“When I Started Out It Was Very Discouraging” – Instagram Comedian, Ezeani Chinaza
The term “content creator” might come across as a pretty title for a person that puts together random stuff to engage an audience – which it kinda is but they don’t realize the amount of work it takes to assemble brilliant content with potential to go viral. This is the struggle Miss Ezeani, an Instagram content creator with over 76000 followers has to go through – creating fresh skits for her Instagram page.
In a chat with Punch, Ezeani Chinaza who acts the role of Mummy Chinasa on her skits speaks about the venturing into comedy, inspiration behind her skits, how she handles plagiarism and cyber-bullying.
“I never really thought I was funny at first. I just started recording myself while talking and posted them on Instagram; I never expected that it will take me this far. I used to post videos a few years ago but I stopped during the last strike by university lecturers because I was supposed to proceed with my final clearance in school. But when the strike action lingered, I had to resume posting videos to keep myself busy. The strike gave me enough time to explore and develop my skills in this area.
When I started performing skits a few years back, my friends used to encourage me to stay consistent because I used to procrastinate a lot. Making a good skit can take close to eight to 12 hours. That is how tedious it is,” she says on how she started her journey into comedy.
On what inspires her skit, she reveals “I am very observant, so when things happen around me, most of the time, I end up performing a skit out of them.
For example, there was a skit I made about different types of secretaries you meet in an office. That skit was inspired by the treatment I got from a woman I met in my lecturer’s office in school on a particular day. She complained about my nails and hair, so in my mind, I was just smiling because I knew I was going to make a joke out of it on my Instagram page.”
In response to being accused on plagiarism, she says “Yes, several times. When I started initially, people were accusing me of trying to copy a popular female comedian on Instagram. I am aware of the fact that she is very talented but I never had any intention to be like her.”
When asked if she had ever been a victim of online bullying, she says “There are cyber bullies everywhere. There was this particular man that used to insult me for not being original when I just started. I took his insults as a challenge to push me further. The irony is that currently he is always begging me to repost his videos on my page to gain more traffic. He doesn’t know I can remember him, but I do.”
“Some people even go to the extent of calling me ugly, but it doesn’t get to me,” she added.
