Entertainment
With Alex Coopers backing, the comedian and former Barstool Sports star has a brand-new podcast.
But shes nobodys sidekick.
Grace OMalley thinks the Google algorithm is f*cking with her.
Im trying to, hopefully one day, beat that pirate.
But its hard to beat a folklore legend.
In OMalleys world, shes usually the butt of the joke.
One of her most viral standup clips involvesgetting heckled by her own mother.
And when we meet at a cafe near her apartment in New York City, a beverage calamity ensues.
Am I Lindsay Lohan inJust My Luckall of a sudden?
Did I pick up a curse or some sh*t when I was in New Orleans this weekend?
But on stage, OMalley is finding lately that her self-deprecating jokes are no longer landing with her audience.
I noticed that it makes people uncomfortable, she concedes.
Which, fair because is there really anything to laugh at about OMalleys past few months?
First, she embarked on her hot-sellingDown for Anythingstandup tour.
(The first episode dropped today.)
OMalleys gruff Massholecomedic personasuggests she grew up with a pack of rowdy brothers.
During her teen years, OMalleys family moved towns, forcing her to change high schools.
Without LaPaglia and the gang behind her, she leaned on humor to ingratiate herself.
I tried to be the class clown the whole time and graduated with a 1.59 GPA, she says.
I went into the guidance counselor and I was like, So what colleges can I go to?
And they were like, it’s possible for you to either learn a trade or join the military.
Those are kind of your only options.
After a stint in community college, OMalley landed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
That gave me the boost to keep going.
(She now has over 981,000 followers on the platform.)
In the city, OMalley spent her days working as a DoorDasher and her nights hitting open mics.
The pairs breezy, longtime-bestie rapport made them highly relatable to their ever-expanding 20-something audience.
Was LaPaglia jealous of the growing attention OMalley was getting?
Had they just been playing out the same power struggle since they were 10 years old?
Theres a part of me that wants to talk about it.
I dont know how to not tell the truth.
Its hard to find the right words, and I always want them to be the right words.
Thats my biggest flaw.
She flails her hands and fidgets with her beanie.
I just always attempt to keep doing it the way I have been my whole life, she says.
Being authentic is a huge part [of it] for me.
Im not a good liar.
Ijust started singing[When You Wish Upon a Star], I was so nervous.
She texted me, Its Alex Cooper fromCall Her Daddy.
I sent it to my sister.
Shes like, No, thats not real, dude.
Someones messing with you, says OMalley.
She just reached out, as a pal first.
Then she asked me what my next steps were, and I wasnt quite sure yet.
After sleeping on it, OMalley decided joining Coopers connection was the move.
I think its funny to say Im a diversity hire because Im not blond, she jokes.
Last year, I did manifestations in my journal.
Not my thing, but I heard it works.
At that time, it was a three-digit number.
Looking back on just how the year has gone by, it’s just been really cool.
Whether its my family, my friends all my dogs eat, OMalley says of her it-takes-a-village approach.
It was a lot of family and friends, which was an incredible feeling.
They took a limo bus and were blastingoff.
I was like, You guys, yougottabe quiet, she says.
But instead, she basks in how far shes come.
Im not here for 15 minutes, OMalley says.
Im here for 50 years, hopefully.
