From Buzzfeed, to Youtube, to NY Times Best Selling Authors, Allison Raskin and Gaby Dunn are two girls, telling it like it is, and making a difference (even if they don’t think so themselves). The two friends met in LA while working at Buzzfeed, sitting back to back from one another in the office. The two soon became inseparable, and starred in many of the best friend skits and videos on Buzzfeed.
The two decided to leave Buzzfeed, and create their own channel, Just Between Us. On the channel they post skits and do a talk show show, where many of the topics are mental health and LGBTQ related, or are based off the of their quirky friendship.
Allison suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and is from Scarsdale, right around the corner from our campus. In an interview, she remembers going down to the Hudson River and being forced to throw mud on her legs during therapy sessions. She uses her work on the channel to talk about being friends with someone with OCD, how to help someone suffering with depression or anxiety, and how to deal with a person’s compulsive tendencies – all while making you laugh at the same time.
Gaby is from Florida, and is bisexual. The daughter of an addict, Dunn also has a podcast, Bad With Money, where she talks about the terrible money skills she inherited from her parents, while helping others learn strategies to help them save money and deal with their money. The videos she helps contribute are often related to bisexuality, answering many fan curated questions about how to date someone bisexual, how to know if you’re straight or not, and other questions that many people may be afraid to answer.
Even with all of this on their plate, Allison and Gaby wrote a book. A YA fiction novel, lightly based on themselves in college, follows the characters Ava and Gen as they separate to go to college, and have to deal with frat boys, TA’s, and keeping their friendship together. As a fan, I made sure to preorder the book the second I could – I’ve always looked up to the two of them, and respected them. Allison, in particular, was someone I truly found inspiration in, seeing myself in her youtube character, so I was exciting to get some extra insight into her own college experience, in order to see if I was normal, or if others had my same struggles (lame as that may sound, I know.) Shortly after I preordered the book, the duo announced they would be going on tour, and I was able to convince a lovely friend to go to the Gramercy Theater this past September to see them live.
The book and tour were both named, I Hate Everyone But You. Seeing them live was amazing… Have you ever seen a favorite celebrity in person? It’s unreal, seeing them outside of the screen, and their live sketches were just as funny as their stuff online. The show flew by, after some pre recorded video sketches that matched their Youtube aesthetic, a short stand up routine by Allison, and a funny weed induced Disney expulsion from Gaby. To add to that, we’re pretty sure we were sitting behind Allison’s family at the show, shoutout to her grandparents who were really cute and supportive!
Then came the book. I got my book the day before the show, and decided to wait until after the show to read it. The book, I absolutely loved. The characters were raw, true, and emotional. It made me think of my own friendships with friends at home when I started college, especially with one friend who went to a different time zone during our freshman year. The fears, the struggles, and the emotions were always wild to me, and I always thought I was crazy and the only person who thought that way. After reading the book, I feel like maybe, just maybe I’m not as crazy after all.
I’m not going into any crazy details, I don’t want to ruin anything for anyone – all I’m going to say is read the book. Check out their channel. Support them. Because they’re doing amazing work that more people need to see.