Famous SoSick
YOUTUBER, FAMOUSSOSICK, has spent all his adult life on camera, but he’s actually quite shy. The content creator has released songs like Totally and Vybe (featuring Solstarr) over the past year but admits that he can’t see himself as a performing artiste. “I started doing music before I started doing comedy but I don’t know, I don’t really take music serious because I’m a very shy person, which a lot of people don’t know,” the 29-year-old told The Gleaner. “People always telling me to do more songs but then it comes back to me thinking, ‘What if I get a hit and have to perform?’ If I’m supposed to perform today, I don’t think I could do it at this moment.”
What he could do in a heartbeat is anything film- related. Famous SoSick, whose given name is Antony Sewell, has written, directed and acted in many skits and short films for more than a decade. He has also done collaborative projects with fellow content creator Andrew Trabrass and Laugh to Success, a comedy entity he helped to form.
Today, the seasoned YouTuber reflects on some of these projects with Five Questions With and shares some thoughts he hasn’t on camera.
1. What would you say is your career highlight?
I was a part of a series called Captured which looked at kidnapping and prostitution. Mi do so much for that: acting-wise, writing-wise and directing-wise. It’s my highlight because it’s a real-life situation that’s happening with young girls now and it’s just something weh we decide fi shine light on and showcase, and it worked.
2. And the short film that stands as your favourite? Virginity.
It’s probably the easiest one because it’s comedy, and comedy comes naturally to us. Playing an old man was fun for me because people sometimes say mi have an old soul so it kinda fit in. It was fun fi shoot, edit and write and people love it, not only young people.
3. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt being in the game?
Whole heap ah people a user. A whole heap of YouTubers and Instagram people we help behind the scenes and dem go up and then unfollow we and gone. We do the same thing fi couple artistes, dem gone, but we live and we learn. It nah go mek we stop help people, we just a go pay closer attention now.
4. What’s your secret to longevity?
Be original. Some Jamaican content creators a follow the Americans too much, content-wise. Every Jamaican weh live a Jamaica and a vlog a try Americanise dem vlog. Dem nuh understand seh Caribbean people weh live a foreign waan see the real Jamaica. If you come from country, gwaan a bush mek we see bush. Certain things like that we grow up with and miss so we need fi see stuff like that, and a deh so dem go wrong.
5. Having achieved so much in film and YouTube, what’s next?
We really just a get started in terms of doing more film productions. We master comedy so we can go back to comedy at any point and pick up. We have the talent and the creativity where we can showcase comedy and when we do a serious topic, people tek we serious so we can bring across we messages inna we movies. Mi have whole heap of scripts and whole heap more content fi come in terms of movies and short films.