Khaby is a 21-year-old creator who was born in Senegal and moved to Chivasso, Italy with his family when he was a year old. He first started creating videos on TikTok during a difficult time in his life. This was the great lockdown that happened in Italy and at that moment in time, it was the most severely hit country globally hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, henceforth he lost his job. So he was forced to move back to his family’s modest apartment, and despite the urging of his Senegalese father to apply for other jobs, he began spending hours each day posting videos on TikTok under the name Khaby Lame!
Using the social media app’s duet and stitch features, Lame capitalized on the momentum of viral and often absurdly complicated life hack videos like slicing open a banana with a knife, using odd contraptions to put on socks by responding to them with wordless, easy-to-understand reaction clips in which he would do the same task in a much more straightforward manner.
He peels the banana. He puts on a pair of socks. And almost always he punctuates his gags with the video equivalent of a “duh” punchline, extending his arms as if to say voilà and offering an expressive roll of the eyes or shake of the head.
His desire to make the most out of his situation and turn it into an opportunity to achieve his dream of making people laugh motivated him to start a TikTok account and share his first comedy videos. With one funny video after another, his followers began to grow, and in less than 17 months, Khaby has quickly become one of the most recognized and loved TikTok creators globally as he continues to use his unique creativity and sense of humor to spread joy to a global community. With his iconic facial expressions and use of irony in his videos, he continues to inspire us to stay true to who we are and live life with joy.
May Khaby’s story inspire you to be you and be more!
Written by Mwanaisha Musa
