If you’re conversant with a potato chip-eating, 90s glasses-wearing, high-pitched laughter covid-19 comedian, then you know who Elsa Majimbo is. The Nairobi comedian was born and brought up in Kenya and caught the attention of social media users with her satirical comedic videos.
Elsa Majimbo whose rise to fame began in 2020 following the Covid-19 pandemic, has continued to climb ladders and has even made it to the ‘Forbes Under 30 list’. She always knew she was born for greatness so dropping out of school to focus on her comedy career which has won her a lot of recognition, was a dream come true for the 23-year old.
With Her Fame in 2020, Elsa Majimbo Won the Hearts of Many Celebrities
Presumably what threw her into the spotlight was the repost from celebrities like fellow Kenyan star, Lupita Nyongo. However, it is important to note that the young comedian had been uploading videos of herself since 2016.
Prior to her fame, Majimbo had just about 400 followers on the media platform known as TikTok. Nonetheless, she kept posting her videos because they made her happy and she felt like sharing.
While others wailed and cursed the pandemic for keeping them indoors due to curfews, Elsa was ecstatic. She wasn’t one to always go out, so, being indoors and making videos of herself was a blessing to her in more ways than one.
Elsa’s first viral video was a couple of months into the pandemic. A friend of hers called her and told her that her videos were beginning to make waves on the internet. According to said friends, her adoptive countrymen, South Africans, had been aggressively reposting her pandemic videos.
Soon after, the likes of Miss Universe, Zozibini Tunzi of S.A, and Flaviana Matata of Tanzania became regular fans. She also got recognition from the likes of Steve Harvey, who adopted her as his niece after an interview on his show.
Other celebrities who gushed over her are Casper Nyovest, Snoop Dogg, and Rihanna, all of whom consider her videos hilarious.
Now, if you’ve never come across her videos, it would interest you to know that they are all unique and original. In them, you would see a laid-back Elsa in her room back home. Some regular props in the videos are her 90s-inspired glasses, funny-looking hairstyle, bed and pillow, potato chips, and her laughter. However, the beauty of all these is the satirical monologues where she talks about random things in her everyday life.
A couple of times, Elsa Majimbo’s videos had gotten reposts from celebrities like the reality TV Star, Kim Kardashian. Another fan of hers is the owner of one of the brands she works with, Rihanna.
Elsa Majimbo Dropped Out of School Because She Always Knew She was Meant to be Great
While dealing with the restrictions of the pandemic which included schooling from home, the comedian further realized how much she hated school. She was a Journalism student at Strathmore University and interestingly, the first in her family to attend college despite being the second youngest of 4.
Elsa’s videos began to gain recognition soon after the pandemic as already stated and so she figured it was time to take a huge leap of faith. The social media sensation then sent her school a mail dropping out of school.
Majimbo’s decision to drop out of school was going to break her parent’s heart and so she never mentioned it to them until months later.
When asked, in interviews, what prompted the decision to leave school, Elsa Majimbo reiterated that she did not like school. The cherry on top of her decision was the fact that she knew she was meant to be a star and she realized that it was time. She seized the opportunity presented to her through her rising fame and achieved her long-term desire of being iconic.
Elsa Majimbo has made about $1 Million From Several Entertainment Ventures
About 2 years into her fame and stardom, the Kenyan star can boast about being a millionaire. She stated that she went from having nothing while doing her videos in her room, to having people tend to her needs.
Elsa has made quite a lot of money from her viral TikTok videos which rake in about 3-5 cents per every thousand views. On the famous platform, she has about 1.4M followers and about 20.9M likes. While on Instagram, the comedian has about 2.4M followers.
Similarly, she picked up podcasting and is the host of the ‘Bedtime with Elsa’ Podcast. Mpho, as she is called by her South African family, hosts from the comfort of her bed and has guests join her on the talk show. She has interviewed famous musicians and comedians and even has it launched on IGTV.
One of Elsa Majimbo’s earliest wins was an ambassadorial deal with Rihanna’s Fenty. Because of the use of glasses as one of her props, the comedian gets to model and advertise Fenty sunglasses.
She also has ambassadorial deals with MAC Cosmetics, and collaboration with Maison Valentino on a book titled ‘The Alphabet for Kids and Adults’.
Majimbo has also been on the covers of some iconic magazines such as Vogue, The Native, and Glamour.
From all her deals and collaborations plus earnings from her viral videos on both Tiktok and Instagram, Elsa can brag about having at least $1 million to her name.
READ ALSO: Dorothy Nyongo Is Lupita Nyongos Mother: Every Interesting Detail About Her
Controversies and Backlashes
Despite being born in Nairobi, Kenya, Elsa Majimbo does not feel comfortable in her hometown. This feeling came when she began to rise to fame and her country people were unsupportive.
She felt more at home with the South Africans and Ghanaians and would mostly visit their countries.
According to the selfacclaimed 15 times chess champion, Kenyans were the ones who tried to tear her down when she began to succeed. She received a lot of backlash from back home and promised never to return to Kenya.
In fact, she was in South Africa when her videos started to trend. When she became the hit she is today, she moved to Los Angeles in September 2021 and has since loved the city. However, because of her family, Elsa visits Africa every few weeks.
In response to her claims of being bullied by Kenyans, her people retorted. They accused the social media influencer of speaking ill of them and painting the entire country in a bad light.
In the grand scheme of things, Elsa remains focused on achieving her goals and ignores hate comments and bullies.
What Next for TikTok Star, Elsa?
According to the iconic Forbes Under 30 woman, she looks at producing and being on big screens. She has already kick-started the plans to do these as her comedy skits have been featured on Comedy Central for a whole month.
Furthermore, Elsa Majimbo is a writer who plans on creating shows and movies in the nearest future. She is also a fashion icon and wishes to continue on said path.
Due to her fame, she was asked to host the Met Gala of 2022. This is one of the few projects the Forbes Top Creator has in store for the year.
Majimbo plans on remaining relevant in the entertainment scene for as long as she can. Her strategy for this is to be consistent and natural. So far, she has won iconic awards such as YouTube Streamy Billboard Awards for 2020 and E! People’s Choice Awards.
Despite being very young, Elsa’s confidence has propelled her into stardom at a very young age. She was barely 19 when people began to know about her and at 21, she is running very big shows in the United States. Elsa Majimbo is one of the Africans who have left the shores of the continent to make it big in Hollywood. In fact, she is one out of 4 Kenyans who have ever made it to Africa’s Forbes 30 Under 30 List. Moving on, the Nairobi-born sensation doesn’t seem to be stopping from delivering hilarious entertainment, anytime soon.
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