Julie Marie Nolke is a Canadian comedian, actress, writer, and
YouTuber
A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006.
Influence
Influent ...
. She is best known for her comedic YouTube series ''Explaining the Pandemic to my Past Self''.
Career
Nolke initially started her YouTube channel ''Feeling Peckish'' in May 2015 as a hobby with her boyfriend Sam where she uploaded cooking videos. She was then hired by
Tastemade
Tastemade, Inc. a video network that offers food- and travel-related programming for online audiences.Spangler, TodYouTube Network Tastemade Raises $25 Million Led by Scripps, Liberty Media''Variety''. September 15, 2016.Spangler, TodApple TV Adds ...
to make videos, develop ideas for content, and to produce branded content. She has also starred in the Tastemade show ''One for the Road'' with Andrew Gunadie. She later changed her YouTube channel name to ''Julie Nolke'', where she now uploads
skits
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...
,
parodies
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...
and
vlog
A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in ...
s. According to Nolke, the inspiration for her channel is: "I want to debunk this idea that women aren't funny. I think you can not only be a funny woman, but you can talk about things from a woman's perspective and have it be funny. That's the main mantra of the channel."
Her YouTube video ''Are We Bad Feminists?'' won the "Excellence in Writing" at the 2019
Buffer Festival
Buffer Festival is an international digital video festival, held annually in Toronto, Ontario. The festival, founded in 2013 by Corey Vidal, Corrado Coia, and Samantha Fall of the ApprenticeA YouTube channel, showcases the talent of online video ...
. She also directed, wrote, and starred in a YouTube video ''When you buy ADULT TOYS online'', which was nominated for the 2020 Outstanding Comedy Short at the Toronto Sketchfest "Best of the Fest" award show.
In April 2020, Nolke uploaded the first episode of ''Explaining the Pandemic to My Past Self'' to YouTube, a comedy sketch depicting her time-traveling to talk to her past self before the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
where she vaguely discusses various social and political issues that have arisen in the future with her past self, such as the pandemic, the
George Floyd protests
The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...
, and the
2020 Beirut explosion
On 4 August 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut in the capital city of Lebanon exploded, causing at least 218 deaths, 7,000 injuries, and United States dollar, US$15 billion in property damage, as well as lea ...
. The first several videos in the series collectively had more than 25 million views by October 2020. By January 2022, she had uploaded seven videos in the series. ''Explaining the Pandemic to My Past Self'' was nominated for a 2021
Webby Award
The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...
in the Viral, General Video category. Nolke won 2021
Webby Awards
The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...
in Best Individual Performance and two Audience Choice Awards for best viral video and best writing.
In addition to her YouTube channel, she has had roles in movies, short films, and television shows, including ''Oil Men'', ''
What We Do in the Shadows
''What We Do in the Shadows'' is a 2014 New Zealand mockumentary horror comedy film written and directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi and the first installment in the ''What We Do in the Shadows'' franchise. The film also stars Clemen ...
'', ''
TallBoyz
''TallBoyz'' is a Canadian television sketch comedy troupe best known for their 2019-2022 CBC Television sketch comedy series.
The series stars Guled Abdi, Vance Banzo, Tim Blair and Franco Nguyen, who have worked for several years in stage-bas ...
'', ''
Workin' Moms
''Workin' Moms'' is a Canadian television sitcom that premiered on CBC Television on January 10, 2017. The show stars Catherine Reitman, Jessalyn Wanlim, Dani Kind, Enuka Okuma, and Juno Rinaldi and ''
Run the Burbs
''Run the Burbs'' is a Canadian television sitcom, which premiered on CBC Television on January 5, 2022.Greg David"CBC announces winter premiere dates" ''TV, eh?'', November 23, 2021. The series stars Andrew Phung as Andrew Pham, a suburban stay- ...
''. She starred in the comedy short ''Hashtag Apocalypse'', which received an award of distinction at the 2019 Canada Shorts Film Festival. Nolke had a small role in ''
Secret Society of Second-Born Royals
''Secret Society of Second-Born Royals'' is a 2020 American science fantasy superhero action film directed by Anna Mastro from a screenplay by Alex Litvak and Andrew Green, based on a story by Litvak, Green, and Austin Winsberg. Zanne Devine, M ...
'', but has said her part was cut in the final version.
Personal life
Nolke was born in
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
. In 2019, Nolke married Samuel D. Larson, a fellow filmmaker and director who worked with Nolke on many projects. In February 2023, the couple announced that they are expecting, with the baby due sometime in late summer to early fall.
KQED KQED may refer to:
* KQED (TV), a PBS member station in San Francisco
* KQED-FM
KQED-FM (88.5 MHz) is a NPR-member radio station in San Francisco, California. Its parent organization is KQED Inc., which also owns its television partners, both ...
Tastemade
Tastemade, Inc. a video network that offers food- and travel-related programming for online audiences.Spangler, TodYouTube Network Tastemade Raises $25 Million Led by Scripps, Liberty Media''Variety''. September 15, 2016.Spangler, TodApple TV Adds ...