Emmanuella: How I combine secondary education with skit making

Emmanuella Samuel, Nigerian YouTube comedienne, has opened up on how she manages to make skits while undergoing secondary school education as a public figure in the country.

The 10-year-old actress recently emerged winner of the ‘Favourite African Social Media Star’ category of the 2021 Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards after toppling other prominent personalities nominated for the prize.

Speaking to TheCable Lifestyle, Emmanuella said she puts off her status during school hours and travels only on weekends.

“I always travel on weekends or holidays, not during school time. I don’t shoot during school periods,” she said.

Emanuella made her foray into comedy at the age of five. She was on a family holiday when she met with Mark Angel, the comedian. He needed some children for his comedy shoot and called a few of them he knew for the audition.

But they couldn’t memorize their lines before he met Emmanuella. Despite the eighteen-hour-long video shoot, a stunt he pulled to test the endurance of the kids, Emmanuella did well and this prompted her selection.

Angel had to convince her parents to let her become a part of the Mark Angel Comedy team before he got their approval. She would later become well known after the comedy skit ‘This is Not My Real Face Oh’ shot in a school setting.

In 2018, Emmanuela was invited to the national assembly after she got a role in a Disney film. She also won the ‘Top Subscribed Creator’ prize of YouTube at the inaugural edition of the Sub-Saharan African YouTube Awards.

Emmanuella was named the ‘Best New Comedienne & Princess of Comedy’ at the Afro-Australia Music & Movie Awards (AAMMA) months after she had bagged the G-Influence Niger Delta Special Talent Award in 2015.

She has continued to thrill her audiences with skits centered around the everyday life of the average Nigerian.

On her Kids’ Choice Awards win, the young comedienne said: “I’ve been so happy. I wasn’t even expecting it.”