A Tête-à-Tête With The Ultimate Instagram Comedian & Sensation, Swineryy!
Swinerry needs no introduction – but to those who are new to to it, Instagram has been taken over by a storm of laughter with the page dedicated to funny characters with humour everyone can relate to! Run anonymously, we still don’t know who the girl behind it is (very few do!) – we just know her friend, Haya Qamar who was featured with a 10 rupee note on her head and was wingardium leviosa‘d like she was in Harry Potter (LOL!) – Watch the video below to understand this.
(Disclaimer: language in featured videos is not PG-13, so watch and listen with caution)
Thankfully, we had our moment of exchange with a seemingly funny yet seriously humble girl behind all the hilarious animoji’s which make us giggle, laugh out loud and most often turn to on a bad day just to turn it around!
Here’s what she had to say:
What made you start Swineryy? What inspired the beginning of it?
Swineryy happened with no plan! I never pictured being interested in watching animoji content, let alone make it! Having been a stand up comic already, I had dabbled in acting, but was working a job not related to the arts & was always driving friends at work up the wall by talking like characters that I had made up (that aren’t on Swineryy). That was sort of an outlet or release for me – a way to get some comedy/acting in during the day. I was just messing around on a friends iPhone animoji feature one day and made the first ‘Why I’m Haram’ pig and later I uploaded it with some encouragement from said friends. I think they’d had enough of me and wanted the rest of the country to suffer too.
Why the name, ‘Swineryy’?
Its interesting, because looking back there have been a lot of pig related moments and references in my life. The first being my mom calling my brother and I a bunch of ‘bloody swines’ hahaha. There was a moment in seventh or eighth grade where my friend & I created Peppa Pig Panty Production which was underwear made of paper – don’t even ask! Also, in my childhood, a relative I was visiting in a different country had a bit of a meltdown because I had a stuffed pig as a toy. And one very vivid dream I had as a child was of pigs being hung to death in Pakistan.
The first ever video I made was of the pig – which I would make a lot of. I remember speaking to a friend over the phone when I randomly decided to call it Swineryy – the name wasn’t planned either, just something we were laughing about. I think…I felt like a swine (whatever that means) & what I was doing was ‘Swineryy‘ – like a behaviour. I hope that makes some sense. In retrospect I think all of these things subconsciously created the ‘Why Im Haraam‘ video, but I didn’t know it when I made it. Also I AM the pig (character). A lot of us are and we don’t understand why we are haram. I don’t think any of this answered your question.
Are there any memorable responses you have received so far?
Malala’s messages to me just top everything & she’s one of the first followers of Swineryy, too! I fan-girled over Fatima Bhutto’s support also, because I’ve been a real fan of hers. I am also genuinely amazed at the amount of heartwarming messages I receive from people. All of them have been incredibly sweet, but some have really moved me. I received a message from India from a boy who is very ill and won’t be here for much longer – and watching Swineryy makes him laugh everyday. There are many other people dealing with depression or anxiety who message saying they can’t get out of bed but it’s easier after they’ve watched some videos and they don’t feel so heavy anymore. And I absolutely love it when people send me videos of their parents and friends losing it! Comedy wise, I’m beyond thrilled to now be friends with comedy buddies over in India like Tanmay Bhatt and there’s all the others who’ve been supportive. (Mallika Dua, Kusha Kapila, Srishti, Shayan!) I love their work. So that’s been reeeeally cool. I have a lot of love for my Indian & Bangladeshi followers. It’s also funny when I’m somewhere and people are discussing Swineryy, but they obviously don’t know I’m there. I feel like a spy. Thats memorable.
Is there any one person that inspires each character or are they mostly fictional with a story you have created?
None of the characters are about a specific person. I’ve been doing impersonations since I was a child, and those are based on observations. There’s no conscious effort to observe either, I think the characters are just a culmination of all the different people I think I have observed in life so far. And I make up a story for them. Mostly whatever makes sense to me while improvising.
Which personality and character is your favourite?
I don’t have a favourite – I think. There are some videos I enjoyed making more than others, like the haram pig is the OG Swineryy character that started it all and cannot be replaced, but the alien and the blue molvi saab aren’t bad, hahah!
Will there be a day when you opt to show everyone who the wonderful lady behind Swineryy is?
In the future I hope to continue on again with comedy and acting as myself, not Swineryy. Being anonymous really has its perks, though. Like going out looking like crap if I want to. Oh and freedom of expression.
Have you got anyone else with you, or do the voices all belong to you?
Tis only me. All the voices and characters are mine.
What do you have coming up or in store for us all?
I haven’t a clue. I make what I feel like creating in the moment. I haven’t yet planned, scripted or practised a single video. I don’t do multiple takes unless something goes wrong (like too many deoggy borks (doggy barks in Swineryy lingo). I know it shows because they’re not as perfect as they could be. So I honestly don’t know what I have in store. Scary, but I hope whatever it will be, is good!