SASKATOON -- A Saskatoon woman is passing the time during the COVID-19 pandemic by creating and posting karaoke videos on her Facebook to entertain friends and family.

“In times like these, we need to have a laugh, we need to remember the love, to share our gifts and our talents,” said Robyn Dutertre.

Dutertre is out of work due to the pandemic, so she decided to start creating videos where she dresses up using costumes she has at home and does karaoke to songs requested by her friends and family.

Each video starts with a brief message from Dutertre, usually ending with her reminding people to stay safe and wash their hands.

At first, the videos started as duets with her and her roommate but now she’s flying solo as her friend moved back home because of the pandemic.

Dutertre has been posting these videos every night for the last month and a bit. The songs range from “Let’s Get Physical” to “Baby Shark.”

She’s even dressed up as Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic from the Netflix series Tiger King.

Dutertre, who enjoys singing and performing for fun, said the response to her videos has been overwhelming, with upwards of 200 people watching some of them.

“It seems like this is something that is meaning a lot more to people than I thought it was initially going to ... half the fun is waking up the next morning and seeing everyone’s comments and how it’s brightened their day, so it’s therapy for me too.”

Ally Baran, who has been working with Dutertre for the last eight years, said it isn’t surprising that she took this on.

“Robyn has always been a character, she’s always been one to make everybody smile no matter what day it is or what mood you’re in,” she said.

Amanda Bender-Milne and her daughter, Breea Milne, are also fans of the videos.

“Every morning Breea wakes up and the first thing she asks is ‘can we watch Robyn’s video? What did she do last night? What is she wearing?’”

She and her daughter said the videos have helped them stay positive during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“(Robyn’s) got costumes for everything, she does dance moves, she does it in her bathroom, which is hilarious. And it’s just five minutes out of your day where you kind of forget what’s going on in the world,” Bender-Milne said.

Dutertre said she’s even learning how to play the guitar and may incorporate that into some of her later videos.

“If this goes to day 200, maybe I’ll be doing a live performance with my guitar, who knows,” she said while laughing.

Dutertre said she didn’t expect to be making these videos everyday for the last couple weeks, but said she doesn’t plan on stopping as she wants to help people get through this uncertain time.

“This is just my gift to everyone to try and help them get through isolation. It’s not easy, it’s not fun to be sitting at home by yourself and trying to do your best,” she said.