somehow always helped me get back into it. For example, I was on my honeymoon when I found out Shayne Topp and Courtney Miller got married. I remember Courtney talking about the struggle of being proud to be Shayne’s wife while also not wanting to be seen as only that. Courtney also talked about struggling with the term "wife" due to being raised as a "woman" but not always feeling like one. As I had recently gone through my gender identity crisis, this was the first time I felt seen as a married nonbinary person. 

That wasn’t the only time Smosh helped me address issues in my personal life, either. I grieved for the coworker friends I used to go to karaoke with, but unfortunately did not stay in touch with, when I finished Smosh’s karaoke charity stream. After watching multiple “Board AF” videos, I finally started reaching out to my old group of friends from graduate school for our own board game night. The friendship at Smosh helped me realize how lonely I was, struggling to make and keep friends under the pressures of adulting. 

I could go on and on. Like how seeing Amanda Lehan-Canto having fun on screen while pregnant, and later returning as a hilarious kick-ass mom, gave me hope for the same in the future. Or how listening to Damien Haas talk about his challenges with ADHD, Autism, and OCD helped me and my husband understand each other more. Or how hearing Arasha Lailani talk about incorporating her cultural identity as an Indian-American into her work made me reflect on how I was doing the same as a Latin-American. And even seeing Keith Leake Jr. go through cancer when my husband is a cancer survivor was truly inspiring.

See what I mean?

I loved getting to see Tommy Bowe rise out of his depression and truly start enjoying life again. Chanse McCrary talking about being on the gay spectrum, but how dating a woman again wasn’t out of the question, made me think more about my bisexual identity. And Angela Giarratana’s famous “I need to calm down…I’m an adult” scene on “Beopardy” was one of the most hilarious and relatable moments ever. 

Sometimes my husband watched or listened to episodes of these various shows with me. I even got my mom to listen to some Reddit stories with me too. And I introduced a friend or two to Smosh as well. It always led to lots of laughter and even some seriously interesting conversations on topics we normally wouldn’t talk about. Smosh even motivated me to attend a few improv classes of my own!

I’m extremely grateful for the Smosh cast and crew, especially Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla for starting Smosh. I know they’ve been through a lot, from the Defy shutdown to COVID to buying back the company to the LA wildfires and everything in between. Yet, Smosh has not only persevered despite all these things. It has reached its “golden era” because of them. 

Trevor Evarts. Olivia Sui. Noah Grossman. Spencer Agnew. Everyone I’ve mentioned so far and more. They all contributed something. To Smosh and to my life.

****

Want to see for yourself? Check out Smosh at their various channels: Smosh, Smosh Alike, SmoshCast, Smosh Games, and Smosh Pit. Hope you enjoy their videos as much as I do!