Duo help community find their funny bone
A YEAR ago, Shanice Subbiah and Jardel Govender posted their first comedy skit on social media and since then, their fan base has kept growing.
The video was titled Things You Would Only Hear in an Indian Home and for some TikTok and Facebook users, it was a welcome relief soon after the national lockdown. The video has garnered more than 74 000 views and 859 shares on TikTok, while on Facebook it has more than 56 000 views and 800 shares. After the video went viral, the Chatsworth friends realised that they were indeed humorous.
To date, they have uploaded close to 100 videos relating to Indian community scenarios and situations. Some of their characters are Nody, Steven, Evelyn, Gono, Mali, Cooks and Roger. They believe the characters add more humour to their content.
“We are often questioned about who the characters are based on but they are not based on anyone. Fans, however, request that we use their names in our videos,” said Subbiah.
She said their videos were realistic and fun and were filmed in both their homes.
Govender sets up a cellphone on a tripod to capture the visuals and he thereafter edits them before the content is uploaded online.
Subbiah said the storylines were unscripted and based on their ideas.
“We get a few ideas, for example, if Indian aunties are fighting, we then get keywords like ‘I will finish you’ and we start a video. Our videos are spontaneous. Nothing is rehearsed and it is based on us growing up in an Indian community.
“We usually get ideas from everyday life, so we send voice notes to each other or write down keywords that we hear along the way. Once we have collated these words and ideas, we put together a video. We also get our material from Govender’s grandmother, who is a typical Indian aunty. She helps us put our videos in a better perspective,” said Subbiah.
She said while there were bloopers in the content, in which they ended up laughing too much, they left these in the video.
“People find our laughing to be contagious so it works in a way. In people’s daily lives, they all go through trials and we are excited that they can watch our videos and brighten their day.”
Subbiah, who recently started a clothing line, said celebrating their first anniversary of making comedy was emotional and exciting.
“When we first made our videos, we had no idea we would be where we are today. In a year, so much has happened and we have met so many wonderful people during this journey. We are forever grateful to the community.”
Govender, a teacher, added: “People come up to us and tell us how much they love us. They thank us for bringing joy and laughter into their lives. I have always been intrigued by Indian colloquialism, and I found its enunciations to be humorous. This is when we realised we wanted to attempt a video on Indian mannerisms and superstitions.”
The friends, both 24, attended Witteklip Secondary School but in Grade 10, Govender transferred to Arena Park Secondary. Their friendship, however, continued because they found that they could confide in each other about everything. They said they shared their happiness and sorrows, which made their friendship pure.
“Our dream is to take our comedy to the next level and by God's grace, one day we will,” said Govender.