In September, Lilly Singh posted a cryptic message: “Watch this space.” On 14 October, she followed it up with another announcement: “New sketch tomorrow.” The post, shared in collaboration with Manjeet Singh, was a familiar reminder of the comedy that first made her an internet star. But there is something unusual about Singh’s return to character-led sketches. Her characters are no longer just recurring faces in her videos.
Her Characters Have Audiences of Their Own
Manjeet Singh, one of Singh’s comic alter egos, has around 195,000 followers on Instagram. Paramjeet Singh, another character she plays, has around 200,000. These accounts have developed their own identities and followings, extending the life of characters that audiences first encountered through Singh’s comedy.
It is a remarkable evolution for a creator who began making videos in her bedroom in 2010, long before influencer marketing became an established industry and short-form video became central to social media.
Her latest announcement raises a question: is Lilly Singh returning to the kind of sketch comedy that built her career, and what does the continued popularity of her characters say about the legacy of early YouTube creators?
Before the Creator Economy Became an Industry, There Was Superwoman
Singh began uploading videos to YouTube in 2010 under the name Superwoman, eventually building a global audience with comedy sketches about family, relationships, cultural identity and everyday experiences.
Born and raised in Scarborough, Toronto, to Punjabi Sikh immigrant parents, she drew heavily on the experiences of South Asian families. Her videos often featured her playing several characters in the same sketch, including exaggerated versions of her parents.
The format was simple but effective. Singh would switch between characters using costumes, wigs, accents and expressions, creating entire conversations without needing a large cast. Videos about Indian parents, siblings and the differences between cultural experiences helped her connect with viewers who recognised parts of their own lives in her comedy.
In its early years, YouTube was still establishing itself as a viable career path. Singh had graduated from York University with a psychology degree and was expected to consider further studies. Instead, she persuaded her parents to give her a year to prove she could make a living from creating videos.
She committed herself to writing, filming and editing her own content, gradually turning a personal creative outlet into a full-time career. By the mid-2010s, she had become one of YouTube’s best-known creators, with millions of subscribers and opportunities extending beyond the platform. The Washington Post documented how her early videos helped her build a community among young South Asian viewers and eventually opened doors to mainstream entertainment.
The Creator Who Helped Shape a Generation
Singh’s influence extends beyond her own subscriber count. She was part of an early generation of YouTube creators who demonstrated that online video could become a serious entertainment career.
Her success helped make room for creators who built audiences through relatable sketches, recurring characters and direct relationships with viewers rather than traditional television networks.
Many creators who emerged later adopted elements of this approach: playing multiple roles, building recognisable comic personalities, drawing on family dynamics and creating recurring formats that audiences could revisit.
That does not mean Singh alone created these techniques, but her scale and visibility helped establish character-led digital comedy as a format capable of reaching a global audience.
She also showed that a creator could use online popularity as a starting point for other ventures. Singh published books, toured internationally, launched a production company and moved into mainstream television.
In 2019, she became the host of NBC’s A Little Late with Lilly Singh, making history as the first woman to host a late-night talk show on a major US broadcast network in that role. The programme ran for two seasons before ending in 2021.
Her move into television represented a significant shift from the relatively independent world of YouTube to a traditional production environment. It also raised questions about how well the creative style that succeeds online translates to established entertainment formats.
What Did Lilly Singh Do During Her Quieter Period?
Singh’s reduced emphasis on regular character-led YouTube sketches should not be confused with a complete absence from entertainment.
After her late-night show ended, she became more selective about the projects she pursued. In a 2023 profile for The Washington Post, she spoke about reassessing her career and prioritising work that aligned with her interests and purpose.
Her projects during this period included writing, acting, production and advocacy. She published Be a Triangle: How I Went from Being Lost to Getting My Life into Shape in 2022, continued developing projects through Unicorn Island Productions and appeared in the 2024 comedy film Doin’ It. She also hosted the game show Battle of the Generations.
Her production company has worked on projects beyond her own on-screen appearances, while the philanthropic arm of her work has focused on issues affecting girls and women.
In a 2024 interview with ELLE, Singh discussed her work in entertainment and the importance of defining impact beyond visibility alone.
The period was therefore less about leaving the industry altogether and more about exploring different forms of creative and professional work. Her latest sketch announcement suggests that character-driven comedy remains part of her creative identity.
‘Watch This Space’: Is the OG Creator Returning to Her Roots?
Singh’s September message, followed by the 14 October announcement of a new sketch featuring Manjeet Singh, has reignited interest in her original comedy format.
The timing matters because the creator landscape has changed considerably since she began posting videos. TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts have made short-form comedy more competitive, while creators increasingly build separate identities around recurring characters.
Yet Singh’s format remains recognisable. A creator playing multiple characters can establish a familiar comic universe, giving viewers a reason to return beyond a single viral clip.
The separate followings of Manjeet and Paramjeet also point to the longevity of characters that audiences have encountered over time. Their appeal is not limited to one sketch or one platform.
It is too early to conclude whether the latest post signals a sustained return to regular sketch uploads or a standalone release. What it does establish is that Singh is once again drawing attention to a format closely associated with her early career.
For an internet personality whose work helped shape the first wave of YouTube comedy, that is worth watching.
The Legacy of Lilly Singh’s Characters
Today’s creator economy is crowded with personalities competing for attention, but Singh’s career offers an early example of how a creator can build more than a personal following.
Her characters became recognisable in their own right, her sketches helped audiences find shared cultural experiences, and her digital success created opportunities across television, film, publishing and production.
Now, with Manjeet Singh and Paramjeet Singh maintaining audiences of their own, the characters continue to demonstrate the value of a distinctive comic identity.
Whether this latest sketch marks the beginning of a more regular return to her original format remains to be seen. But the response to Singh’s announcement highlights something that has not changed since her earliest videos: audiences can remain attached to characters long after the first sketch that introduced them.
The OG creator may be revisiting familiar territory, but the characters she built have already taken on lives of their own.