Meet Victor Kunda – the creator behind some of TikTok’s most viral videos

Introducing Victor Kunda, the creative you might have seen on your Tiktok or Instagram, making hilarious videos in his signature satirical, dead-pan style. 

21-year-old Victor Kunda grew up in South London with his mum, two brothers and his sister. Dealing with a lot at a young age, Victor found escape from some of the experiences he had growing up in humour – using it as a way to flip negative feelings into something positive that he could put out into the world. 

On set, Victor has a calm energy that puts you at ease and smiles often. He is as tall as you might imagine from seeing him in videos or pictures. Once he gets in front of the camera it is clear that he has done this before and it is something that comes naturally to him, a skill that he has sharpened over time.

Creativity has always been within Victor, who was interested in music and drama at school but turned away from it when he went to college, due to the stigma around studying those subjects as a male. His friends would encourage him to go after what he really wanted, citing the success of social media mavens such as Rickey Thompson and Jay Versace as people that he could measure up against. 

Last year March, when lockdown was announced, Victor was at university and confined to his dorm room. During that week, he was feeling particularly discouraged and decided to turn to TikTok as a source of release where he uploaded his first video. 

The idea for his first viral video ‘smokers in the smoking area‘ came about when he was at his friends accommodation, “We were eating breadsticks, and then I just had the breadstick in my mouth and I was like wait, this is reminding me of a cigarette. I literally recorded that in her bathroom, went back to her room and then just left it. I wasn’t on TikTok, maybe for another two days, I came back and there was just all of these notifications. Then I said right, it’s time to go from here”, Victor tells me.

@victor.kunda

Why is this killing me 🤣 #viral #iamforeverflawless #fyp #smoke

♬ original sound – VICTOR KUNDA

“TikTok is quite low maintenance, like you don’t need to do much. Even for me, I realised you don’t really need to do costumes, you don’t really need to do wigs, you just need to be you, and show that very well”, Victor says.

Since then Victor has built up a significant following and continues to make relatable, funny skits. We caught up with Victor below to talk about his journey so far.

Terna: How do you get into character?

Victor: I think because I’m just quite a theatrical person anyway, the characters are all just in me. My friends, they’re not fazed by videos, that is just who I am whenever I just want to be a fool. 

Terna: So do you feel like you have multiple personalities? 

Victor: Yes, without the disorder. (laughs). 

Terna: How important would you say popular culture and Black history is to your comedy and the skits you make?

Victor: Popular culture and Black history is very important because I love to – and people say I’m very political sometimes – but in my bubbly characters, I’ll just slip in a comment about something that’s going on in the world, or something to do with Black history, and obviously because Black history and what we’ve been through affects us every single day, I can put it in if I want to, like it can always link. 

I’m not going to sit here and pretend like I always knew, I have to thank one of my Jamaican aunties, she’s been studying Black history for ages. She gave me some books and it’s actually the friend [at who’s place] I recorded the cigarette video – [me and her mum] can just sit down and talk for hours. 

Terna: How would you describe your humour?

Victor: My humour is dark but at the same time, I just know when to switch on the commercial marketable humour.

Terna: Who are you inspired by?

Victor: It’s people that I encounter every single day, not to say I’m low key just judging or laughing at people in my head but them characters that you encounter and you’re just like wow. You remember people for a reason. The bubbly white characters I play, that’s just inspired by my teachers from school – just so sarcastic in just a different way. 

I do really love Kevin Hart, the way he savagely tells his jokes, Dave Chapelle and the fearlessness that he has with telling his jokes. Obviously he does [face] repercussions but he said what he said and I said what I said. 

Terna: What’s next for you?

Victor: I’m definitely going to carry on creating my content, that’ll be a thing for me for a while. I don’t want to put myself in a category of just comedian, when people say ‘what do you do?’. I just want it to be a long list.

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Creative Direction Our Maison, Terna Jogo
Photographer Terna Jogo
Stylist Felicia Brown
Make-up Wendy Asumadu
Set Design Maureen Kargbo

Follow Victor on TikTok and Instagram 

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