THE COMEDY STARLETS
It’s no secret that Nair is one of the most exciting and infectiously likeable local Youtube personalities of the moment. More popularly known by the alias Preetipls, Nair had one of her biggest breakthroughs last year with an irreverent video parodying an offensive “fashion police”-style reel by local influencer Saffron Sharpe. While Sharpe’s video was swiftly pulled after a social media backlash, Nair’s version created an overnight fan base demanding more of her witty, take-no-prisoners brand of humour on hot-button issues, and has since racked up more than 200,000 Facebook views.
Making an appearance in that video of Nair’s were Michelle Lee and Charlotte Tan of Youtiao666 – another Youtube sensation here that’s trading on cheeky – albeit more pop cultural-influenced – comedy (at last count, their viral 2015 Dubsmash clip in which the duo mimicked car sirens has clocked 100 million views). In fact, while Nair often ropes in local celebrity A-listers like Benjamin Kheng for cameos, it is the eyelash extension-loving duo (beauty brands have come to love them) who are her most consistent collaborators, also often acting as her video producers.
Coming across as the most reserved of the bunch in person, Nair’s online charisma, however, tunes up when in the company of Lee and Tan, who are as boisterous as they are in videos. Long-time BFFs, they reveal that they’ve always been working together, brainstorming and being each other’s sounding board, so much so that even a mealtime conversation could result into yet another hit idea. Says Tan: “Our ‘collaborations’ pretty much involve us going over to each other’s places and hanging out.” Good news for fans: They’re currently working on a joint channel. Says Tan: “Expect the unexpected.”
How the friendship started
PN:
“I’ve been friends and neighbours with Michelle since 2001 as we were both from Raffles Girls’ Primary School. I was introduced to Charlotte through Michelle a few years back, and we then realised that we were from the same polytechnic and that she was my senior.” (Michelle and Charlotte met in 2014 as students at Lasalle College of the Arts.)
On how they complement one another
PN: “Our similar sense of humour obviously plays a big role... Sometimes, Charlotte also compliments me and calls me ‘cute’, which helps too.”
CT: “We keep each other on our toes by keeping each other jealous.”
Their hangout spot
PN: “When we’re not working or writing new content, we have company D&Ds at May Wong’s Cafe (on Neil Road).”
Dream collaboration
ML: “A music video with local singer-songwriter Inch Chua.”
PN: “We really want to work with (local comedians) Henry Thia, Chew Chor Meng and Marcus Chin.”