Two disabled people from different worlds share their quirky brand of humour on YouTube channel The Blind Walkthrough

What happened when William R met Aishwarya Pillai on a website dedicated to pen pals with disabilities? They started a channel on YouTube called The Blind Walkthrough! The channel is a platform to showcase their unique humour and spread some cheer in these Covid times.

Try saying ‘Red Lolly, Yellow Lolly’ fast. Then, try this – ‘Sell Fish, Sea Fish’. If you can do this without tripping over the words, try saying – ‘I Wish to Sell my Irish Wristwatch’.

Tongue twisters like these can be great fun, whether you do them by yourself or in a group. These lines we have shared with you are from the latest video on The Blind Walkthrough, a YouTube channel started by William R and Aishwarya Pillai.

Hyderabad-based Aishwarya, who is a visually impaired, met William from New Hampshire, United States, at Able Hands, a website for pen pals with disabilities. William has social anxiety disorder, severe depressive disorder, and is semi-housebound with Agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is a fear of places and situations that might cause panic, helplessness or embarrassment.

“I have suffered from these things for most of my life, but they got progressively worse once I hit my teen years and into my twenties, limiting how social I could be, and eventually, forcing me out of working”, says William. He spends his time reading, writing, building model kits and painting them.

Many shared interests

Three years ago, soon after they met online, Aishwarya wrote William a note and that’s how the friendship started. The idea to start a YouTube channel came from William.

“We realised we have a lot in common although we are from different countries”, says Aishwarya. “We have cultural differences but have tried to understand and share each other’s backgrounds”.

One of the things they have in common is an ability to laugh at the same things.

We liked similar movies, had similar tastes in music, (though I confess that Indian music still isn’t my cup of tea even though she forces me to listen to. it quite often!), we had interests in different foods from different cultures, both played guitar a little, both had some artistic likes and interests, and we both also have similar senses of humour. Though, my humour is probably more “out there” and I often am the one trying to be funny the most often, we noticed we laughed at the same things. – William R, Co-founder, The Blind Walkthrough

So far, William and Aishwarya have posted nine videos on The Blind Walkthrough. William puts them together using audio and video editing software.

“When we began, we wanted to put everything that we have fun with, like our interests and hobbies”, says Aishwarya. “But as we progressed, we realised that not only do we enjoy doing humour, it also clicks among viewers”.

Humour unites all

Their first video ‘William, the American meets Bollywood’ had William saying a few famous Bollywood dialogues. “We sure have fun doing them and if people enjoy it with us, it is great and an added pleasure. If our humour together can spread laughter and smiles across in the given Covid crisis, so shall it be and we are happy to do more”, says Aishwarya.

William says he loves to hear people laugh. “That, in turn, makes me happy and laugh as well. What we have learned is this – Humour is universal. What I find funny here in the US, you may find funny in India and vice versa. It’s one of those unique attributes that everyone in the world possesses, a sense of humour. If people laugh at or with me trying to do Bollywood dialogues, that makes me laugh even if I don’t understand the dialogue itself. I just need to hear them laugh to be happy and laugh in return. Humour unites people no matter where you’re from”.

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