Liza Koshy

Elizabeth Shaila Liza Koshy (born March 31, 1996) is primarily an online YouTube creator with millions of subscribers.

Her main YouTube channel has amassed almost 17 million subscribers, and her two channels have a combined total of over 3 billion views. She has received four Streamy Awards, four Teen Choice Awards, and a Kids' Choice Award.

Liza Koshy
Liza Koshy
Koshy in March 2020
Born
Elizabeth Shaila Koshy

(1996-03-31) March 31, 1996 (age 27)
Occupations
  • Media personality
  • actress
Years active2013–present
YouTube information
ChannelsLiza Koshy
Liza Koshy Too
Subscribers16.9 million (Liza Koshy)
7.18 million (Liza Koshy Too)
Total views2.17 billion (Liza Koshy)
574.39 million (Liza Koshy Too)
Liza Koshy100,000 subscribers
Liza Koshy1,000,000 subscribers
Liza Koshy10,000,000 subscribers

Last updated: June 23 2023

Koshy began her career on Vine in 2013, before starting a YouTube channel. She made her acting debut as Aday Walker in Tyler Perry's horror comedy film Boo! A Madea Halloween (2016), and went on to star as Violet Adams in the Hulu horror drama series Freakish (2016–2017) and The Explorer in the YouTube Premium mystery series Escape the Night (2017–2019). She was also a correspondent for the MTV television series Total Request Live (2017–2018).

Koshy co-created, produced and starred as the title character in the YouTube Premium comedy series Liza on Demand (2018–2021), which earned her several accolades, and hosted the Nickelodeon game show revival Double Dare (2018–2019), for which she received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination. She starred in the Netflix dance comedy film Work It (2020), and had voice roles in the animated adventure film My Little Pony: A New Generation (2021) and the science fiction film Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023).

Koshy was included in the 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment list, as well as the Time 2019 list of the 25 Most Influential People on the Internet and its 100 Next list that same year.

Early life

Elizabeth Shaila Koshy was born in Houston, Texas, on March 31, 1996, the daughter of Jean Carol (née Hertzler), an American yoga instructor of German descent, and Jose Koshy, an Indian Malayali petroleum executive from Kerala. She has two older sisters. From kindergarten until fifth grade, she was placed in a dual language educational and cultural program, where she learned to speak Spanish. In 2014, after attending Lamar High School, Koshy enrolled in the University of Houston and began to study business marketing. In 2015, she left college and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a media career.

Career

Social media

Liza Koshy 
Koshy appearing on the Refinery29 YouTube channel in August 2017

Koshy began posting comic videos on the Vine platform, in 2013, under the pseudonym "Lizzza", where she posted short comedic videos. When Vine closed in 2017, Koshy had 7 million followers. By 2016, Koshy was also becoming noted on the YouTube platform. In November 2016, just before the 2016 election, Koshy interviewed President Barack Obama on her YouTube channel to encourage voter registration. Koshy's videos feature "her loud facial expressions, quick pace, and her commitment to looking as ridiculous as possible as the joke demands. [Some of her videos] take serious issues – like anxiety, the pressure to fit in, and internet trolls – and make them accessible and engaging for her viewers." She suspended adding new videos to her main YouTube account in early 2018 as she turned to full-time acting and hosting work. She resumed posting new videos in 2019.

In 2017, Koshy became "the fastest YouTube personality to reach 10 million subscribers". As of 2021, her main YouTube channel had over 17 million subscribers and more than 2 billion views. Her second YouTube channel had more than 8 million subscribers, and her two channels had a combined total of more than 3 billion views. She had more than 18 million followers on Instagram, more than 26 million followers on TikTok more than 4 million on Facebook and more than 2.8 million on Twitter. Time named Koshy to its 2019 list of the 25 Most Influential People on the Internet and its 2019 100 Next list.

Koshy came under fire in 2020 after insensitive videos resurfaced showing Koshy imitating Asian accents and mocking the Japanese language.

Acting

In 2016, Koshy starred in the Hulu original horror series Freakish as Violet Adams. She reprised the role in the show's second season in 2017. Also in 2016, she played the role of Aday Walker in the horror-comedy feature film, Boo! A Madea Halloween, and starred as herself in the YouTube Premium series, Jingle Ballin'. Koshy starred as Princess Aubrey in the 2016 comedy film FML. In 2017, she played a recurring character, The Explorer, in the YouTube Premium mystery-reality series Escape the Night.

Koshy stars in and co-produces a YouTube Premium situation comedy series, Liza on Demand, which premiered in June 2018, "following the chaotic misadventures of the eponymous character" as she works to become an "elite tasker" doing odd jobs for pay. A reviewer for the Los Angeles Times wrote: "The first episode ... is not bad. Yet it's also ordinary and a little stiff. … But the second ... is better ... and shows off Koshy to good effect, some effective physical comedy included. It made me laugh, anyway." Season 2 premiered in September 2019. Alexis Gunderson of Paste wrote in 2019: "Liza on Demand a truly excellent comedy." In November 2018, Koshy voiced the character Owl in Crow: The Legend, an animated virtual-reality short film written and directed by Eric Darnell, starring John Legend. The film premiered on the Liza Koshy Too YouTube channel and Oculus VR on November 15, 2018. She returned to Escape the Night in 2019. She co-starred in the Netflix dance-comedy film Work It (2020). A review in The New York Times stated: "Both Koshy and [Jordan] Fisher are accomplished professional dancers, and the movie doesn't skimp on showcasing their gifts." Koshy voiced Zipp Storm in the 2021 Netflix film My Little Pony: A New Generation.

In 2023, it was announced that she would voice Serena in Primos.

Other ventures

Koshy hosted the live preshow at the 2017 Golden Globes Awards, which received 2.7 million live viewers on Twitter – a record for the medium. She also hosted Nigel Lythgoe's series Every Single Step and was "the only social entertainer chosen to promote the 2016 MTV Movie Awards." She was one of the hosts on Total Request Live on MTV from 2017 to 2018 and served as a producer and developer of content for MTV. Koshy was the first "digital star" interviewed for Vogue magazine's "73 Questions" web series. Koshy conducted interviews of the celebrities attending the 2018 and 2019 Met Galas on behalf of Vogue. She hosted the revival of the Nickelodeon game show Double Dare from June 2018 to December 2019. In 2020, Koshy hosted the Quibi dance competition show Floored.

Her online advertisements for Beats Electronics draw four times more viewers than those of other celebrities. Koshy collaborates with The Giving Keys, a jewelry company that employs and supports the formerly homeless population, on a necklace collection. She is a co-chair of "When We All Vote", a nonpartisan, nonprofit group dedicated to increasing voter participation. She also advertises Beyond Meat.

Personal life

Koshy dated Slovak media personality David Dobrik from late 2015 to early 2018.

Filmography

Key
Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2016 FML Princess Aubrey
Boo! A Madea Halloween Aday Walker
Jingle Ballin' Liza Also executive producer
2017 Crow: The Legend Owl Voice role
2020 Work It Jasmine Hale
2021 My Little Pony: A New Generation Zipp Storm Voice role
2023 Cat Person Beth
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Arcee Voice role
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken Margot Voice role
Good Burger 2 Wilma
2024 Players Ashley
A Family Affair TBA Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2017 Making a Scene with James Franco Herself 1 episode
2016–2017 Freakish Violet Adams 20 episodes
2017–2019 Escape the Night The Explorer 12 episodes
2017–2018 Total Request Live Herself Correspondent
2017 Ellen's Show Me More Show Herself Episode: "Liza Koshy Takes On Ellen’s Burning Questions"
2018–2021 Liza on Demand Liza Hertzler 25 episodes; also co-creator, executive producer, and director
2018–2019 Double Dare Herself / Host 61 episodes; also executive producer
2019 Welcome to the Wayne Bianca Davis Voice role; episode: "Wiles Styles You Over"
To Tell the Truth Herself / Contestant Episode: "Tim Meadows/Justin Long/Liza Koshy/Missi Pyle"
Sugar Rush Christmas Herself / Guest Judge Episode: "Christmas Spirit"
2020 All That Herself Episode: "1119"
Nickelodeon's Unfiltered Herself Episode: "Corgi Rock Party!"
Floored Herself / Host 12 episodes; also executive producer
Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? Herself Voice role; episode: "The Internet On Haunted House Hill!"
Punk'd Herself Episode: "Bat Mitzvah'd with Liza Koshy"
The Great Global Cleanup Herself Television special
2021 Chopped Next Gen Herself / Host 5 episodes
2021–2023 Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve Herself Television specials
2022 Dancing with Myself Herself / Judge 8 episodes; also co-creator and executive producer
The Tiny Chef Show Herself Episode: "Ants on a Log/Quesadilla"
Tab Time Stevie Sweatbands Episode: "Taking Care of Yourself"
America's Got Talent Herself Episode: "Auditions 1"
2022–2024 The Ghost and Molly McGee Jinx Voice role; 4 episodes
2022–present Hamster & Gretel Veronica Hill Voice role; 19 episodes
2023 Big City Greens Jade Voice role; Episode: "Coffee Mates"
2024 Primos Serena Voice role

Music videos

Year Title Artist Notes
2019 "Woke Up Late" Drax Project ft. Hailee Steinfeld
2020 "Relationship" Anthony Ramos

Recognition

Teen Vogue named Koshy to its 2016 list of "The 7 Female Comedians You Need to Know". The Hollywood Reporter included Koshy in its 2017 list of "15 Rising Crossover Stars". The Washington Post cited Koshy as one of the "funny women...at the top of their game today [who] girls get to study" as models for comedy and empowerment. She is a member of the 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment list.

John Jurgensen of The Wall Street Journal described Koshy's appeal as follows: "Her comedy is heavy on self-deprecation, slapstick and wordplay, more goofy than snarky. ... One reason her sketches work for advertisers is the replay factor, [squeezing] in dozens of puns and double meanings, in part to encourage easily distracted viewers to re-watch. ... Koshy has proven to be safe territory for established entertainment companies and advertisers who have fled from edgier online content". Alexis Gunderson of Paste compared Koshy to Lucille Ball and calls her a "physical comedy wunderkind" and "a tiny magnetic goofball".

Awards and nominations

Koshy has won four Streamy Awards and Teen Choice Awards, and a Kids' Choice Award.

Year Award Show Category Result Ref.
2016 Streamy Awards Breakout Creator Won
2017 People's Choice Awards Favorite Social Media Star Nominated
Teen Choice Awards Choice Female Web Star Won
Choice Comedy Web Star Nominated
Choice YouTuber Nominated
Shorty Awards YouTuber of the Year Nominated
Streamy Awards Creator of the Year Nominated
Comedy Won
Editing Nominated
2018 Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Funny YouTube Creator Won
Shorty Awards Creator of the Decade Nominated
Teen Choice Awards Choice Female Web Star Won
Choice Comedy Web Star Won
Choice YouTuber Won
Streamy Awards Creator of the Year Nominated
Comedy Series: Liza on Demand Won
Acting in a Comedy: Liza on Demand Won
2019 Kids' Choice Awards Favorite TV Host (with Marc Summers for Double Dare) Nominated
People's Choice Awards Social Star Nominated
2020 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Game Show: Double Dare (as executive producer) Nominated

References

Tags:

Liza Koshy Early lifeLiza Koshy CareerLiza Koshy Personal lifeLiza Koshy FilmographyLiza Koshy RecognitionLiza Koshy

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