Counter-Counter-Programming

Reversing the trend, Michael Mills is bringing digital stars like Lilly Singh, Tyler Oakley and FouseyTube to live audiences.

- Madeline Berg

In May 2015, more than 2,000 screaming fangirls, many with tears in their eyes, packed the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre in Mumbai for the first stop on a world tour. Unlike typical performances at the theater, which usually hosts ballets, operas and orchestras, this one featured a YouTube star, Lilly Singh.

For most audience members in Mumbai, this was their first opportunity to see Singh in person. But thanks to her “Superwoman” YouTube channel—her videos have been streamed more than 1.8 billion times—her fans were well acquainted with her stand-up routines, which often riff on her Punjabi heritage. As a result, Forbes estimates, the show grossed more than $54,000, and the 23-stop tour took in $1.7 million.

Both the show and the tour were created with Michael Mills, whose production company, Mills Entertainment, is based in the upstate town of Saratoga Springs, New York, and who figured out that you can further expose and monetize internet stars with followings on YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook or Instagram by giving fans a live experience. “What you see on a screen,” Mills says, “will never compete with seeing someone perform live. When kids see someone onstage, it’s like magic.”