Kenneth Mathew Sebastian (born 31 December 1990) is an Indian stand-up comedian.[1] He first rose to prominence through a YouTube channel that broadcasts clips of his stand-up shows, devotional song covers, in addition to original skits, garnering 152 million views since 2008.[citation needed] He has toured the United States, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates[2] and Australia.[3] In 2017, he produced an hour-long comedy special for Amazon Prime.[4] He performs primarily in English, switching to Hindi for comic effect. He was also a judge in Comicstaan, a comedy reality show. He released his special The Most Interesting Person In The Room on Netflix in 2020.
Kenny Sebastian | |
|---|---|
 Sebastian performing in 2016 | |
| Born | 31 December 1990 |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Known for | Stand up comedy |
| Spouse |
Tracy Alison Viegas (m. 2022) |
| Website | knowkenny |
Early life and education
editKenny Sebastian was born on 31 December 1990 to Catholic parents from Pala, Kerala, and was brought up in Bangalore. His father was in the Navy, hence Sebastian migrated throughout his childhood. He speaks English, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam.[2][5] Sebastian went to Kendriya Vidyalaya N.A.L. for his education. He holds a degree in Visual Arts from the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath.[6] Kenny married his longtime partner, Tracy Alison Viegas in Goa on 16 January 2022. The couple was also blessed with their first daughter Emily in 2024.
Career
editKenny made songs from tweets, popularly known as #KennySing4Me. This gained him his initial popularity.[7] He also created an improvised sketch show for Comedy Central known as The Living Room.[8] He co-wrote and acted in the web series called Star Boyz.[9] He did a cameo in the web series Humorously Yours, in Better Life Foundation by Naveen Richard and in Pushpavalli by Sumukhi Suresh. He also has an original series Die Trying,[10] an improvised show The Improvisers: Something From Nothing along with Abish Mathew, Kanan Gill and Kaneez Surka and a sketch comedy show Sketchy Behaviour co-written and co-starring Kanan Gill on Amazon Prime Video. He also started his mini series named Getting There which has 3 episodes and two stand-up specials, each on Amazon Prime and Netflix.
He is a judge for Comicstaan, a comedy hunt reality show on Amazon Prime Video.[11]
His podcast titled Simple Ken, which has featured various guests, has also gained popularity on audio streaming services and on YouTube. However, Kenny has stated time and again on the podcast that he would like the Simple Ken community to remain small, as it was meant to be a personal, niche venture, and not mainstream.
He has his own production house named SuperHuman Studioz and has also edited a Bollywood film "Station" at the age of 21.[12] He also did subtitling work for about a month, before he quit abruptly.
Filmography
edit| Year | Name | Platform | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Journey to the Center of My Brain | YouTube | Himself |
| 2015 | Insides Out | Himself | |
| 2016 | Star Boyz [13] | Actor | |
| A Door through a Window | Himself | ||
| Breezer Vivid | Alongside Abish Mathew | ||
| 2017–2018 | Son Of Abish | Season 2 with Radhika Apte | |
| Season 4 with Yami Gautam | |||
| 2017–Present | Chai Time with Kenny | Himself | |
| 2017 | Don't Make That Face by Naveen Richard | Amazon Video | Director |
| Don't Be That Guy[14] | Himself | ||
| 2018 | Die Trying | Amazon Video | Kenny [15][16] |
| The Improvisers: Something From Nothing | Alongside Kanan Gill, Abish Mathew, Kaneez Surka | ||
| Comicstaan | Himself- Judge | ||
| 2019 | Sketchy Behaviour | Amazon Video | Alongside Kanan Gill |
| Comicstaan season 2 | Himself- Judge | ||
| 2020 | The Most Interesting Person in the Room[17] | Netflix | Himself |
| 2021 | Comedy Premium League 2021 | Netflix | Part of the team Gharelu Gilheris |
Discography
edit| Year | Type | Title | Number of Songs | Songs | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Album | Die Trying (Album) | 8 |
|
English |
|
| 2020 | Single | Wake Up In The Morning | 1 | Wake Up In The Morning | English |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Kenny Sebastian – Profile". knowkenny.com. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ a b "Make way for Kenny". Deccan Chronicle. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
- ^ BWW News Desk (9 August 2018). "Kenny Sebastian Announces First Australian Shows". Broadway World.
- ^ Bhushan, Nyay (20 January 2017). "Amazon Inks Groundbreaking Deal for 14 Indian Stand-Up Comedy Specials". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Lazarus, Susanna Myrtle (23 February 2018). "Carry on, Kenny Sebastian: In conversation with the 'Die Trying' comedian". The Hindu.
- ^ Ghosh, Devarsi (18 February 2018). "Kenny Sebastian on his web series 'Die Trying', filmmaking dreams, and rockstar days". Scroll.in. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- ^ "KennySing4Me". BuzzFeed. 29 March 2015.
- ^ "Comedy Central to premiere 'The Living Room'". afaqs!. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ "Kenny Sebastian – Artist Profile". eventseeker.com. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ "Die Trying actor Kenny Sebastian: It's painful to create music, stand-up is easier". 17 February 2018.
- ^ "'Comicstaan': Top comics Kanan Gill, Kenny Sebastian, Sumukhi Suresh, others to redefine future of funny". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ Chai Time Comedy with Kenny Sebastian : Being a Color Blind Painter., retrieved 12 August 2019
- ^ Kenny Sebastian (5 May 2016), 3 South Indian Boys in Space | STAR BOYZ | CHAATS Ep 1 #LaughterGames, retrieved 24 October 2018
- ^ "Kenny Sebastian: Don't Be That Guy".
- ^ "Die Trying review: This Kenny Sebastian 'Brohemian Rhapsody' is enjoyable in parts". 18 February 2018.
- ^ "Die Trying review: Kenny Sebastian's Amazon show is a middle finger to middle-class Indian establishment". 14 February 2018.
- ^ Paul, Shreya (28 May 2020). "The Most Interesting Person in the Room review: Kenny Sebastian's Netflix special celebrates all things comfortably average". Firstpost.