Comedian and YouTube star Lilly Singh became the first woman of Indian origin to host her own TV show 'A Little Late With Lilly Singh' on NBC.
For her very first episode which premiered recently, the comedian performed an apt rap and a monologue which shed light on her bisexuality and women of colour. The episode debuted on YouTube before it was aired on television.
Her guests for the night were 'The Mindy Project' star Mindy Kaling and her 'The Office' co-star Rainn Wilson. Lilly shared her 3-minute monologue and the special rap song introduction on YouTube.
In her monologue, Lilly brought her usual charming and bubbly YouTube persona to the late-night show with ease. She opened up about how white people may be feeling on seeing a brown woman on their screens after Seth Meyers.
Lilly while speaking about minority representation among late-night talk shows made hilarious references. In her signature style, the comedian also spoke about how she and Hasan Minhaj look like the IT department of the late-night world, jammed between white men like Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, and others.
She mentioned how actor Daniel Kaluuya should replace Leonardo DiCaprio on 'Titanic' and how the entire cast of Lena Dunham's 'Girls' should be replaced by Bollywood A-listers like Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, and Priyanka Chopra.
The video's comment section was flooded with fans wishing Lilly on the huge milestone and showered her with love for this amazing feat. Lilly's rap also struck the right chord with many who loved the YouTuber's iconic style.
Not just her fans, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also wished her luck before her new venture by writing, "Good luck tonight, @Lilly! We'll be watching from north of the border."
Other stars like Zoe Kravitz, Terry Crews, and Jacqueline Fernandez also wished Lilly on her new project.
The comedian described herself in a tweet in February as "female," "coloured," and "bisexual". A native of Ontario, Lilly's parents hail from Punjab and she began her YouTube channel from her home in 2010, the year she graduated from York University in Toronto.
She uploads satirical videos on South Asian stereotypes on her channel with self-deprecating observational comedy. Actors Priyanka Chopra and Dwanye Johnson and even Michelle Obama have appeared on her channel.
Her channel 'IISuperwomanII', which began in 2010, became immensely popular among people across the world, especially the Indian diaspora, for her humorous acting on gender relations, NRI mannerisms, and typical habits of Indian parents residing in any country.
As an actor, Lilly essayed the role of Raven in HBO's adaptation of 'Fahrenheit 451'.
The 30-year-old won the People's Choice Award for Favourite YouTube Star in January 2017.
Fans of the star call themselves 'Team Super'. Lilly visited Mumbai in 2014 for YouTube FanFest and then again in 2017 on a multiple city tour. She was again in India to promote her 'How to be a Bawse'.
Lilly has also appeared in films including 'Ice Age: Collision Course' and 'Bad Moms'. She is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Notably, Lilly is the first openly bisexual woman to host a late-night talk show on television. Lilly is the second woman of colour to host a nightly show on a major network since former VH1 VJ Cynthia Garrett was in charge of NBC's 'Later' for a year, nearly two decades ago.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
