Maya Rudolph isn’t the only Kamala Harris impersonator who’s having a big week.
TikTok star Allison Reese, a 32-year-old comedian based in Los Angeles, has been posting impersonations of the vice president since 2021. Now that Biden has withdrawn from the 2024 election and endorsed Harris to take his place at the top of the ticket, the internet is ready to sip on coconut smoothies and watch Reese shine.
The comedian—who’s also a TV writer, host of the podcast The N’Kay Hour, and actress (if she looks familiar, she played Aaron’s assistant in Bros)—has more than 200,000 followers on TikTok, having gained an additional 10,000 subscribers on Sunday alone. Her most popular Harris post, a spoof of the VP on The Drew Barrymore Show, currently sits at 5.1 million views.
“It’s been a weirdly crazy day,” Reese told The New York Times in an interview following Biden’s historic announcement. “I can’t imagine what Kamala’s actual day was like.”
Before she was a rising TikTok star, however, Reese’s talents almost led her to an entirely different destination: SNL. She first began fine-tuning her Harris impersonation during the 2019 Democratic presidential primaries. That summer, Reese brought her talent in front of Lorne Michaels in an SNL showcase.
“I was like, wow, as a half-Black woman, when am I ever going to get the chance to use this skill?” Reese told The New York Times of breaking out her Harris impersonation. “I can do a lot of different vocal impressions, but it was never applicable to me.”
Rudolph ultimately landed the SNL role, and even won an Outstanding Guest Actress Emmy for her performance as Harris in 2020. However, the SNL showcase gave Reese momentum to keep workshopping her version of the Democrats’ now-top contender. Today, she has a loyal following that’s sure to only keep growing—she’s already all over the viral coconut tree meme, for starters.
“This moment was made for you,” one TikTok user commented on Reese’s recent spoof of Harris addressing the country. Another commenter tagged SNL’s TikTok account directly, begging, “BOOK HER.”
So, there you have it. If Rudolph isn’t up to the task this election season, SNL knows who to call.
