Kalen Allen

Kalen Allen Television host, actor, musician & journalist blending joy, culture & storytelling. Host of Fox Reality Check on every Saturday.

Inspiring audiences across stage, screen & digital with authenticity & heart.

09/08/2026

Baltimore, you have loved on Bocking in a way I will never forget.

We are officially in our FINAL WEEK at Baltimore Center Stage, and I want to see this theater FULL before we say goodbye.

Thursday. Friday. Two shows Saturday. Final performance Sunday.

If you’ve been waiting, this is your sign. Come laugh with us, come meet us after the show, and come experience why people have been talking about this wild little play all summer.

And if you’ve already seen Bocking, tell the people in the comments why they need to come before we close.

Thank you, Baltimore, for showing up for this show—and for showing up for me.

Bocking may be ending, but I’m not going anywhere.

More soon. 👀

Bock. Bock. 🐔

I turned 30 this year, and somewhere in all the reflecting I’ve been doing about who I am, where I come from, and how I ...
09/08/2026

I turned 30 this year, and somewhere in all the reflecting I’ve been doing about who I am, where I come from, and how I got here, I kept finding my way back to Sumner Academy.

So I wrote about it.

I wrote about a public school in Kansas City, Kansas, that expected excellence from us regardless of where we came from. I wrote about hallways filled with some of the most brilliant, strange, hilarious, competitive, creative little unicorns you could ever assemble in one building. And most importantly, I wrote about the teachers who saw me before I completely knew how to see myself.

Mrs. Thomas gave me discipline. Mrs. Foster-Reynolds gave me steadiness. Mrs. Brown gave me freedom. Mrs. Leighton gave me belief.

When I look at my life now, I can trace so much of who I became back to educators who did more than teach a subject. They made room for me. They challenged me. They let me be weird. They expected greatness from me. They helped me understand that rigor and belonging could exist in the same place.

That is the magic I remember.

Thank you to , Magnet Schools of America, and Distinct by Design for giving me the space to write “My Hogwarts Had No Magic Wands, Just Great Teachers.” I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read it, especially if there has ever been a teacher who changed the way you saw yourself.

And one tiny correction for the record because your boy has DONE THE WORK 😂: the bio says I am “pursuing” my master’s in journalism at NYU. I have, in fact, already earned that master’s degree. Diploma secured!

Forever grateful for Sumner. Forever grateful for the teachers who saw me.

09/07/2026

I really do love flowers but…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO M***A!!! Now y’all… do you understand how INSANE it is for me to wish Happy Birthday to somebody I gre...
09/04/2026

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO M***A!!!

Now y’all… do you understand how INSANE it is for me to wish Happy Birthday to somebody I grew up watching, studying, and being inspired by… and now I actually KNOW HER IN REAL LIFE?! Like… M***A KNOWS ME. She knows my NAME! God is hilarious.

And because I STILL don’t have the picture we took the night this video was made, I had to screenshot the video for photographic evidence. 😂 I know that picture is sitting in somebody’s camera roll somewhere, but until it finds its way to me, THIS WILL DO!

Also, while I have y’all here: go support M***A and get that anniversary edition of B’Day! We celebrate birthdays by supporting the ART!

But I do want to take a few seconds to give my girl her credit because ain’t nobody ever done this game like her. I’m sorry. They just haven’t.

To be at the top for your ENTIRE career and somehow still be getting better? Still pushing yourself? Still studying? Still evolving? Still finding new ways to expand what we think is possible?

That woman is STELLAR.

Beyoncé is what it looks like when God plants a dream inside of you and you LISTEN. You honor it. You chase it. You work for it. And you keep becoming everything you know you were called to be.

Long before I ever imagined I would meet her — let alone that she would know who I am — she was proof to me that my dreams were possible too.

And that may be the greatest gift an artist can give another artist: making somebody else believe that there might be more for them too.

What a gift.

Happy Birthday, M***A! Thank you for the music, the excellence, the example, and for continuing to show us what it looks like to take the dream God gave you seriously.

Love you down! 🐝❤️

P.S. I still want my damn picture. 😂

09/03/2026

Today, my castmates and I had the privilege of spending some time with the students at Baltimore School for the Arts, and I left that building INSPIRED.

There is something incredibly moving about watching young people make the choice to pursue art seriously—to audition, to train, to study their craft, and to hold themselves to a standard of excellence while they are still figuring out who they are.

And let me tell you… these students were EXCEPTIONAL.

The talent was undeniable, but what impressed me just as much was the culture in that building. The respect. The professionalism. The curiosity. The discipline. The way they spoke to one another and to us. You could feel that they understood being an artist isn’t just about having a gift—it is about how you nurture it, how you show up, and how you treat the people you create alongside.

I walked out thinking, “Oh… maybe the children ARE all right.”

Then one of them told me she was born in 2010 and I decided I had heard enough.

But seriously, Baltimore has something special happening in these young artists. To every student we met today: keep going. Keep studying. Keep being curious. Keep protecting that thing inside of you that told you art was worth choosing.

Because watching you today reminded a room full of working artists why we chose it too. ❤️

Thank you, Baltimore School for the Arts, for having us. Baltimore School for the Arts

I know. 20 slides. But stay with me because I really want you to read this one.I have known for a little while that Stev...
09/03/2026

I know. 20 slides. But stay with me because I really want you to read this one.

I have known for a little while that Stevie Walker-Webb (Stevie Walker-Webb) and Ken-Matt Martin (Ken-Matt Martin) would be continuing their leadership at Baltimore Center Stage for another three years, and I’ve been waiting until the news was public to give these two men their flowers.

I thought I was writing about them.

Then somewhere in the writing, I realized I couldn’t explain why I believe in them so deeply without telling you what their friendship, leadership, and belief have done to me.

So I wrote a love letter.

To the Black Men Who Gave Me My Dream Back.

It’s about Stevie. It’s about Ken-Matt. It’s about Baltimore Center Stage. But it’s also about what happens when you’ve accomplished dreams you once prayed for and somehow find yourself needing to learn how to dream again.

And how sometimes God puts people in your life who remind you that there is still more of you left to discover.

So yes, I’m asking you to swipe through all 20 slides. Take your time. Save it and come back if you need to. But read it. I really mean that.

And when you’re done, don’t just congratulate Stevie and Ken-Matt. Support them. Go see what they’re building at Baltimore Center Stage. Buy a ticket. Bring somebody. Donate if you can. Pay attention to the artists they’re betting on. And if you have access, resources, or a door you can open, help them keep building.

Also, go read the Baltimore Banner | Baltimore news, politics and arts’s beautiful piece about their three-year extensions and what they’ve already accomplished together.

Stevie and Ken-Matt, I believe in you both.

Thank you for believing in me enough to make me dream again.

Now everybody start swiping. We got 20 of these damn things. 😂❤️U

08/28/2026

A little sermon for my fellow artists.

This industry will give you a million reasons to believe you are behind, inadequate, overlooked, or somehow less deserving because somebody else is winning.

Don’t let it.

Celebrate EVERYTHING. Celebrate yourself loudly. Celebrate your people even louder. Clap when it isn’t your turn. Show up for somebody else’s moment. Because if you only know how to find joy when the spotlight is on you, eventually somebody else’s success will start to feel like your failure.

And that’s where envy grows. That’s where resentment grows. That’s where we lose the joy of why we started creating in the first place.

Somebody else’s blessing is not evidence that you’ve been forgotten.

Protect your spirit. Protect your joy. Be on each other’s team.

And whatever you do, don’t let this industry convince you that somebody else has to lose for you to win. ❤️

What was supposed to be our closing night conversation… ISN’T CLOSING NIGHT ANYMORE! On September 6, I’m so excited to b...
08/28/2026

What was supposed to be our closing night conversation… ISN’T CLOSING NIGHT ANYMORE!

On September 6, I’m so excited to be joined for a special BOCKING post-show talkback by my dear friend Scott Evans, Emmy-nominated entertainment journalist, host of Access Hollywood and Access Daily, former host of NBC’s World of Dance, and creator and host of the Webby Award-winning House Guest.

And as if that wasn’t enough, we get to have this conversation alongside the phenomenal pennedbypreston, the brilliant writer who dreamed up this wild, hilarious, audacious world we’ve all gotten to live inside every night.

There’s something especially beautiful about the fact that when we planned this, September 6 was supposed to be the end. Our closing night. One final conversation about what we made together.

But y’all showed up for BOCKING so hard that the show has been EXTENDED through September 13!!! 🥹🖤

So now this isn’t a goodbye. It’s a celebration right in the middle of the journey.

Come see the 3PM performance at Baltimore Center Stage and stay afterward because Preston + Scott + me with microphones?! Baby… 😂 I already know it’s gonna be a GOOD time.

See y’all September 6!

BOCKING is NOW PLAYING through September 13 at Baltimore Center Stage

Aghhhhhhh, my twin made it to Baltimore to see Bocking! I had to keep this one a secret! What I appreciate about this fr...
08/28/2026

Aghhhhhhh, my twin made it to Baltimore to see Bocking! I had to keep this one a secret! What I appreciate about this friendship is that it is so rooted in mutual and genuine support we show up for each other in ways that I have often dreamed of; in terms of friendship, it is reciprocal. It is balanced. It is out of respect, and it is also rooted in our humanity. It’s one of the friendships in my life that I cherish the most at this particular stage of my life—I am just as much a fan of Durand as I am a friend in this crazy industry, but it is truly a breath of fresh air. Durand Bernarr

08/27/2026

I have to introduce you to the incredible human that is Lance Coadie Williams (Lance Coadie Williams)!

Lance is an extraordinary artist whom I’ve had the pleasure of working with here in Baltimore, including sharing the stage with him in Barking. But beyond his immense talent, it’s the person he is that has stayed with me.

I’ll never forget my first day here. Lance and I sat on the stoop and talked about our lives, and as I listened to him, I saw so much of myself in him. His story inspired me. It motivated me. It uplifted me. And from that very first conversation, I knew there was something truly special about him.

Now, I was also lucky enough to know a few people who had worked with Lance before, and they let me in on another one of his many talents: this man can COOK. So when I heard he was making pies, naturally, I said, “I must have one.” And Lance, being Lance, made me an entire pie all to myself—and it was INCREDIBLE.

That generosity says so much about who he is. Lance is genuinely one of the most selfless, humble, kind, and authentic people I’ve met during my time in Baltimore. He’s a Baltimore native, a proud alum of the Baltimore School for the Arts, and an artist whose work deserves to be seen and celebrated.

So, if you don’t come see me in Bocking, you absolutely must go see this phenomenal man make phenomenal art.

Lance, I’m grateful our paths crossed. Baltimore is lucky to have you—and so am I.

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