Comedian and Saturday Night Live alum Fred Armisen showed off his Dallas and Houston accents on a recent podcast appearance, and they were actually pretty good.
Texas has a plethora of accents, with even more variations from specific regions further complicating matters. Armisen, famous for his quirky comedy characters and impressions, showed off his knowledge of the Texas accent on a recent episode of “Good Hang With Amy Poehler.” After being asked by host and fellow SNL alum Amy Poehler to do a Houston and Dallas accent, Armisen obliged, and added in a Beaumont accent to top things off.
Armisen describes the Houston accent as a instrosepctive “whisper,” saying people he knows from the Bayou City are usually going through some sort of personal growth. His impression of the Dallas accent is a business-forward Texas accent, more pronounced than the H-Town accent but the kind of voice you imagine hearing while walking down the aisle of a plane passing business class. Armisen’s Beaumont accent, which is attributed to a mutual friend of his and Poehler, is an over-the-top depiction of the folks living an hour and a half east of Houston.
Texans can be very critical when outsiders have any sort of opinion on the goings on in the Lone Star state. But surprisingly, the actor’s depiction of the varied Texas accent is pretty spot on, according to the comments, especially his Dallas and Beaumont impressions.
“First time ever hearing a Dallas accent impression as someone that’s lived in dfw over 30 years. Nailed it,” one commenter wrote under the TikTok.
“I’m 41 and born/raised in Dallas and that was the most Dallas accent that I didn’t even know existed,” another Dallas native chimed in.
“As someone born in Beaumont: no notes,” another fan commented.
Now, his Houston accent did not get the same praise as Dallas or Beaumont. Many of the commenters ask what part of Houston he is referring to, or imply that he is impersonating someone from a Houston suburb like The Woodlands. He did say that it’s based on folks he knows from Hosuotn, so that could also be a factor. His H-Town accent is sort of reminiscent of the way famous Houstonian Tony Buzbee speaks, so it does hold some water, for better or worse.
Armisen has been obsessed with the various Texas accents for a while now. Not only is he obsessed with Texas, he literally has a stand-up show where he does impressions from virtually every major city in the country.
In February 2025, Armisen had a comedy show in Dallas where he dove deep into Texas accents. He first starts on the East Coast of the United States, doing a New York accent, then slowly moves toward Texas in an effort to explain how these accents change as we move geographically across the United States. Once he makes his way to Texas, Armisen explains that most people think Texas has one accent when, in fact, it has dozens, hitting some of the same lines from his riff with Amy Poehler.
“A lot of people think that it’s the same accent, it changes throughout the state, it changes from city to city, even within a city,” Armisen said to the Dallas crowd.