In early March, a zany coronavirus-themed song-and-dance video featuring Jamie Lever, her father Johnny and her brother Jesse collected a million views in two days. The idea to work together germinated several months ago when the veteran comic saw his children making lockdown content. He wanted in. “He was frustrated sitting at home not being able to [shoot] and he was watching me and my brother doing this craziness around the house,” says Jamie, a comedienne and singer. Eventually, it happened. “I knew it would break the internet,” she says.
In the past year, Lever has been experimenting online; toggling between singing, comedy and impersonations, and finding new fans for her work. “It wasn’t planned, but came out of boredom. I wanted to keep myself entertained.”
As artists and audiences were forced indoors, content creators breached new viral highs while a fresh generation of stars was also spawned. From Danish Sait’s antics to Varun Thakur’s struggling actor spoofs to Yashraj Mukhate’s memefied remixes, short, funny online content became everyone’s internet comfort food. “People had more time on their hands, they wanted more and more sources of entertainment,” says Prajakta Koli, among India’s top YouTubers.
As demand rose, production pressures fell. “People appreciate rawness,” says Lever, who credits her father in pushing her to find her comic voice and unique blend of musical comedy. “They don’t want something polished or perfect. Whatever I made was to the best of my ability.” Used to working with specialised teams, Lever suddenly found she had to upskill. “I was the spot dada, the DOP, the editor and the talent,” she laughs.
Shot inside homes and bedrooms on phone cameras and edited quickly, this stuff is hand-held, stripped back. Sait, Bengaluru-based presenter and actor, who has trained in improv, makes handy use of household props including shoes, potted plants and cutlery. “It’s about learning how to build from your environment,” he said. “The content needs to be affordable to make and to consume.”
Sait’s array of impersonations, from a hoity toity older woman to a middle-aged uncle to a yuppie bro, have hinged on mimicry, accents, on the very relatability of these characters. Although rooted in local references, the videos caught fire. “It’s observational, slice-of-life,” he says. “Comedy depends on what you have grown up with.” And he concedes, “I can’t deny I play on stereotypes.”
The creative process might take a couple of hours, or the idea might be gestating for weeks before the creator shoots. “There is no blueprint or formula,” says Koli, whose channel has more than six million subscribers. “It’s a different journey for all of usYou just need a net connection and a love of content.”
The paths to viral stardom are varied; Sait and Koli worked as RJs, Lever was a stage performer, Mukhate a musician. “I learnt writing, editing, lighting, shooting on the job,” says Koli. Though Koli started in 2015, steadily amassing a following over the years and working with a team, the past year was a bit of a reboot working in isolation again. “It was about getting back to basics. It was nice as a creator and a good lesson.”
No one knows the precise alchemy needed to break the internet, but each performer has tasted virality with their bespoke brand of humour. “The lines are so blurry right now,” says Koli. “There are audiences for everyone and everything.” For all of these creators, it’s the fun factor that set them on this journey, and the one they keep returning to. “There are no targets to fulfil, I am my own manager,” says Sait. “This doesn’t pay, but it will pay off eventually.”
That usually happens in the form of other work: Sait and Lever both have films, Koli and Thakur just appeared on Netflix shows, as did influencer comic Dolly Singh. Does this mean social media will be on hold? “When I see the [followers] growing, I think baap re, I should give them something,” says Lever. “It’s like if a guest comes over and I don’t offer them something. How can you not?”
Perfect (Comic) Timing
YASHRAJ MUKHATE
Mukhate tasted massive success with his hilarious musical remixes from trending internet dialogues including, “Rasode Me Kon Tha” and “Tuada Kutta Tommy, Sada Kutta Kutta?”
DOLLY SINGH
Singh has racked up more than a million followers with her brand of situational, daily-life humour, featuring recognisable types and topical themes
VARUN THAKUR
Thakur’s returning character of Vicky Malhotra, a Lokhandwala struggling actor, is a pitch-perfect satire that has propelled the stand-up to even greater internet popularity
