Vinesh Nagrani, better known as the impressively-bearded YouTuber Vinny Sharp, 24, tells one heck of story about his first foray into the world of comedy.

“Well, I started out in drama, acting in school productions, comic roles, did Theatre Studies at A-Level, lots and lots of theatre exposure, which I loved. That sort of progressed towards me deciding to go up on stage at Comedy Masala (a local weekly stand-up comedy night) and just trying it out. I had a few minutes, it went well, but I was so, so nervous, the whole time. I’m not kidding, I started off with jeans that were white, and when I came back home I noticed they weren’t. That’s a completely true story.”

[quip float="pqleft"] I’m not kidding, I started off with jeans that were white, and when I came back home I noticed they weren’t. That’s a completely true story.[/quip]

Vinny chuckles at the end of the anecdote, with no discernible self-consciousness or embarrassment. He remains just as candid throughout our conversation. Perhaps that has something to do with our relaxed surroundings (we’re at The Prata Place, sharing an Ultimate Murtabak, which, incidentally, is the only way I aim to conduct interviews henceforth). But one quickly gets the sense that frankness and honesty are just part of who Vinny is. His videos, thus far all made in stark black-and-white, seem to reflect this preoccupation with honesty, and truth.

Each video typically starts off with an irreverent, rambling monologue, and closes with a segment devoted to "interviews", a patchwork of clips taken from what Vinny’s interviewees say. Their answers are rarely shown in full; Vinny carefully selects hilarious snippets, soundbytes, frowns, pauses, pursed lips, exasperated sighs and fits of giggles from his subjects, the sum of which illuminates more than their ordinary answers could have done. What makes this particularly compelling isn’t just how funny it all is, but how good Vinny is at capturing glimpses of raw, honest humanity.

“I’m really not that concerned with the content and substance of their responses,” Vinny says. “I want to capture truth, what lies underneath, what makes that person a person, you know? It’s really not what they say, but how they say it that means something to me.” He shrugs nonchalantly and his attention wanders back to the murtabak.

[quip float="pqright"] I want to capture truth, what lies underneath, what makes that person a person, you know? [/quip]

Going into such detail about Vinny’s craft, it’s almost possible to briefly miss the main point here; the man’s stuff is funny as hell.

Unabashedly peppered with references to Singaporean life and culture, his two earliest videos are shot in Manchester, where he recently graduated with a degree in Economics. One, "That Influence", features conversations with Manchester locals to ascertain what they know about Singapore (not much, is the answer, at least until Vinny starts teaching them a couple of choice words in Hokkien). The other, "Punggol Migration" sees Singaporean undergraduates in Manchester reflect candidly on leaving this little island for a bigger one, hilarious confessions mingling with frank admissions about accents and acclimatisation. Everything comes together to feel like a slightly chaotic – but genuine - love letter to home.

Vinny is aided in his hilarity by three characters (all played by Vinny) that appear in his show-opening monologues. There’s the loveable, waspish Bukiyu Narayan, immediately familiar to anyone with an Indian relative; Cornelius Tan, a Singaporean Chinese with a booming voice and a personality to match, and finally, endowed with what is, perhaps, the single greatest name of all time, the inimitable ‘Rafiki Slazenger bin Suarez’.

Their inane chatter provides some of the best moments in Vinny’s work. Vinny is, however, quick to reject the suggestion that the amusing trio are merely flat stereotypical representations of a Chinese, a Malay and an Indian; he reveals that all 3 are carefully conceived, fleshed out characters with traits based on people Vinny has met in real life.

Fans of the characters will be pleased to know that we’ll be seeing much more of them in future videos. Vinny’s new "Mono Culture" concept, for which he recently released a teaser video, is set to feature extended monologues with Vinny and his 3 companions discussing issues in their own inimitable, quarrelsome way. Expect something related to GE2015 very soon, by the way!

That said, Vinny’s non-monologue interview segments do remain a highlight. His most recent full-length feature revolved around SG50, picking the brains of 50 Singaporeans and compiling their thoughts on our little red dot (This is also the video with Vinny’s gem about ‘true macha’ DPM Tharman and why he deserves his Milo Godzilla). The results are hilarious, but, as with his earlier videos, also veer into moments of unexpected, heart-warming poignancy.

[quip float="pqright"] The results are hilarious, but, as with his earlier videos, also veer into moments of unexpected, heart-warming poignancy.[/quip]

Vinny’s certainly come a long way from his early Comedy Masala adventures. His experiments with making videos partially came out of limitations experienced with stand-up, the few minutes he had on stage soon felt insufficient for everything he wanted to convey. His relatively lengthy (14-16 minute) videos, however, give him more time, control and freedom, with plenty of space for his rambling, irrepressible style to flourish. The results have been positive, attracting a fair amount of success; Vinny’s most popular video has racked up over 15,000 views and won him admiration from prominent local YouTubers like TreePotatoes.

Of course, as he admits, it hasn’t been easy. Vinny puts in insanely long hours editing and shooting (he does everything on his own, from start to finish), and wearily confesses between bites of our food that he didn’t rest for days on end, despite being ill, while working on 50 for 50. The challenges he’s faced while filming are also varied; chief among them was his run-in with the Manchester Police while shooting one of his early videos. He was reported for suspicious activity after someone saw him filming himself on a rooftop while wearing a ski mask; not, one might say, the best thing a brown man could be spotted doing. But he brushes those past hiccups aside, and says that finishing his studies and returning to Singapore means he can devote more of his time to the videos. All of his time, in fact.

“I’m doing Vinny Sharp full-time,” he says firmly. “Now, hopefully a new release every week, definitely more frequently than before. This is what I’d like to do.” My query about the financial viability of this fledgling career is met with some consideration, and then a slightly surprising response.

“I’ve had offers from people that have seen my work,” he says carefully, and rattles off a few media names (after requesting that I not divulge details), some with with accompanying dollar figures that make my eyebrows rise. It’s heady stuff for a 24-year old artist. I’m about to congratulate him on his imminent superstardom, but he quickly clarifies: “I said no to everything. I want to focus on Vinny Sharp… I really want do things my way, at least for now.” I’m taken aback, and I need a little while before I nod slowly. It feels rare to witness such determination, and clarity, in an artist this young. It’s, frankly, somewhat inspiring.

“It’s just, you know… I like where I am. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” grins Vinny, and it’s easy, not to mention exciting, to see the promise and potential contained in that impish smile. This is a young man to watch.