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Natalie Tran (born 24 July 1986), also known online as communitychannel, is an Australian comedian, actress, television presenter, and former YouTuber. She became known on YouTube for her comedy videos, in which she discusses everyday issues.
Tran began posting on YouTube in 2006 while attending University of New South Wales. From 2006 to 2016, her channel consisted primarily of observational comedy videos with monologues. Tran was the most subscribed-to YouTuber in Australia and one of the highest-earning YouTubers globally in the late 2000s and early 2010s. She ceased uploading routinely to YouTube in late 2016.
Since 2023, Tran has hosted the television baking competition The Great Australian Bake Off. She had recurring roles on the sketch comedy series The Slot (2017–2018) and Kinne Tonight (2018–2020) and on the FX/Foxtel comedy-crime drama series Mr Inbetween (2018–2021) as Jacinta. She also had a supporting role in the romantic comedy film Goddess (2013).
Tran was raised in Auburn, and went to primary school in Lidcombe. She then attended Rosebank College in Five Dock, before transferring in Year 9 to Meriden School, an Anglican all-girls school in Strathfield, where she graduated in 2004. Speaking about her secondary school experience, she shared that she "wasn't really a fan", saying, "I'm not a very ambitious or very applied student." After high school, she attended the University of New South Wales, where she originally majored in education after being inspired by her father, but, following the success of her YouTube channel, began studying and later completing a degree in Digital Media. While attending the University of New South Wales, she worked in retail.
In 2007, Tran was invited to participate in the launch of YouTube Australia. A video of her defending Vegemite was featured on the Australian television programme A Current Affair in February 2007. Tran was nominated for two awards for Best YouTube Channel or Personality and for Funniest YouTube Channel at Mashable's 2009 Open Web Awards. Tran partnered with Lonely Planet in 2010 to make a series of travel videos, chronicling her journey around the world to places such as Paris, New York City, Los Angeles and Buenos Aires.
By 2009, Tran was the most subscribed-to YouTuber in Australia and the 37th most subscribed-to globally. In 2010, she became the 18th most subscribed-to YouTuber globally. Also in 2010, Tran was the 10th highest-earning YouTuber on the platform, having made over $101,000 in advertising revenue between July 2009 to July 2010, according to TubeMogul. By 2011, she had earned over one million subscribers. In 2013, she started a relationship advice series called Love Conundrums on her YouTube channel, which she later discontinued. She was included in the lineup at YouTube FanFest Australia 2015. In an April 2015 presentation at Brown University posted to her YouTube channel, she talked about Asian representation and stereotypes in the media. In December 2015, she appeared in Lilly Singh's promotional video for her #GirlLove campaign, which aimed to end socialised competition among women, alongside Shay Mitchell, Hannah Hart, and others.
Her April 2016 parody of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's video apology for breaking Australian biosecurity laws, in which she depicts them as being held at gunpoint while filming the video, received praise from critics. By September 2016, her channel had an average of 1.43 million views per video, and a ten-year anniversary video for her channel posted that same month featured YouTubers such as The Fine Bros congratulating her. She became an ambassador for YouTube's Creators for Change initiative in September 2016. In December 2017, as part of the program, she released White Male Asian Female, a 40-minute documentary about negative perceptions of relationships between Asian women and Caucasian men such as her own, on her YouTube channel.
Tran stopped posting to YouTube regularly in December 2016, which she stated in 2019 was due to anxiety from her obsessive–compulsive disorder. In February 2017, her Valentine's Day video, in which she serenaded her partner while he played video games using a virtual reality headset, also gained traction online. She hosted a video guide segment for the 2019 Sydney Film Festival called the Launch Show, released in May 2019.
Tran was a correspondent and writer for The Weekly with Charlie Pickering in 2021. She made a guest appearance on the Netflix series Heartbreak High in 2022 and had voice roles as Lulu Liu and Kevin's neighbour in the Michael Cusack–helmed animated sitcom Koala Man.
Tran began cohosting the cooking competition television series The Great Australian Bake Off with comedian Cal Wilson in its seventh season, which premiered in June 2023. Wilson and Tran replaced the show's previous hosts, Claire Hooper and Mel Buttle. Mediaweeks Tom Gosby described her hosting performance in season seven as "well-received", while Christine Estera of News.com.au called her a "fan favorite". Following Wilson's death from cancer in October 2023, Tran hosted the show solo until comedian Tom Walker joined Tran as the show's co-host in its eighth season, which premiered in September 2025.
In 2016, Sam Gutelle of Tubefilter called Tran "one of the original innovators of a video format that is now widespread in the YouTube community". In 2025, Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times called her a "brilliant Australian internet humorist" whose videos were "timeless, smart and funny across years, generations, continents and hemispheres".
| 2010–2011 | The Project | Herself/Correspondent | 13 episodes |
| 2011 | Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation | Herself | 1 episode |
| 2017–2018 | The Slot | ||
| 2018–2021 | Mr Inbetween | Jacinta | 9 episodes |
| 2018–2020 | Kinne Tonight | Herself/Various roles | 7 episodes; also writer |
| 2019 | Content | Herself | Episode: "Verified - F**k Beauty Gurus" |
| 2020 | Rosehaven | Gemma | Episode: "Episode #4.4" |
| 2021 | The Weekly with Charlie Pickering | Herself/Correspondent | 2 episodes; also writer |
| 2022 | Heartbreak High | Rhea Brown | Episode: "Angeline" |
| 2022 | Significant Others | Lorrie | 2 episodes |
| 2023 | Koala Man | Lulu Liu/Kevin's neighbour | Voice role; 2 episodes |
| 2023–present | The Great Australian Bake Off | Herself/Host | Seasons 7–9 |
| 2013 | Goddess | Helen | |
| 2017 | White Male Asian Female | Herself | Documentary; also director and narrator |
| 2009 | Open Web Awards | Best YouTube Channel or Personality | commmunitychannel | |
| Funniest YouTube Channel | ||||
| 2019 | The Equity Ensemble Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Series in a Drama Series | Mr. Inbetween | |
| 2024 | AACTA Awards | Best Comedy Performer | The Great Australian Bake Off | |
| Best Lifestyle Program | ||||
| 2025 | Best Reality Series | |||
| 2026 | ||||
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