Allison Tolman

Birthday: 18 November 1981, Houston, Texas, USA

Birth Name: Allison Cara Tolman

Height: 168 cm

Born in Sugarland, Texas, Allison Tolman earned a BFA in theatrical performance from Baylor University. After graduation, she moved to Dallas where she helped found and foster the independent ensemble based non-profit Second Thought Theatre while also learning that the whole being an adult thing is like, super hard. In 2009, she was accepted into Second City's Conservatory Training Program and later went on to write and perform sketch and satire with several groups throughout Chicago, most notably the monthly comedy podcast The City Life Supplement.Throughout her career, Tolman has played a veterinary receptionist, personal assistant, children's theatre teacher, vocal coach, phone sales associate, client services representative, and dog walker - never on film, but in her actual life in order to pay her rent and be able to afford more tank tops from Target than any human actually needs.(2014) Tolman lives in Chicago with a portly cat named Annie who enjoys staring at her blankly whenever there is a house centipede in the kitchen. Show less «

I liked in television that you do some work, then you perform, then you stop and you have a break be...Show more »

I liked in television that you do some work, then you perform, then you stop and you have a break because they have to set up lights, and then you do some more work. I really liked the pace of it; it really agreed with me. Show less «

I did a lot of commercial and theater work when I got out of school and was living in Dallas, and I ...Show more »

I did a lot of commercial and theater work when I got out of school and was living in Dallas, and I moved to Chicago to go through the Second City Conservatory Program. Show less «

I went to New York for the first time when I was in college for a school trip and, uh, it did not ap...Show more »

I went to New York for the first time when I was in college for a school trip and, uh, it did not appeal to me. It was too much hustle and bustle. Show less «

At 32, I kind of thought I was past the point where I was gonna get a break that really changed my l...Show more »

At 32, I kind of thought I was past the point where I was gonna get a break that really changed my life overnight. Show less «

It was important for me as a theater artist to allow myself and my interests to evolve over time and...Show more »

It was important for me as a theater artist to allow myself and my interests to evolve over time and allow my notion of what success meant to evolve over time. I've always had a day job and never been just acting. But it didn't make me feel like I wasn't doing what I was supposed to be doing. Show less «

Improv training allows you to get out of your head a little bit and take more risks, which is someth...Show more »

Improv training allows you to get out of your head a little bit and take more risks, which is something I would like to continue to improve upon. Show less «

I moved to Chicago and I did theater, and then I started writing and I stop acting and I did sketch....Show more »

I moved to Chicago and I did theater, and then I started writing and I stop acting and I did sketch. You know, I did all of the things that, if you were serious about doing television, don't do. Show less «

I've done some version of that Minnesota accent - that Midwestern accent - in sketch comedy for year...Show more »

I've done some version of that Minnesota accent - that Midwestern accent - in sketch comedy for years. It's the quickest way to symbolize you're a mom. Show less «

My mother has stories of leaving me in the bath as small kid, like a 3-year-old, and there being mir...Show more »

My mother has stories of leaving me in the bath as small kid, like a 3-year-old, and there being mirrors on the side, and her going to get a towel and coming back in, and me making faces at myself, like, 'Now I'm happy. Now I'm sad.' Show less «

I worked for three years in a small IT firm in Chicago. I managed our client base, so I translated i...Show more »

I worked for three years in a small IT firm in Chicago. I managed our client base, so I translated into human speak for our technicians. But our company was sold, and the atmosphere and the culture really changed, so I quit without having anything else lined up. Show less «

When I first got out of school, I went on a children's theater tour, and I went around the country a...Show more »

When I first got out of school, I went on a children's theater tour, and I went around the country a little bit that fall, and it was the first time I went to Chicago. We spend a couple of days in Chicago, and I was really struck viscerally by the city. Show less «

Body-shaming is something I feel really strongly about. I think about my niece, I think about my fri...Show more »

Body-shaming is something I feel really strongly about. I think about my niece, I think about my friends who have daughters being on the Internet and reading these things, and it just makes me furious. It makes me so angry. Show less «

The thing about theater that always and still kind of makes me edgy is that you work and work and wo...Show more »

The thing about theater that always and still kind of makes me edgy is that you work and work and work and work, and then you're just in performance mode, and then you have to just be on; the work is done, and then you just have to do it over and over again, so you're just constantly at that performance level. Show less «

Allison Tolman

Allison Tolman's FILMOGRAPHY

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