Liza Koshy's ready for her holiday party with YouTube Red's 'Jingle Ballin''
LOS ANGELES -- Home Alone and the holidays.
Those are two of digital star Liza Koshy's favorite things. She even purchased the "Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal" sweater back in June, in anticipation of December.
So when YouTube approached her with an idea for a holiday special, it was an obvious yes.
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"I freaking love the holidays," the 20-year-old YouTuber, who first rose to fame on Vine, told Mashable in a recent Facebook Live interview. "I've been psyched for them. It's my favorite time of year. This one was super easy to agree to. It gave me the opportunity to do longer content. It's a 35-minute special. Everything I come up with myself has been seven minutes and below. Shorter form ... I was super excited to create something longer and see if I could even do it."
The special -- titled Jingle Ballin' -- debuts Dec. 6 on YouTube Red.
The special follows a homesick YouTuber, also named Liza, who decides invite the entire internet world to her holiday party so she won't be alone for the holidays.
This is the latest project for Koshy, who has had a big year and amassed more than 22 million followers across all her social platforms including Instagram and Musically.
In October, she won a Streamy for best breakout creator. She also signed with Awesomeness TV Network’s talent division, starred in Hulu’s Freakish and appeared in Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween.
Still, she doesn't consider herself famous -- yet.
"I'm not Beyonce even though I'm from Houston," she joked.
Koshy stars alongside David Alan Grier, Chris Kattan, and Aly Mawji. Other guests include: Kiana Ledé, Iqbal Theba, Amy Farrington and Johann Urb. There are also cameos from YouTubers Timothy DeLaGhetto, Gabbie Hanna, Alx James, Zane Hijazi and Meghan Rienks.
The special is produced by Above Average Productions, an entertainment company founded in 2012 by Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video.
"They are so funny," she said of the entertainment company. "And our crew and cast are just hilarious. We have a bunch of different amazing guests -- a mix of digital and traditional."
Watch the full interview below:
Topics YouTube
Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
