Snoop Dogg cried while watching Frozen . The completely unexpected revelation from one of the coolest rappers in the business came out during a conversation on A Little Late with Lilly , the latest entrant in the talk show world. “I kind of fangirled, I’ve always been a huge fan,” says the show’s 31-year-old host, Lilly Singh, who admits the rapper has been her favourite guest so far. “He was super laid back, nice to everybody, and also just very vulnerable in a wonderful way.” This might have had something to do with Snoop Dogg getting her staff to dabble in the ‘green’. “It was really nice to see that the person who made all the dope music I grew up with was also down to earth,” she adds.
On air since September this year, A Little Late was envisioned to shake up staid late-night programming and, of course, improve NBC’s digital foothold. What better way than to have an openly bisexual YouTube superstar of colour? But Singh is quick to acknowledge the women who prepped the way for her and others like her. “Cynthia Garrett, Wanda Sykes, Joan Rivers, Mo’Nique, Busy Phillips… and Samantha Bee’s show is currently on TV,” she lists, accepting that she’s aware of how her show fits into the perception of progress when it comes to representation.
Her vision board, however, always featured her in the guest seat, never as host. “I never thought it would happen. I hope it means that more people of [colour], women and individuals in the LGBTQ community will be given opportunities,” she says. “The content we watch should look like the world we live in.”
True to herself
On December 14, Singh finished taping all 96 episodes of A Little Late , shooting two episodes a day for three long, continuous months. The schedule, she admits, left her tired, stressed and sad on occasion.
Lilly Singh, with Malala and Deepak Chopra on A Little Late with Lilly Singh
But she’d vowed to wake up every morning with renewed gratitude and faith. “I have to give a lot of credit to the team,” she reveals. “[Writers], producers, crew and EPs. They helped me keep going. It takes a village!” The shoot, a deliberate move to accommodate other projects, is unlike its counterparts — from taking the usual skyline trope up a notch, with a bright burst of neon colours, to highlighting her two great loves, her pet dog Scarbro and a picture of French fries.
Singh says the intimate set allows her to be herself, which almost always includes wearing sneakers (and pant suits in bold hues), and ensures hilarious chats with people who “I think are cool, interesting, and are down to have a conversation with me”.
Her first episode featured an opening video that she wrote and directed. Set in a boardroom, an all-male exec team suggests navy suits and opening monologues covering the news of the week. So, in all Lilly Singh swagger, she raps: I know you’re used to only Jimmys in your spotlight, but Imma throw some melanin up in your late night/ It’s time to switch it up in here, cos now a lady runs the show . “That was really close to my heart,” says Singh, who prefers a no-politics zone for her show (or as she rapped it, I ain’t talking about Donald unless his last name Glover ). “I was also really nervous because it was the first thing that anyone saw related to my show. So that was really special.”
A Little Late might still be finding its footing, but it has cemented Singh’s seamless transcendence of mediums. The chasm between digital content and traditional television has never been thinner than now, she says. “It’s just all part of the game these days. Audiences should be able to consume content how they like.” She can say that because she’s the poster woman for the phenomenon. Sure, in the past, YouTube stars have made it big. There’s Colleen Ballinger, aka Miranda Sings, who got her own scripted gig on Netflix, Haters Back Off . And Billy Eichner’s Billy on the Street , which went to truTv. The comedian also got a stint on Amy Poehler’s Parks and Recreation . But no one has infiltrated pop culture like Singh has.
Finding her footing
So far, her guests have included A-listers like Natalie Portman, Mindy Kaling, and Ewan McGregor, activist and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, pop culture favourite Antoni Porowski (Netflix’s Queer Eye ) and indie darlings Tegan & Sara. Even fellow comedians have been on the hot seat: The Office ’s Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute), Tig Notaro and Jim Gaffigan.
Singh didn’t arrive overnight to collective pop culture consciousness. It took close to a decade for the Canadian comedian — born to immigrant Punjabi parents in Scarborough, Ontario. “I’ve been doing [this] on my YouTube channel for a really long time, talking about things that are universally relatable, whether it is [travelling], birthday parties, or parents,” Singh reminds us. She only reached a million subscribers on IISuperwomanII in 2013 (which has now ballooned to 15 million).
Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Lilly Singh
While she is vying to rule late night television, she already sported a hefty resume. Videos that snagged an average of three to six million views (going up to 17 million); a documentary, A Trip to Unicorn Island — that chronicled her staggering 27-city world tour in 2015; a 2017 New York Times bestseller, How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life ; and a spot on Forbes ’ list of the 40 most powerful people in comedy. She’s also forayed into cinema, with films such as SpeedySinghs , Thank You , Dr. Cabbie and Fahrenheit 451 . Last year, she launched Unicorn Island Productions, which will develop comedy, animation, horror and unscripted projects across film, television and digital platforms. And, as of this year, Singh’s net worth is estimated to be $16 million dollars.
A Little Late has an IMDB rating of 2.0 on 10, though Rotten Tomatoes gives her 100%. The divisive reviews are understandable: Singh’s sketches tend to be an extension of her perennially-flavoured YouTube content. While they lure an established fan base, the more mature audience tuning into the post-1 am slot might feel alienated. Especially with its myopic focus on millennial topics. The first episode had Kaling guess the meaning of popular slang. Spoiler alert, the 40-year-old didn’t succeed much. “Because we are taped, our show can be a bit more experimental,” insists Singh. “We tend to look at current events and culture through a different lens compared to other late-night shows because our show isn’t responding to the same day’s news. In general, I want my show to offer an escape for people.”
Half way through season one, A Little Late hasn’t quite carved a space for itself. There’s clearly pressure on Singh to reinvent the late-night talk show wheel, especially since no woman has ever made it past a single season of hosting a network late-night show. But if anyone can wrestle a space for themselves while sporting a contagious smile, it is Singh, who is clearly out for world domination.
A Little Late with Lilly Singh airs on Star World every Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m.
