Jimmy Rees: Australian comedian on impersonating Donald Trump and Elon Musk and his new tour
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Having conquered his homeland with three huge, sellout tours in as many years, Australian comedian Jimmy Rees says he'd love to have a crack at the US at some point.
But as he prepares to hit the road again later this year with his new, national In Reel Life tour, he admits that now might not be the best time to head Stateside, despite the urging of his management.
He has recently added a Meanwhile In America series to his roster of hugely successful YouTube videos, in which he parodies US President Donald Trump as a dancing buffoon with bad wig, his sometime buddy Elon Musk as a gibbering space cadet and Vice President JD Vance as an attack dog with a spiky collar.
And with reports of foreigners being denied entry to the US after having their social media scrutinised – not to mention the current Commander In Chief's notoriously thin skin – he thinks his four million followers and hundreds of millions of views of his videos on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram might be a massive red flag.
'It's funny,' he muses from his tour promoter's office in Melbourne, 'My manager's like 'we should go and test out the audience in America'. And I'm, like, 'um, that ship might have sailed, man – I might get stripsearched at the airport'. It's actually funny, that it seriously could happen. It's so bizarre to think.'
That said, he's keen to test the waters overseas given that around 40 per cent of his audience comes from outside Australia, mostly from the US, the UK and New Zealand. He's heading across the Ditch for his first shows there as part of the In Reel Life Tour and thinks the best path forward into other markets might be to start small by collaborating with local content creators to test the waters and going from there.
Comedian Jimmy Rees is hitting the road this year with his In Reel Life tour.
Although some of his content can be very Australia-specific – from the massive Optus outage in 2023 to Tasmanian politics – he like to keep his videos pretty broad so they can travel anywhere.
'I'm trying to make some other relatable things about just normal life,' he says. 'It's about parenting, it's about sport, it's about kids' sport or whatever. Things do cross over to anywhere. But I have made videos about ice hockey and then all the Canadians are like, 'Oh, that's us'.'
Rees first came to prominence as Jimmy Giggle, the human half of the ABC TV kids' duo Giggle and Hoot, opposite a blue owl puppet called Hoot. That show finished up in 2020 just before Australia was plunged into Covid lockdowns and Rees took the opportunity to reinvent himself by creating short, funny, homemade videos for an online audience desperate for entertainment. The shared experience of the pandemic provided the impetus for his Meanwhile In Australia series in which he played political figures such as then Prime Minister Scott Morrison and various state premiers including Victoria's Daniel Andrews and racked up huge numbers.
He's taken a similar attitude with the Meanwhile In America in as far as sometimes he feels like the Trump circus is the only show in town and – for better or worse – everyone has an opinion. He says he never tries to be malicious given that there's comedy gold to be found – quite literally with the President's new phone – just by having fun with 'an observation of just the things that have happened'. As to the ever present danger of being trolled or cancelled in the comedy world of 2025, Rees says it comes with the territory.
Comedian Jimmy Rees satirising the Daniel Andrews press conference.
'I feel like there hasn't been anything else really that's been like this now with Trump,' he says. 'And Musk – who would have predicted he'd be in the government? The way he talks and the way he posts on X and stuff, it's just wild.
'With Trump it's funny actually because the comment section is quite bizarre. It becomes apparent that America's so divided. I'm sure most Americans are like 'can we just dial it down on both sides please?' I'm a bit of a centrist but it's quite funny to play with that. It's just too good.'
'When I post those Meanwhile In America ones, there's definitely comments from far right and far left. And it seems like if you're not on the right, you are automatically a 'left-wokey'. And you're like, 'hang on a second'.'
Rees's previous comedy tours have been technical masterclasses, with screens, props and prerecorded material bringing to life audience favourite characters such as The Guy Who Decides, the Byron Baes and the Brighton Ladies. While there will be plenty of such content in the new tour, Rees says he's getting more and more comfortable in the world of more traditional stand-up after feeling like 'an impostor for years'.
A recent appearance at a gala show at the Opera House for the Sydney Comedy Festival doing a short set with no props or tricks helped him believe that he belonged alongside his fellow performers, many of whom slogged their way through the stand-up circuit playing to tiny or half-empty rooms as they honed their craft.
Jimmy Rees says his experiences on Giggle and Hoot held him in good stead for his current comedy career.
'I kind of skipped that so that was a bit of validation for me,' he says. 'Just in my own brain going, 'Hey, I've plugged seven minutes into a gala with 15 other comedians'.'
Looking back on his years with Giggle and Hoot, Rees says it was an invaluable stepping stone for his current comedy career. Not only did it teach him the value of props and sets – and the joy of silliness for its own sake – he was also paying close attention to the technical aspects of filming, lighting, sound and editing. Equally satisfying is seeing some of the kids who used to watch his zany antics with Hoot taking the comedy journey with him, with the audience for his live shows and videos now spanning several generations.
'Those kids are 20-something now and they watch the TikToks and stuff now. It's kind of this bizarre journey – and their parents obviously watched it and knew who I was from Giggle and Hoot and their parents are my age. And then their grandparents would watch it.
'I have a lot of reminiscing from kids who are teens and twenties going, 'Oh man, you put me to bed every night'. They drive past in their car and I feel really old.'
Jimmy Rees In Reel Life tours Australian capitals in October and November. Tickets on sale June 30. Dates and details at frontiertouring.com.au
Originally published as Aussie comedian Jimmy Rees on his new tour, cancel culture and why Trump is too good to ignore
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