A&O Productions hosted a Q&A with Amelia Dimoldenberg, the charmingly deadpan personality behind the web series “Chicken Shop Date,” on Monday night in Alice Millar Chapel.
“Our Speakers committee decides what speakers will be coming to Northwestern, often based off of who’s really relevant in pop culture at the moment,” said Weinberg senior and A&O Co-Chair Janitza Luna. “Amelia was someone that had been high up on that list since the beginning of the year.”
“Chicken Shop Date,” Dimoldenberg’s most well-known comedic endeavor, began as a column in the youth magazine “The Cut” for The Stowe Centre in London, where Dimoldenberg spent time as a child. The concept has evolved into a web series that features Dimoldenberg on dates in chicken shops with celebrities, running the gamut from Jack Harlow to Cher.
“I’ve always believed in the format from the very beginning,” Dimoldenberg said to Northwestern student interviewer Chloe Porter. “From as soon as I had the idea, I thought, we should be getting the biggest stars ever. I thought, when I was 17, when no one was watching (Chicken Shop Date) and no one was reading it, we could get Drake.”
In true “Chicken Shop Date” fashion, the show began with couple-based audience participation. Members of the audience sat back-to-back on chairs with whiteboards as an A&O member asked questions, like “What is your partner’s favorite pair of shoes?” and “What is your partner’s star sign?” Correct answers earned points toward a $30 Evanston Chicken Shack gift card — keeping with the show’s theme.
Then, Dimoldenberg took the stage, spilling details on everything from her best “Chicken Shop Date” interview to her worst, her first date routine and advice for her younger self.
“One piece of advice… have better posture, honestly,” Dimoldenberg said. “It’s exhausting, but I do think it makes you look better.”
Of all the celebrities Dimoldenberg has met in her line of work, Andrew Garfield seems to have left her the most starstruck –– based on the sheer number of times she mentioned his name during the Q&A.
The pair went viral together after a moment on the Golden Globes red carpet in which Dimoldenberg met Garfield for a second time and got him to sign a “Best Friend Certificate.”
“I honestly felt shocked that he knew who I was because I just didn’t know that he was on the internet like that,” Dimoldenberg said. “I was just so pleased that he was so charming and funny in real life. Sometimes, people are really, really funny and charming. But sometimes they’re not.”
Later in the show, audience member and Weinberg senior Ruba Memon presented Dimoldenberg with her own “Best Friend’s Certificate,” a la Andrew Garfield, which Dimoldenberg signed for Memon after the event ended.
“I was thinking if I got this signed by her, technically I’m also best friends with Andrew Garfield by extension,” Memon said. “I spent a hot minute photoshopping the certificate (Dimoldenberg) gave (Garfield) and covering their names instead of studying for my midterm, but you gotta do what you gotta do.”
Toward the end of the event, A&O presented Dimoldenberg with a slide show of items and concepts and asked her to rate them as “Hot” or “Not.” Among the “Nots” — matching PJs and Birkenstocks. Among the Hots — Evanston Chicken Shack and not wearing a coat when it’s cold.
Dimoldenberg closed the event with some advice for those looking to go into creative, non-traditional forms of journalism, like the work she does.
“Start with your own idea, and I know that’s the hardest part, is the idea right?” Dimoldenberg said. “Ask your friends what they think is special and unique about you. Whatever makes you unique is what you should lean into. And sit up straight.”
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Twitter: @TabithaParent12
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