Anna Akana is a threat on many levels. She’s a YouTube sensation, a comedian, an actress, and a singer. She’s someone who has been in the spotlight for quite some time now, and her fan base has grown exponentially over the years. She’s done a lot with her life, and she’s managed to add more to her resume at her young age than many people do in their entire life. She’s young, she’s talented, and she’s about to become a household name. Here is everything you need to know about the star.
1. She’s a Military Brat
Akana’s dad was a Marine Corps officer when she was growing up. Due to his military background and career, she was forced to move around with her family every few years. Her moves were never just to a new house in a similar neighborhood, though. She moved from one state to another, and there were times when she moved from one country to another.
2. She’s Young
Akana is young, though she’s actually older than she looks. She was born on August 18, 1989, in California. She’s from Monterey County, which is one of the loveliest places to live in the area. She didn’t stick around long, though, because of her father’s career and the constant moving from one base to another.
3. Her YouTube Start is Fascinating
What is so fascinating about this young woman is the reason she started a YouTube channel. She was performing standup comedy on stage, but she began suffering from debilitating panic attacks while on stage. This caused her to want to continue to perform in a more private manner – so she began to record herself and post videos online. It worked for her, and she’s all the happier for it.
4. Comedy Helped Her Through the Darkest Time
When she was only 18, her younger sister took her own life. Her sister, Kristina, died by suicide when she was only 13. It was the most heartbreaking, horrifying time for her entire family, and Anna did not handle it well. Who would handle it well? Who can handle something that tragic well? No one blames her for not handling her loss well. However, she saw Margaret Cho perform standup months after losing her sister, and she found herself laughing for the first time since Kristina’s death. That’s where her love of comedy stems.
5. She is a Suicide Prevention Advocate
Loss is a difficult thing to face. It never stops. It’s finite. It never changes. No one comes back from death. When her sister took her own life, it left Anna feeling as if she needed to do something to help others never go through what she and her family went through. She’s been a staunch advocate for suicide prevention ever since.
6. She’s an Author
We told you she does a little bit of everything. She wrote a book in 2013. It’s called “Surviving Suicide,” and in the book, she discusses what she went through, how her family was affected, and she talks about how ending your own life is never the answer. She also talks about how much it hurts forever when you take your own life and others have to continue to live without you.
7. She is Bisexual
Anna Akana announced to the world in 2018 that she is bisexual, but that’s all she had to say. She let the world know, and then she went back to her everyday way of living, and she is happy living her life on her own terms.
8. She Has a Clothing Line
As if actress, comedian, author, and advocate were not enough to list on her resume, she is also a designer. She’s got her own line of clothing called Ghost & Stars in which she focuses on cat theme items. She has leggings and shirts, dresses, and more. She released her line in 2015.
9. She Wrote a Second Book
Four years after she wrote her first book, she wrote and published a second book. Her second book is titled “So Much I Want to Tell You: Letters To My Little Sister,” and it’s another one that will bring you to tears. In her book, she talks about growing up without her sister, and she shares some of the advice she would have shared with her sister if she had a chance.
10. She’s Private
Despite the fact that this young comedian gives us such an intimate look into her life and the things that she’s been through, she is someone who does not discuss her own personal life overly much. She keeps much of it to herself, and the world is regularly left guessing who she might be dating, what she might be doing, and how she is living her life when the camera is not on.
