Wearing an AT&T uniform, he sits on a stool to greet a customer who walked in. She was an older lady who looked to be in her seventies. She was short, her skin fragile and wrinkled. Reaching into her purse she pulled out an iphone and handed it to the tech on the stool. They exchanged gestures, he politely reassures her that he could be of help. Her face lit up into a crooked smile, some of her teeth missing, she hardly made a sound. Once the tech helped her unlock her iphone, he gave his name, Benny Congo. “My name’s Benny and I’m happy to have assisted you today, I also recommend that if you have grandchildren they can help you with unlocking your phone so you don’t have to come in person” said Congo . She nodded her head then thanked him and slowly walked out the entrance of the store. One of the other workers walked up to Congo during a dead hour and offered to film content for his platform. Congo has been using comedy as a way of therapy for the community he’s built on his Instagram platform. Recently he reached 100k after spending hours filming, and collaborating with other creators
“Going into my freshman year of college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. It started out by me just wanting to make my boys laugh, that’s it. So, I started being goofy on the internet to see what would happen” said Congo. At first nothing really happened until a famous person contacted him randomly and encouraged him to keep doing what he was doing.“I wasn’t expecting that and immediately I called my mom and as a supportive mom she was happy for me but, she reminded me to stay with the studies” said Benny. After he gained more popularity he started collaborations then from there more and more people started gravitating towards him. Then he noticed little kids started to look up to the content he created.
“It was at this point where I realized I needed to be more aware of the influence I’m presenting,” said Congo. His reason for comedic expressions is to build a profession, to be able to give back to his family. To help people who struggled the same way he did, growing up in the system, his family split apart all of his siblings in foster care. His aunt took him in at the age of six, his family did support him once more videos started to go viral however, they always ensured that he stayed with the safe route.
“Right now, working at AT&T it’s a safe job, I just don’t like it, I have the ability to follow my passion. There’s always that anxiety of “what if” ya know, it’s a huge risk,” said Congo. In creating this next chapter of his life he’s made connections with different entertainers in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from Salem State College in spring 2021 with a business degree. He’s been investing in his media more each day, by hanging out with friends, creating skits, he’d dress up as goofy characters to entertain his audience. One video presents a character known as "Arnie the Apple" in a mall or in the middle of town while advertising an interactive post asking where he can be spotted or where he will go. “I really just wanted to make people laugh and spread positivity,” said Congo.
Congo spent a few weeks filming content for his most recent project that will be released September 10, 2021 at the AMC Boston Common. Produced by Conor Holyway of Golden Deer Productions, the movie "Apple Cinemas" bringing Hollywood to Boston. He has officially quit his job at AT&T, from here he has made a plan to move out to LA and follow his dreams, auditioning as an actor while living with friends. He's been able to explore expression more in depth as he's become an established influence on social media. He's anxious for this next step but, he's proud to say he's willing to take the risk and not fall in line like generations before him.