Lucia Keskin has a talent for making the things that aren’t supposed to be funny, funny.
Failing her GCSEs and fearing what she was going to do next with her life shouldn’t be hilarious. However, Lucia, who uses the name Chi with a C on social media, dramatically opening the envelope and adlibbing as she read her grades will make your stomach hurt.
Upon discovering her G in Religious Studies, she reacted: ‘God would be so disappointed in me. “What did you get in my subject?” “A G”‘
‘Anyone who did take history, if you failed don’t worry, it’s all in the past now,’ she shared motivationally.
The YouTube video was Lucia’s first viral experience – the eight-minute window into her mind is now sitting at just under one million views.
Six years later, Lucia is sat on a set for her very own sitcom – Things You Should Have Done, which also stars Selin Hizli from Am I Being Unreasonable? as her uptight, but well-meaning auntie Karen.
Instead of just Lucia spontaneously reacting to a piece of paper in her bedroom, there are producers, directors, actors, and camera operators bringing her pre-written script to life. Still, one thing remains the same – Lucia is trying to make light of struggles.
The first episode begins with the main character, also called Lucia, being told that her parents have died in a car crash. In the next six episodes, she has to learn how to become an adult.
Lucia was inspired to create something funny about grief after losing her grandad two years ago. ‘I’ve always loved dark humour and making light of times that are just horrible. When you’re struggling, it can give you relief,’ she told Metro.co.uk.
Her grandad was always someone who encouraged her love of comedy but also worried about her shortage of GCSEs.
‘He’ll be proud of me but also just grateful that I got a job,’ she remarked with a laugh.
Having your own TV show at 23 is an impressive job to say the least, but for Lucia, this is a long-held dream. At eight years old, she felt like she was living in a sitcom after watching Mr Bean and Absolutely Fabulous. ‘I lost my mind.’ By ten years old, she ‘weirded out’ her teachers by dressing up as them and doing impressions. Her creativity clearly needed an outlet so she started posting on Twitter, before sharing videos on YouTube and Vine ‘that nobody would watch’ as a teenager. Now, millions of us are hooked. You may not know her name but you’ve likely seen one of her sketches. She’s parodied Selling Sunset, This Morning (which was played on This Morning), Gavin and Stacey, and The X Factor while earning celebrity fans such as Dawn French and Nicola Coughlan in the process.
The beauty of the modern age is social media can make a star out of anyone – you don’t always need to have connections in the industry – and Lucia has benefited from that but only due to her dedication. Every penny she earned on videos went directly into making more. The largest expenditure was wigs. While living at her family home, she had around 100 underneath her bed.
Putting your comedy on the internet for anyone to judge may give you the impression that Lucia is confident, but she admits that actually, her lack of it is why she chose to share her content in this way. Finding the idea of drama school too scary, she adopted an approach that gave her distance from the audience.
Lucia never predicted that opening her GCSEs would eventually lead to her new show which meant having to perform in front of others on set, but she did have quiet ambition.
‘I knew I was going to fail my exams so I wanted to make the most of it. If you’re not confident with it then it’s embarrassing.’
She continued: ‘What happened next was unintentional, but I think deep down, this is what I wanted.’
After being cast in Channel 4’s Big Boys last year she had to overcome her fears to achieve her goals, but it wasn’t easy. ‘I was terrified. I couldn’t eat or sleep, and that led to me fainting.
‘It felt like everyone was staring at me wanting me to do something. Now I realise they are just holding a camera and waiting to go home.’ On her new show, Lucia made their mission harder as she couldn’t make it through some scenes without laughing – look out for the largely improvised banana scene in episode four.
Lucia feels like she learnt more in this process than she ever did at school. Used to being a one-man band she’s learnt to relinquish some control and accept all the outside help, but that does mean having to let go of some jokes.
‘At one point, I suggested that we made it so the parents weren’t actually dead and was told “absolutely no, that ruins the whole series”.’
Reflecting on the whole experience, Lucia tells us: ‘It’s a bit ridiculous that I’ve now got my own show. I don’t know how it happened.
‘A series two would be great, but if not, it was fun.’
Things You Should Have Done airs 9pm on BBC Three on Thursdays. The whole series is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Doctor behind brilliant new Covid drama reveals why she’s burning with rage
MORE : ‘I’m married to a footballer – the glamour comes with sacrifices’
MORE : ‘I didn’t want to offend with my transmaxxing documentary’
0 Comments