by ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2
Plenty of Fringe shows begin with trigger warnings, but how many can boast a cute warning?
Grace Helbig was inducted as part of the inaugural class into the VidCon Hall of Fame earlier this summer, along with fellow O.G. YouTubers Rhett & Link, Smosh, and Hank Green. Green released his first stand-up special last year, via Dropout, recounting his battle with Pissing Out Cancer. Now here comes Helbig to take us through her recent diagnosis and treatment of triple-positive breast cancer.
That Helbig can remain so positive herself onstage, despite the cancer and the tortures of her own inner critic, is a testament not only to her physical recovery, but also her emotional and psychological therapy. And therapy, she assures us, is a far better “hobby” to have these days than knitting or doomscrolling.
As much as this hour devotes itself to Helbig’s experience with breast cancer (and you’ll hear her say those words many times), it’s really about how the comedian has come to terms with spending all of her adult life as a “content creator,” about having imposter syndrome, and about the relentlessness of content creation. When the pandemic hit in 2020, she realized as many of us did that this provided an opportunity to reset, or in Extremely Online terms, pivot. So Helbig went to grad school and studied the impacts of being extremely online. Only to receive her cancer diagnosis barely a week after graduating.
So she knows as well as anyone how she could’ve used her cancer to become one of many “white women on a healing journey,” and even more so how too many of those women don’t care about reaching any destination because the journey also can serve as an online grift. While Helbig may sometimes miss the extra attention and lack of responsibility from when she was undergoing chemo, she’s much happier as a human being now. Even if, and perhaps especially since, this show could not, in fact, be a Zoom.
After so many years of online collaborations, Helbig proves that she can stand on her own onstage, without jump cuts, in this tightly-written winning debut.
Let’s go girls!
Grace Helbig: Let Me Get This Off My Chest plays at Pleasance Jack Dome through Aug. 24, 2025.
