She goes by many names: The Lorax, Lord Farquad, but we first met her as Alexander Hamilton. There she was, Sharpie goatee and all, absolutely nailing Alexander Hamilton’s cheating man aura.
Ashby Florence’s first video as Hamilton has now reached over 17.2 million views since it first went viral on August 1. Then, she locked in. She started doing daily, hours-long TikTok lives, sometimes before and after work (because, relatable queen, she has an adult job like us). Her screen time increased considerably (“Before all this? 10 hours. Now? 24/7”). She appeared as a horny, contrarian version of The Lorax, Pitbull, and Dobby the Elf. Whether you were hopping on her Lives or watching fan-edits from them, Ashby was all over your FYP. In a matter of ten days, she grew her TikTok following from 10k to 1 million. She’s inescapable on TikTok right now. If you haven’t heard of her…are you even on the internet?
But her ascent to stardom doesn’t feel like a stroke of luck; it feels like the earned arrival of a generational talent. She is infinitely funny. Her comedy feels genuine, goofy, and reminiscent of early 2000s YouTube (its glory days). She makes you snort laugh in a way that you only ever do with your friends in a random parking lot in your hometown at 9 pm. The amount of perfect one-liners she drops over a given TikTok Live is relentless and awe-inducing. If I tried to match her, I would be exhausted after five minutes. But it makes her — and her characters — perfect bait for fan edits. No matter if she’s in a $45 onesie, answering questions as herself, or giving herself Farquaad bangs, her characters are irreverent yet also masterfully vulnerable and unlike any fictional iterations of them before. They quietly, or tongue-in-cheekily, yearn for attention, money, or at the very least…to be liked.
@_ashbyflorence_ Replying to @Ezekiel✨️ Don’t shoot the messenger 🤷🏼♀️ #hamiltontrend #lorax #ashby #ashbyhamilton #fyp #fypp #linmanuelmiranda #linmanuel #thelorax #loraxcostumes #funny #ASHBY #funny #viral #tiktoktrends #theloraxedit #letitgrow #ashbylive #ashbypitbull #ashbyhamilton #alexanderhamilton #hamiltonwindowcleaning #alexanderhamilton #aham #bwau #broadway #comedian #comedy #vinegary #ashby #ashbyflorence ♬ original sound – ASHBY
Of course, the internet has always loved goofy women doing a bit or in a costume. Take Joanna Ceddia’s knack for virality, Quinta Brunson’s or Brittany Broski’s comedic timing, and add a dash of Maya Winky’s showmanship. She, refreshingly, has a POV. But she wields it with care and consideration for the hundreds of thousands of new eyeballs on her with every passing second. Throughout this process, Ashby is transparent about how terrifying it is to have so many new eyeballs perceive you at once (“It has been a whirlwind and a half.”). It’s as if she’s already internalized the lessons we’ve all learned, as consumers of the internet, when our beloved viral creators find themselves in controversy and have to worm their way out of it publicly. As Ashby likes to say, before dropping a verifiable truth: don’t hate me. I can’t imagine we ever would.
When she had just 300k followers (literally a week ago), we knew a star was being born, a la Lady Gaga with a better ending. And, now, as she sits comfortably at 1.3 million and counting, I chatted with her about going viral, sudden, inconceivable fame, and what she’s creating right now.
Edited for clarity.
BETCHES: The last ten days have been such a whirlwind. What was your “oh my gosh, I made it” moment?
Ashby Florence: I feel like it would help if you right now imagined if someone came up to you and said, “In 14 days, everyone will be talking about you and expecting something from you, oh, and you start twerking live in front of 40k people.” It would be a lot, no? It has been the most exhilarating, stressful, inconvenient, blessing-of-a-time, but the cherry on top was being recognized in public for the first time. The idea that people know me now is one that I don’t think I’ll ever truly get used to, but seeing the smile on her face when she said hi made it all feel very real and very worth it.
Weirdest thing about TikTok fame?
How people act like you’re famous. I’ll always respond to DMs and comments and emails with people like they’re my friends, and seeing the response of “OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU RESPONDED” is so baffling to me. It’s very flattering, but going from nobody to somebody in 2 weeks shines a light on that level of contrast.
Once your Alexander Hamilton video went viral, what inspired you to start creating more content as him? What was it like learning the ropes of TikTok Live in character?
I saw how people liked my interpretation and, as a theater kid, wanted to give every variation I could think of. It came pretty naturally, considering the theater kid inside me has been kicking and screaming for attention for years.
What inspired your character of The Lorax, and did it change based on feedback from your audience?
Purely because it is a funny visual, I try not to put too much thought into my characters in terms of which ones I do. Performance-wise, it’s shocking how it takes a lot of brain power to improvise on the spot for that long. As far as choosing who I play, that’s whatever I think will visually get the biggest laugh.
What direction do you want your career to grow? I’ve heard you have acting training.
I want to try everything. I trained seven days a week to make it in the entertainment industry. I would skip school to drive to New York to audition for Broadway shows and stay up late with my mom filming self-tapes after dinner. I worked so hard for a dream that never saw the light of day until now. I plan on exploring, growing, failing, and growing some more. Whether that includes what I’m doing now, live shows, podcasts, film and TV, Broadway, you name it, I’m there.
How do you see your content evolving? Are you going to try more characters, or create content as yourself?
I don’t want to put myself in a box. I want to continue to give my viewers what they want and need, while also discovering what I myself want and need. I see a lot of fun things in the future, and genuinely have the nicest and most accommodating following, so I am not scared to try new things.
Are there any characters you want to try next?
Gosh, there is a very long list on my phone, but I have been eyeing the Grinch for Christmas this year.
What character would you like to be remembered by?
Myself. Specifically as someone who just tries really hard and will shamelessly do what it takes to make people smile.
What’s something your audience doesn’t know about you?
I worked as a dental hygienist for 2 weeks at an actual dentistry due to an ADHD hyper-fixation. Pretty sure it was illegal, but fun nonetheless. I also have a motor tic disorder, so there’s an easter egg to look out for.
What’s your current hyperfixation?
Cats, not in like a weird way, in like a normal cat person kinda way. I’ve been dying to add another cat to the mix, so I’ve been hyperfixating on scrolling through shelter listings recently behind my boyfriend’s back.