Allison Reese (born April 2, 1992) is an American comedian best known for her impressions of Kamala Harris. She has performed with various troupes in Chicago and Los Angeles, starting her Harris impressions in 2019. These impressions have become increasingly popular on social media, especially due to Harris's 2024 presidential campaign.
| Allison Reese | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 2, 1992 |
| Genres | |
| Subject(s) | Kamala Harris |
| Website | allisonreese |
Early and personal life
editAllison Reese was born on April 2, 1992,[1] as the third of five children, and she grew up in Mesa, Arizona.[2] She is lesbian and has a wife named Allie,[3] and she describes herself as "a half-Black woman".[4][5][6] Reese moved to Los Angeles to pursue her entertainment career. Soon after this, at the age of 22, she came out as lesbian through a group text message to her parents, who were both supportive of her sexuality. She attributed the ease of sharing her sexuality with them to her older sister, who had previously come out as lesbian.[2]
Comedy career
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Reese practiced comedy in Chicago with The Second City, the Annoyance Theatre, and iO Chicago, as well as in Los Angeles with iO West and the Upright Citizens Brigade.[7] She was selected to participate in ViacomCBS's Showcase 2022 event, an hour of sketch comedy filmed in Los Angeles and premiered in February.[8] In September 2022, she was also shown with a brief cameo appearance in the romantic comedy film Bros.[9] Reese first began her impressions of Kamala Harris in the summer of 2019 by auditioning for a role as Harris at a Saturday Night Live (SNL) showcase.[4] During this time, Harris served as a United States senator from California and was campaigning for her presidency.[10][11][12] Reese did not receive the role, which was instead played by Maya Rudolph.[4]
In 2021, Reese began sharing videos of her Harris impressions on social media, namely TikTok. That year, Harris became the 49th vice president of the United States under the presidency of Joe Biden. Reese's videos have included her as Harris responding to the indictments against Donald Trump and Harris's rhetorical question, "You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?"[4] Some of her videos have received millions of views.[13] On July 21, 2024, Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential election, leading to Harris's second presidential campaign[14] and an increase in popularity for Reese.[15] In an interview with Erin Burnett OutFront, Reese said in response to these events, "It's go time. Let's do this. Let's make content."[16]
In describing her impression of Harris, Reese has emphasized the need to adapt to her individual mannerisms, cadence, diction, laugh, and tone, namely Harris's slightly nasal voice with a vocal fry register.[17][18] Reese has said Harris's laugh was the most difficult part of the impression to master.[19] People have given mixed responses to Reese's impressions of Harris, ranging from comments that she is "better at Kamala than Kamala is" to arguments that Reese has diminished Harris's intelligence.[4] Reese also hosts a podcast called The N'Kay Hour,[9] in which she does an impression of Harris hosting a comedy show.[20]
References
editCitations
edit- ^ Reese, Allison [@alienreese] (April 2, 2020). "Welcome to my Temple of Doom. It's my birthday and 28 never looked so GUD!". Retrieved November 7, 2024 – via Instagram.
Reese, Allison [@alienreese] (April 2, 2024). "Happy Birthday to me ..." Retrieved November 7, 2024 – via Instagram. - ^ a b Rodriguez 2023.
- ^ The Syndrome 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Holtermann 2024.
- ^ ABC News Live 2024, 1:49.
- ^ Reuters 2024, 1:10.
- ^ Del Rosario 2022.
- ^ Chapman 2022.
- ^ a b Mlnarik 2024.
- ^ Breuninger 2019.
- ^ Reuters 2024, 1:02.
- ^ ABC News Live 2024, 1:18.
- ^ Burnett 2024, 0:22.
- ^ Shear 2024.
- ^ Burnett 2024, 0:37.
- ^ Burnett 2024, 0:51.
- ^ ABC News Live 2024, 2:06.
- ^ Nazzaro 2024.
- ^ Reuters 2024, 0:23.
- ^ Reese n.d.
Bibliography
edit- "Comedian Allison Reese on perfecting her Kamala Harris impersonations". ABC News Live (Video). ABC News. July 25, 2024. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- Breuninger, Kevin (December 3, 2019). "Kamala Harris drops out of presidential race after plummeting from top tier of Democratic candidates". CNBC. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- Burnett, Erin (August 3, 2024). "Meet comedian who went viral for her impression of Kamala Harris". Erin Burnett OutFront (Television production). CNN. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- Chapman, Wilson (January 26, 2022). "Viacom CBS Announces 2022 'Showcase' Performers (TV News Roundup)". Variety.com. ISSN 0042-2738. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- Del Rosario, Alexandra (January 26, 2022). "ViacomCBS Sets 15 Performers For 2022 Showcase". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- Holtermann, Callie (July 22, 2024). "A Kamala Harris Impersonator Is Ready for Her Moment". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- Mlnarik, Carson (July 23, 2024). "Allison Reese is blessing us with the absolute best Kamala Harris impression we've ever seen". Queerty. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- Nazzaro, Miranda (August 4, 2024). "Comedian goes viral for Kamala Harris impressions". In the Know. The Hill. ISSN 1521-1568. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- Reese, Allison (n.d.). "About". N'Kay. Libsyn. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- "Meet TikTok's viral Kamala Harris impersonator". Reuters (Video). August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- Rodriguez, Alexander (November 19, 2023). "Allison Reese is a Comedic Star on the Rise". Metrosource. ISSN 1529-935X. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- Shear, Michael (July 21, 2024). "Biden Drops Out of Presidential Race, Endorses Harris". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 21, 2024. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- "Allison Reese". The Syndrome. August 3, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- "Allison Reese". Upright Citizens Brigade. n.d. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- Wellen, Brianna (August 3, 2020). "Matt Damon Improv goes online with In-Diana". Chicago Reader. ISSN 1096-6919. Retrieved August 4, 2024.