- Austin Nasso is a comedian and impressionist who has done exceptional portrayals of Donald Trump’s bombastic personality.
- A former Microsoft software engineer, Nasso has mastered Trump’s distinctive speech style and emphatic hand gestures, impulsive outbursts and endless bravado.
- In Nasso’s stagecraft, the business of running the free world becomes an absurd comedy of grandiose announcements, diplomatic threats and presidential hubris.
In one of his most entertaining stage performances, the comedian plays Trump tweeting away an “official order of battle,” including plans to annex Greenland and make Canada the 51st state. “We are seizing Greenland and making Canada the 51st state. Also, my tooth is loose, and I hope that the tooth fairy comes!” Says Austin as he taps his iPhone in from of a laughing indoor crowd.
Then comes the familiar DJT sign-off: “Thank you for your attention on this matter!” and the audience again erupts in laughter.
Iran War Victory: Two Weeks that lasted Six weeks
Trump’s perception of time receives special attention from Austin, who makes reference to the massively unpopular war with Iran. Playing the president to an audience already primed for laughter, Nasso announces that the war has been won.
“It’s so good we won the war! Yes, two weeks! Two weeks! Some people call it six weeks, but I call it two weeks! It’s been the longest two weeks in history. We have made two weeks longer than ever before.”
The war may have lasted longer than promised, but the president apparently has uses different chronometry.
It is a superb piece of political satire because it plays on Trump’s obsession to frame events as victories, even when the exact circumstances are considerably complicated.
America’s Outbreak of Trump Impersonators
America has no shortage of Donald Trump impersonators. His distinctive speaking style, expressive face, emphatic hand gestures and habit of assigning importance to ordinary statements make him an irresistible subject for comedians.
Austin Nasso has built his Trump character by distinguishing between reproducing a politician’s voice and reproducing the personality behind it.
His impression captures the president’s familiar vocal rhythms and theatrical gestures, but succeeds even more in the portrayal of an outsized ego seeking to dominate in every situation. Whether discussing international relations, the economy or a minor personal inconvenience, his “Trump” insists on being the most important person in the room.
Trump to Nuke the Stock Markets
In Trump’s world, even when the stock markets are doing well, there is always room for another presidential intervention. In another rib-cracking set, Nasso’s Trump announces a drone strike on the stock markets because they have been high for such a long time.
The segments illuminates Trump’s reputation as a self-proclaimed dealmaker and economic fixer who wants to personally direct every moving part of the national economy. For a character whose public image rests so heavily on projecting strength, the temptation to solve every problem with an extravagant display of power is almost too good for a comedian to resist.
Plastering Oval Office Schemes on Truth Social
One of the craziest Nasso impressions of Trump is his treatment of social media to project presidential power.
In the satire involving Greenland and Canada, the president effectively turns the Oval Office into a live broadcast session. Major foreign policy announcements compete for attention with personal grievances and pointless observations.
It is a pointed depiction of President Donald Trump’s political style in which his public pronouncements on social media become international news, provoke diplomatic reactions and generate hours of commentary.
Trump’s supporters often see his combative communication style as evidence of a leader who refuses to be constrained by conventional political etiquette. His critics see recklessness, unpredictability and a willful failure to conduct himself in a manner befitting the office.
Austin Nasso and Darryl Vega take the show to New York
Nasso’s Trump character thrives beyond the confines of the Oval Office.
In an outdoor comedy sketch alongside fellow comedian Darryl Vega, the two take their political theatre to the streets of New York City. Vega plays a makeshift White House press secretary accompanying the president on a city tour, while Nasso remains firmly in character as Trump.
The fake Secret Service security detail is a spectacle of its own. The fictional agents supposedly scanning for threats keep rotating through exaggerated 360-degree turns while remaining fixated on the same spot. They certainly look busy, but whether they are accomplishing anything is another question.
Meanwhile, Vega the press secretary struggles to articulate the president’s latest pronouncements to the assembled media. Every time he attempts to elaborate on his boss’s message, Trump interrupts him, dismisses his explanation and makes it abundantly clear in front of the cameras that he considers the press secretary terrible at his job. Managing “Trump” appears to be a painstaking full-time job for which no one could possibly be adequately qualified.
Nasso’s tech background makes his comic career an interesting departure from the conventional image of a stand-up comedian. His Trump impression has become a particularly effective calling card because it gives him a recognisable character around which he can build entire sketches without breaking a sweat.
Nasso’s YouTube channel, which has surpassed 70,000 subscribers according to the figures cited here, offers an important platform for his work. His growing audience and live performances suggest that his material has found viewers who enjoy political satire delivered through flamboyant household names.
Trump’s status as a polarising figure has fed an increasingly popular trend for political commentary, parody and impersonation in the US and across the world. His influence in the comedy industry stretches to Africa, with African comedian such as YY of Kenya previously attempting Trump impressions.
