I’m not one for patriotism, but one of the things that does stir it in me is Chicken Shop Date, the YouTube series in which comedian Amelia Dimoldenberg flirts with various musicians and actors over chicken nuggets and chips. But sadly for me, and for the British nation as a whole, Dimoldenberg has announced that, after 12 years, she is shutting up shop.
For those who have yet to experience the joy of this pioneering web series, the premise is simple: under fluorescent lights, across formica tables and over portions of fried goodness, the now-32-year-old meets the likes of Billie Eilish, Idris Elba and Sir Paul McCartney in her search for true love. Dressed for a date date, the comedian conducts her interviews accordingly; how she manages to keep a straight face between her exquisite questions and the uncomfortable silences is anyone’s guess.
In the short history of internet culture, Chicken Shop Date is a classic. Long before Andy Burnham was popping up in The Career Ladder TikToks, Dimoldenberg was creating her artful tributes to the humble chicken shop, romance and that most quintessential of British qualities: awkwardness. Her show is heir to the silliness and absurdity of the likes of Monty Python, but also to the unbearable, deadpan cringe of the likes of The Office.
“When I was 17 I had a fantastic idea that I might meet the love of my life on a date in a chicken shop,” Dimoldenberg posted on social media last week. “I have spent my entire twenties sat across from the most incredible people, people I’d always dreamed of meeting. All of them charmed me (some more than others) and I definitely charmed them.”
Dimoldenberg’s is certainly a very British charm, and the chicken shop, the fastest-growing segment of the fast food market in the UK, has become a quintessentially British establishment. She wields both in service of disarming her interviewees, getting them to reveal something of themselves with questions that other journalists could only dream of asking.
In each video, light muzak plays over a title sequence featuring a felt tableau of hearts flying out of a box of fried chicken with “hot & tasty” sewn onto its side. “Do you believe in life after love?” Dimoldenberg asks Cher, after asking whether she also believes in conspiracies, aliens and the Loch Ness monster. “Who’s your favourite Beatle?” she asks the famous vegetarian McCartney at a rather posh-looking vegan chicken shop, “You’re mine.” (His answer: “Well, there’s only one left. Now currently it’s Ringo.” But: “during the Beatles… I think all of us might have said John.”)
Awkward flirting is part of Dimoldenberg’s schtick, but sometimes it comes dangerously close to being genuine. Her date with the Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield was notoriously heavy on the chemistry. “Don’t do anything weird, like bring out a ring or get down on one knee. Like, I’m not in the mood”—dramatic pause—“today,” she declares as the video starts. Garfield laughs and the camera cuts to the actor giving Dimoldenberg the most admiring of looks while stroking his chin. “Alright, I hear you.”
“Snog, marry, avoid: Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, Amelia Dimoldenberg?” This question has Garfield in stitches. “God that’s hard, actually, cos I don’t want to avoid any of you, really.”
“Okay, but you have to.”
“I would have to avoid you then, because I can’t do that to either of those guys…” Then, as Dimoldenberg protests, he counters: “This is called flirting, Amelia.”
The comedian channels the frustration inherent in looking for “the one”, but in playing the part of a girl who doesn’t quite understand dating protocols, who asks all-too-direct questions, who can sit with near-unbearable silence, she also takes the girlhood pushed down women’s throats by the culture—and turns it into a weapon. What could be more empowering—more, dare I say, feminist—than playing the single girl on a date for laughs?
If you are wondering where to start with Chicken Shop Date, be reassured that there are no duds. She cracks up Sean Paul by pushing a lighter across the table, then insisting, “just give me the light”. She does the same to Little Simz by asking, “Do you know that mercury is currently in retrograde?” When the rapper replies, “Do you know what that means?”, Dimoldenberg says, without missing a beat, “No.” Watch her date with Paul Mescal for more serious sexual chemistry. And watch her date with that other Paul, McCartney, for what feels like a beautiful encounter between two genuine souls.
Dimoldenberg is still bringing her unique talents to bear in other formats, interviewing Formula One drivers while learning to drive in another YouTube series and interviewing celebs on the red carpet. With an eye on the needs of the nation, this people’s princess has set up a training scheme to get young people into the world of content creation. And she has said she will release one final batch of interviews (phew!) before taking herself off the market for good.
It’s unlikely that Andy Burnham, keen as he is to cameo on popular internet series, will have made the cut, however. In July, Dimoldenberg told the BBC, “I don’t think that maybe he’s my type for Chicken Shop Date.”
