IN THE LIMELIGHT LASIZWE ONLINE
Lasizwe Dambuza has taken social media by storm.Whether its his characters onYouTube or his real-life run-ins with South Africa’s celebs, Dambuza’s hilariously irreverent take on life keeps fans coming back. He is listed in the Top 50 African Next Gen inf
WHO is Lasizwe when not in character?
He is a 19 year-old boy who’s always dreamt of being in the limelight.
From as long as I can recall that’s been my dream. Starting from when I was 6 or 7 years old, I went to auditions and I’d be rejected.
Casting directors would say I looked too young for the role. I should have auditioned for younger roles, but back then I wasn’t so savvy. After a while, I gave up. When I was about 13, I stopped auditioning.
Is that why you started impersonating other people?
Exactly. When I started making my own videos I found a way of grabbing the attention of clients and production houses. I knew if they wanted to hire me they would go through my social media, so I just started putting my videos online. I’ve always wanted to be in the limelight, and to make people smile and laugh. Doing those impersonations and making the videos did that.
Where do you get your inspiration for your skits?
I got a lot of ideas from my mom, so when she passed I had to recap my memory. I also take inspiration from the things that happen around me. I have to give people what they want so it’s also nice to see what’s popular.
Can you take us through a typical day in the life of Lasizwe?
Life is hectic at the moment; I’ve been keeping myself very busy. I wake up at 6 o’clock and I take a shower. I check and respond to e-mails, then I edit my videos. At about 9am I go to a production meeting. I get my script and go over it. Some days I’m shooting and that can take me up to 11 o’clock.
After that, I go to Touch HD to do the radio show. Then I go to MTV to shoot my show You Got Got! Depending on whether there is an event, I go and show face and then back home at 11pm for bed and to prepare for doing it all over again the next day.
How is the Touch HD project coming along, it’s one of your latest projects?
Yes, it is. It’s going really well and it’s actually a dream come true because I created the opportunity for myself.
How it happened is that I was invited to have an interview at Touch HD, and when I got there I thought: “I have to be here, this is my place – I belong here”. So I went into the interview and I flipped the script on the host and started asking them questions.
Soon after that, I was called into a meeting where they told me how much they liked my work and that I would be a great addition to the team.
You’re clearly very current and very popular, so what is your favourite part of being young and successful?
It’s a great feeling, I won’t lie, but there’s also a lot of pressure. When you’re young you have to do two times the work. People want you to be able to juggle multiple jobs. But overall it’s fantastic. I get to live my dreams every day, what more could I ask for?
What is the secret to being funny?
The key ingredient is experiencing life. You need to know how to elaborate on life and you need life experience to be funny. It’s even better when you can experience things other people haven’t.
Also acceptance. You need to have acceptance when people try and bring you down. It’s good to have a thick skin.
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