I had the opportunity to interview TikToker Emily Gates and find out who the funny person behind the screen is. Don’t let her smart skits fool you, Emily Gates is a young girl who graduated college from the University of Missouri last year, where she majored in Spanish and communications.
She definitely knows how to get her point across in just a quick video. Gates is currently living in Spain with her best friend, where she teaches English in Spanish public schools.
Gates first started posting on TikTok in 2019, and since the beginning she used the platform to be creative and make people laugh. Emily recalled her friends wanting to make lip syncs or dancing videos and she refused, thinking it was silly.
“Everyone was doing the dancing videos and I just thought it was cringe,” Gates said.
She never downloaded the former popular video platform Musically, stating that is why she never saw the appeal in the silly dances.
It wasn’t until 2020 that Gates began posting the same type of POV videos she now is known for. Emily explained that at this point, she’ll even reuse some ideas from five years ago and re-do the skits.
“It’s been so long and I make so many videos, sometimes I don’t even know if I reuse an idea,” Gates said.
This makes sense, since she’ll post around six videos a day, seven days a week, every week. Gates will post the skits she makes right away–she doesn’t save them on her drafts for later or to have something to post on her days off (she has no days off) like many influencers and creators do, instead she merely utilizes her drafts to keep failed attempts of the ideas she does post.
Her creativity astonishes me and is to be admired–she’s basically working two full time jobs–although Gates mentioned TikTok doesn’t feel like work to her. She participates in the creator fund and has been reached out to by brands about partnerships, but since this is what she loves, it doesn’t feel like a task for her at all.
Gates said she had done skits way before the platform through her Snapchat private stories.
“The more I post on TikTok, the less I spam my private stories,” she said, explaining how these types of sketches are a way to release her thoughts.
When making a skit, she starts with a note on the notes app, where she has written hundreds of ideas for skits spanning over three years. Gates attributes her ideas to her being simply very observant, which is why she captures the human experience well. She notices patterns of behavior on those around her and successfully parodies them.
Gates said the reason she makes skits is to see if her observations are relatable–if anyone else knows what she’s talking about.
“Anytime I notice something in a person I write it down,” Gates said. “I’m a little nosey. One of my first viral videos–the campus tour one–at the time, I lived in a campus dorm and I would sit outside and hear all these campus tours guides saying the stupidest things, like these are the dorms with the biggest rooms and I knew that wasn’t true. I started to kind of see if my experiences were relatable.”
Gates hopes to one day do something in the entertainment industry outside of social media. She’d like to someday pursue acting, improv and ultimately be on NBC’S SNL, but her true love will always be social media.
“I do love how comfortable it is, with TikTok, that you can do it from your house,” Gates said, on the benefits of working through social media.
This past March, verified creator Noah Miller, with a platform of over 4.9 million followers, gave a shout out to Emily Gates.
“She is one of the queens of this app,” said Miller, explaining how he believes Gates is on the road to success. When Gates was asked about her reaction to this, she showed her excitement.
“I was starstruck,” Gates said. “Someone tagged me on it and I was starstruck. That was the nicest thing ever.”
Emily Gates hopes to continue expanding her audience. She loves making people laugh and is excited for what the future holds.
“To me, it sounds like a dream to be able to make a living on having fun,” Gates said.
Her wittiness is unmatchable and her hard work has paid off over the years, so I think we will be seeing more of Emily, not only on TikTok and other social platforms, but one day somewhere on TV.
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