Cape Town - What began with creating funny videos for her friends has turned 19-year-old Sherazaan Cummings into a social media star.
The Bo-Kaap resident has clocked close to 18000 followers on Facebook, 26 700 on Instagram. She says that growing up she was seen as the “funny one” among her friends and family.
Now, her videos are becoming popular as they depict day-to-day life in funny clips using the big-eyed, broad-mouthed SnapChat filter. Cummings portrays all the characters in her videos and even changes costumes and hair to aptly portray each one.
“I got my inspiration from my mom as I imitate the two of us and how she raises me.”
She started making the videos in September last year and has already made more than 120. “I just started making these videos one night while lying in bed. I just decided to share the experience and be mal.”
She says she uses the SnapChat filter because it is something different; the huge mouth and eyes make the facial expressions funnier to watch.
“Making the video takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Sometimes it takes effort because of (the need) to change clothing,” Sherazaan adds.
After filming each character, she joins the clips. This part, she says, can be time-consuming as the facial expressions need to align perfectly with the next expression - if it isn’t perfect, she reshoots the clip.
“I make friends quickly and fit in anywhere. I like socialising. (As a child) I was always the funny one and I liked making jokes.”
The videos she makes are called The Life of Sherazaan Cummings.
“The stories I make are all experiences that I go through.”
Once they are edited, she shares her videos on her various social media platforms. She says she is surprised how people have reacted to them.
“I thought I was the only person being raised like that, not knowing that there are other people who have the same experience. I didn’t know people were going to react and relate to my videos in the way that they have, but it makes me feel good.
“It has given me a huge amount of exposure and people message me to tell me how much they love what I do. This has motivated me to keep doing what I do because all I’ve been getting are good, happy responses.”
She often portrays members of her family in her videos and she says they are all very supportive of her work.
Her videos, she adds, have a wide appeal. “I do not only imitate coloured people, I also imitate different races.”
As a result of her social media fame from her videos, she has collaborated with various photographers and designers. She says she is not doing the videos to be in the spotlight.
O“People do recognise me on the street and it makes me happy because having this amount of recognition for doing something good and making people feel good makes me feel good.”