Lilly Saini Singh
(born September 26, 1988), also known by her channel name Superwoman (stylized "IISuperwomanII"), is an Indo-Canadian YouTuber, comedian, actress and rapper.
Singh began her career in October 2010, when she launched her main YouTube channel. The channel's name was inspired by a childhood idea that she had an invisible "S" on her chest, making her believe she could do anything. On the channel, she specializes in sketch comedy, with her skits lampooning certain aspects of pop culture as well as subjects like how girls get ready and the way young adults communicate with parents, often portraying her Punjabi culture and including her portraying every character in the skit.
She became one of the most popular stars on YouTube during the 2010s, as well as one of several prominent YouTubers to also transition into mainstream work. Her channel has accumulated over 14.5 million subscribers and currently sits at 3.5 billion views. She has additionally been included in several lists by outlets like Forbes of the highest-paid YouTubers in the world, reportedly earning $7.5 million in 2016 and $10.5 million in 2017.
In 2016, Singh released a red lipstick in conjunction with Smashbox called "BAWSE". The same year, she released her first feature film, a documentary titled A Trip to Unicorn Island that focuses on a 27-city world tour she embarked on in 2015. In March 2017, she released her first book, How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life, which reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Her second book, Be a Triangle, was released in April 2022.
Singh later appeared in cameos and bit roles in various films and shows, including Ice Age: Collision Course, Bad Moms, and Fahrenheit 451 (2018)note , and started the production company Unicorn Island Productions in 2018.
The next year, Singh was picked to replace the 1:30note time slot vacated with the ending of Carson Daly's late night series Last Call with Carson Daly. Her new late night series, A Little Late with Lilly Singh, premiered on NBC on September 16, 2019 and ran for two seasons before being cancelled on May 6, 2021, with its final episode airing on June 3 of that year. In August 2020, she announced that she would be getting a two-episode NBC sketch comedy show titled Sketchy Times with Lilly Singh, consisting of skits shot and filmed in her home (due to the COVID-19 Pandemic) where she plays every character. The show was released through Peacock on October 29, 2020.
From there, Singh has appeared in works including The Muppets Mayhem and Dollface, served as a judge on the second season of Canada's Got Talent, created the 2023 YouTube original series Mindful Adventures of Unicorn Island, hosts the CTV quiz show Battle of the Generations, and co-hosted the preshow of the 95th Academy Awards.
In 2019, Singh came out as bisexual on social media. With A Little Late, she became the first openly bisexual person, as well as the first person of Indian and South Asian descent, to host an American broadcast major network late-night talk show. Shortly before the debut of A Little Late, Singh announced on her Instagram that she would be dropping the "Superwoman" moniker and using her real name going forward.
Singh can be found on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
Lilly Singh provides examples of:
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Lilly's traditional Indian parents and the culture clash between their generation and hers is a frequent source of comedy, though it's clear she really does love them.
- Animal Motifs: Unicorns.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!
- Berserk Button: Airlines. Especially Air Canada.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Lilly's very kind, but she does not suffer fools (or Air Canada) gladly.
- Brief Accent Imitation: Frequently. Most notable is her "white girl voice" and her imitation of her parents.
- Catchphrase:
- "Whuddup everyone. It's your girl Superwoman!"
- "Whuddup T-Shirt reference!"
- "One Love, Superwoman. That is a wrap and zoop!" at the end of her videos.
- Whenever she travels: "Where in the world is Superwoman today?" followed by the country/state.
- She also says "shemurr"often.
- Cloudcuckoolander: She considers herself to be, according to her YouTube description, 'a unicorn who believes in love'.
- *Cough* Snark *Cough*: Subverted in her "Types of Enemies" video:Lilly: We all have those one or two companies we absolutely despise, because we had a horrible customer service experience with them. (cough) Oh, sorry. (cough) Air Canada. (cough) You suck. (cough) Just eat my poo. (cough, clears throat) Sorry, there's something in my throat. Now that it's out — Air Canada, you suck.
- Creepy Uncle: Snarkily brought up a couple times when discussing her extended family, but it's not clear how serious she is about this.
- A Degree in Useless: She considers her Bachelor's in psychology to be this, pointing out that she wasn't able to get a well-paying job in that field, and that the job she does make a living at (being a web comedian) has literally nothing to do with her degree.
- Everything Is Racist: In her "Types of People in Restaurants" video, there's this exchange in the context of lying for a free birthday cake:"What's that? Oh, you want proof of ID for my birthday? Well you know what? I wanna speak to your manager, cause this is racism."
- Genki Girl: She's a hyperactive, positive, unicorn.
- Good Parents: Her real parents.
- Goshdang It To Heck: She doesn't swear in her videos. Though she swears in other languages, especially Jamaican.
- Happy-Ending Massage: Referenced in her video "The Awkward Massage", about a time she wandered into a random parlor and received very suspect treatment from her masseuse.Lilly: At this point, I've got my fingers crossed that this is a Romeo & Juliet-type massage, because I ain't hoping for no happy ending!
- Hidden Depths: She graduated with an Honors Bachelor of Arts in 2010 and frequently talks charity and social justice, especially race, feminism, and mental illness.
- She's actually a great rapper.
- Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Her exaggerated depictions of growing up in a strict Punjabi family.
- Hurricane of Puns: She is prone to this at times. Most notable is her video PSA: Mid 20’s Crisis where after she would say a statement at the end of a scene, the next scene shows her eating sweets referencing that statement.Lilly: It's like on Valentine's Day, Cupid just saw me, and then a cake, and straight up shot his arrow. [cut to her eating an "Aero" bar]
- Irony: She's Indian, but she claims to not like spices.
- Jack of All Trades: She's a YouTuber, actress, does motivational speeches when she can/asked to and a singer/rapper. She is an ultimate hustler, as everyone notes her to be, even herself. Somehow, she was making YouTube videos while also making a full-fledged movie. Not to mention when she makes videos while also auditioning for roles and also starring in movies and TV.
- Large Ham: As her parent characters.
- Ms. Fanservice: She's attractive and has an impressive pair of breasts that she shows off when she wants to look glamorous, especially ever since 2016.
- Married to the Job: She claims her job is one of the main reasons she's constantly single.
- Motor Mouth: It's to be expected with her videos.
- N-Word Privileges: Not the word itself, but from "WTF Hair Removal":Lilly: Trying to get wax off your body is like trying to get an Indian away from a sale — it ain't gonna happen. And I'm allowed to say that because I'm Indian, and the only reason I got waxed was because it was buy one, get the second free. Who was the first person? Me. Who was the second person? Me.
- Rapid-Fire Comedy: Don't like a joke Lilly just made? Don't worry, the next one will be along in two seconds.
- Running Gag: Almost every video where she says a pun from her T-shirt, she says “Whuddup t-shirt reference!"
- Shower of Angst: Parodied in "Types of People in the Shower".
- Take That!: She does this quite a lot. One example is in "My Parents Do This (Part II)"Paramjeet: You going to wear this one, okay?!
Lilly: Mom. No. I'm not wearing that. I'm 24 years old okay? This has Barbie on it.
Paramjeet: Hoy dumb idiot. You telling me yesterday "I'm going Barbie concert?!"
Lilly: That was Nicki Minaj!
Paramjeet: Same thing!
Lilly: It's not the same thing! - Token Minority: Parodied in "Types Of People in Horror Movies". The killer lampshades how she was only part of the cast so that they could be called diverse.
- Tomboy: With a figure.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Lilly is generally tomboyish, but she loves her nice clothes, and likes makeup enough to have her own brand of lipstick.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Popcorn.
- Uncle Pennybags: She's known to be extremely generous, frequently donating to charities and such. In one notable instance, she asked her followers on Twitter what problems they were having. Many of them admitted to having financial issues, such as not being able to afford groceries or rent — and Lilly told them she would take care of it.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Spiders and clowns.
- Workaholic: Lilly's pretty openly knee-deep in her job, and loving it.
