Christianee Porter was led to a stool surrounded by lights and a white background. She sat, covered in a black onesie wrapped in a thin, flowing brown sweater. In front of her was a camera.
As anyone about to be photographed would, she fiddled with her hair.
“Do you need anything?” a reporter asked.
“I’d like a bottle of room temperature water.”
Even out of costume, Porter can turn it on.
The Little Rock, Ark., native has been in Atlanta 10 years, honing her skills as a singer, songwriter and comic. But this past summer, she became a viral sensation.
In a short video posted to Instagram, she’s dressed in a sleeveless orange short suit standing on the sidewalk outside a storefront.
"Understand these waist trainers is killin' y'all," Shirleen said, using her hands to emphasize her warning against waist trainers, a modern-day corset. "My niece just fell out down here at the Red Lobster on Candler Road. She wearin' a waist trainer in 130 degree weather."
“These waist trainers, you don’t realize, take 30 percent of your oxygen to your brain. Y’all wanna make it out here through the summer? Stop killin’ yourselves. Stop training ya waist. Y’all calling up the main line with that kind of foolishness!”
The video has been seen more than a million times on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and through reposts.
“I started seeing it on Facebook. Then I saw it on a gossip site, and then I started (gaining) followers,” she said. “And I’m like, ‘Something’s happening. I don’t know what, but something’s happening.’ It put me on the radar, I would say. I have a few people recognizing my talent that I might not have had the opportunity to be in front of.”
By no means is she an anomaly. She’s offering comedy free of expletives through various characters including a TV news reporter, budding rapper and a church mother.
“I wanted something I could share with my family … that was family friendly,” she said about going the clean comedy route.
Comedic caricatures is in her DNA. While growing up, she said she would identify a role, design her outfit for the day around the narrative and head to school. Once, she went as a foreign exchange student, complete with accent.
Other students and the teachers would play along.
Credit: Contributed by Christianee Porter
Credit: Contributed by Christianee Porter
She’s always wanted to be an entertainer, citing music as a passion. Porter moved to Atlanta to attend the Art Institute of Atlanta for audio production.
“I always thought there was something bigger for me,” she said matter-of-factly.
She began devoting more time to developing her characters last January, posting short skits to the web about appropriate dress, church bake-offs, even serenading a lover for Valentine’s Day. The Trump protest video came in March.
Porter’s Shirleen character summons memories of Kim Wayans’ Benita Butrell, Robin Williams’ Mrs. Doubtfire and even Tyler Perry’s Madea. All were older women kicking too-truthful-for-you knowledge at the expense of those obviously not wise enough to follow. Ironically, Shirleen is based off several men.
“It is actually my interpretation of my stepfather and my uncles, these older men who are always bragging about this success that no one ever knew, that no one ever heard, or acquiring all these things that no one’s ever seen,” Porter said.
It’s a character seen before with which many identify.
"People are drawn to familiarity. That's what comedy is," said Los Angeles-based comedian Mateen Stewart, whose debut comedy album Let's Get Mateened! was released last year. "To make people laugh, you've got to make a connection. Once you make that connection, that's where the humor comes from."
Actor and comedian Roy Wood Jr., a correspondent on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, said the industry loves up-and-coming talent with a proven following. That means a different set of obstacles for someone trying to get their break now.
“The biggest difference between ‘98 when I started and now is social media has eliminated a step in the talent development process,” he said. “It used to be that an agent would come to you, say ‘You’re funny. I think you’ve got talent. Let me find your audience.’ They would help develop you. Now, the life cycle of an entertainer is, ‘I think you’re funny. Do you have an audience? Where is your audience?’
“The demand to have a following before you blow up … is almost putting the cart before the horse.”
Because of that, he said, he sees social media stars as a different discipline.
“It’s very hard to be funny,” he said, adding that crossover success from social media can be harder. “Someone who can write a 30-second skit may struggle with something else. Can you create a show? What’s the next level? The challenge now is pushing yourself to do more and evolve.”
In another video, Shirleen’s dressed in a 1980s floral print skirt suit complete with white shoes and a single strand of pearls, the short dark hair on her wig curled close. She holds a sign with big black letters: “DUMP TRUMP!”
"We been planning this protest down at the church for about a month. Everybody knew," she says as another woman stands behind her on the Georgia State Capitol steps, the only other protester to show.
That video has been viewed more than a half million times on Instagram.
Like most entertainers will admit, stardom doesn’t come easy. Before the waist trainer video hit, Porter was toiling away at massage therapy school. Now, she’s fielding invitations to speak at couples retreats and churches, dressing as Shirleen and heading to women’s conferences. She’s participated in a clean comedy tour, with several stops along the East Coast.
Her characters play off her various gifts. Her YouTube channel includes songs written in the voice of another one of her alter egos, Yung Velvetta.
"I can't even lie right now, man!" Velvetta begins on the tune "Dear Shaquanna." "Ya boy messed up, man!"
For now, she’s having fun doing everything coming her way. That includes shows and stage plays. And, of course, Instagram videos.
She says she feels blessed to be “living life at its highest capacity … and not going back to that mundane life of just wishing you could do what you were born to do.”
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