Multitalented and visionary, Céline Tshika is on a mission to shape a brand that not only champions social justice but also envisions a more empathetic world, all while reaffirming a woman’s innate power to create freely and fearlessly in her own way.
At 30 years old, Céline has been making waves on social media with her skits. Her journey, which began on an amateur level with music, progressed through comedy web series and stand-up, and has now evolved into skits that blend all these elements, using satire for sharp social commentary.
But before her artistic career took off, Céline completed an engineering degree at the University of Cape Town. She then spent a year in Los Angeles for school and subsequently produced an award-winning web series, Jess Goes West.
That only marked the beginning.
“Coming back to Cape Town felt like starting afresh,” she says. “Acting school in Los Angeles gave me a community, which made it easier to call on people and get things done. It’s easier to make it here when you’ve studied here, so I had to start building a new community, a new network, and find access all over again.
“But the move itself was significant in kick-starting my career. For the first time, I realized I was studying what I truly wanted to do. I hadn’t felt that way in the previous four years (while studying engineering). I became a really keen student because I wanted to learn as much as possible—knowing that this knowledge would shape my career,” she said, dubbing that phase as one of the most significant periods of her life.
Returning to Cape Town meant redefining the city for herself. She noted the distinct difference between being in Mother City as a student and now as someone pursuing a career in the arts. In the last few years, she’s seen the City’s culture in filmmaking and comedy flourish.
“The journey since returning has been a beautiful one of community building. It’s been about figuring things out and gradually expanding my circle. It can happen quite slowly, but the growth has been significant, even if I didn’t always see it at the time.”
The star was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and subsequently moved with her entire family to Mzansi when she was just a few months old. Throughout her schooling career, the youngest of four siblings kept discovering her love for the arts as she explored her own identity.
“It took me a very long time to figure out that I had an artistic inclination. Dancing was the first thing I wanted to be; I went to dance classes and entered all the talent shows until I discovered that I was a good singer, followed by acting. Acting was the last thing I accepted because I grew up very shy and I thought all actors were big boisterous personalities; extroverted people.” She started writing her own songs at the tender age of eight years old.
“Fast forward to university level, music became something I could actively pursue because it didn’t require casting. But studying a technical field was a definite requirement in my household, although my parents knew that I planned to pursue my heart’s desire right after,” she adds.
Writing and acting are the two disciplines that take priority in her life. With acting, what she finds beautiful and transformative about it are the empathy elements: reading about a character, getting into it, and finally finding parts of yourself in there.
“I feel that way about writing as well, finding your own way of telling a story that can be told many different ways. I love the idea of finding my own way of telling that story. Mine is in the comedy space, taking something serious and finding a way to get people to laugh. It’s something so beautiful to me because it feels like a puzzle or like science. I really appreciate the challenge that both of these disciplines bring,” she said.
More than anything, her career is a way to give back to society. In one way or the other.
“That’s how songwriting started for me. When I’m experiencing something painful; let’s turn that into this, and now it is a piece of art containing all the emotions and feelings that I have. And that is exactly how I feel about writing—writing about what’s going on right now, particularly in satire. You give people the feeling that they aren’t alone, but in a way that is entertaining. So it gives a little bit of a laugh, a little bit of relief, but also one gets a sense of being seen and heard, somehow. In satire, you get to raise important topics that need to be spoken about,” she added.
With so much in the works regarding her two loves, writing and acting, Céline is determined to use her talents to serve, entertain and forge a world that opens itself up to necessary conversations that build society. One laugh at a time. And it all started in her world.
Welcome to Céline’s world.
