A SARAH COOPER SAMPLER
Who Is This Funny, Crazy, Talented Woman?
While Vine produced new millennial stars, its spiritual successor TikTok has been kind to all three of the younger generations, earning six figure endorsement deals for zoomers, millennials and Gen Xers alike. For Gen X in particular, the social media app has provided a platform that didn’t really exist before. While kids 20 and younger have a knack for writing, producing and posting silly, absurdist skits and videos of themselves dancing to popular songs, older comedians and Twitter veterans saw the opportunity for subversive political satire.
Enter Sarah Cooper. Before her impressions of Donald Trump took over the internet, she had two books out and garnered some modest attention on social media. She blew up practically overnight thanks to kingmaker Jerry Seinfeld name-dropping her as an example of the type of humor he appreciates on TikTok.
Since then she’s done the late-night circuit (remotely, of course, as talk shows have yet to return to the studio), been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Atlantic and has basically become the unofficial mouthpiece of POTUS for those who can’t stand to see his face.
Cooper’s comedy works because she highlights the absurdity of the president without downplaying or normalizing it. Watching her breakthrough hit, “How to medical,” in which Cooper pantomimes Trump’s claims that home cleaning products could be effective against COVID-19, a sense of relief washes over the viewer. Yes, this man is dangerous, but he’s also a moron, and few parodies before Cooper’s were quite as good at playing with his peerless stupidity.
She’ll also act out the wordless exasperation, confusion and despondence of those in Trump’s presence—perspectives that are ever present in the background of Rose Garden pressers despite not getting the same attention as the president himself. Other comedians want to play Trump, the character. Cooper excels by telling a story, one vignette at a time.
The Trump sketches are great for her brand, too: her books, 100 Ways to Appear Smart in Meetings and How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men’s Feelings are finally earning the attention they rightfully deserve as the internet clamors for more of her humor. There are even face masks available with Cooper, as Trump, wielding a spray bottle of household cleaner.
Last month, Cooper signed with WME—a significant step forward for the small-time comedian turned blue checkmark commodity. Whatever happens on November 3, you can be sure you’ll be seeing a lot more of Sarah Cooper.
