By Lynda Sturner****If La La is a political junkie, then Emmy nominee Randy Rainbow is my Methadone. Ever since that election, I’ve become addicted and co-dependent on Rachel, Larry, Jake, Anderson and Nicolle to keep me posted on 45.
I used to watch Netflix, AcornTV, PBS Great Music and endless “Law & Order” reruns, but not anymore. Afraid to miss anything, I flip between MSNBC and CNN all night. I even sleep with the TV on just in case.
Needing and craving a laugh break, I watch and adore Colbert, Meyers and “SNL,” but no one does it for me like YouTube superstar sensation, Randy Rainbow. When’s today’s crisis supersedes yesterday’s disaster, I go “What will Randy say?” and more importantly, what song will he use to parody the event.
He uses musical theatre songs to enhance his parodies. I mean, how awful can it be when someone dares to use a Gilbert & Sullivan song to rhyme “stable genius” with “Mussoliniest?” The video garnered 28 million views in the first two days.
His YouTube videos don’t change anything, but during these dark times, five minutes of laughter makes a difference. So instead of going to sleep worrying about Kim Jung Un, I sing “Rudy and the Beast” and dream of wearing pink cat’s eye glasses.
Rainbow (that’s his real name) grew up in a musical family. His father, Gerry Rainbow, was a musician. His mother, Gwen, introduced him to musicals at a very young age. “She put me to sleep to the sound track of The Music Man and Oklahoma,” he said. “My mother worked overtime to make me gay.”
He grew up on Long Island, then moved with his family to South Florida. They saw tons of Broadway shows when they visited New York. “It’s just what I lived for every year,” he said.
He has always been performing and singing. As a little child, he was on stage at the ballet and went to music theatre camp. He went to college for about ten minutes, but left to work on a cruise ship as a singer.
Although he was planning on a traditional career in the theatre, he put performing on hold when he moved to New York. “I was kind of nervous to jump into it. I was a very young 22-year old and had to grow up,” he says.
He got a job working as a receptionist in a major Broadway producer’s office. “During my down time, I began blogging about all the fun things that were happening. It was a lot of day to day observational stuff,” he said. They were very supportive. I’ve always been a ham, so I was giving my little stand-up comedy routine. People would come to me for amusement during the day.”
His writing really started to kick in when he moved from the producer’s office to an accountant’s office. “That’s when I started full-time writing at the desk, because there was really not much to do. They too, were very supportive. In fact, they are my accountants now. It’s all come full circle. Thanks to YouTube and social media, I was able to get back into theatre my own way, on my own terms.”
Randy has originated and starred in multiple hit web series for BroadwayWorld.com, written for comedian Kathy Griffin and hosted and performed in numerous theatrical events for the Broadway, cabaret and gay communities. He has also been seen on VH1 and Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live” and has been heard regularly as both a guest and co-host on Sirius XM Radio.
In 2010, his video of “Randy Rainbow is dating Mel Gibson” went viral. “I started the gimmick of plugging myself into the hot topics, whatever everyone was talking about and it worked, so I stuck with the format.”
He got political during the Obama re-election campaign with Rick Perry and Rick Santorum and then with that clerk in Kentucky, Kim Davis, who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. “I kind of just go where the controversy is.”
He did a series of videos during the primaries in 2016, called “GOP Dropout.” “One of the candidates would drop out and I would start this new video and that started this new wave of popularity for me.”
He produces his videos in his apartment. “It’s just me. I don’t even show the videos to anyone before I post them,” he said. “From conception to posting the videos, it’s all me in my head.”
He’s completely self-taught, from Final Cut Pro and Adobe After Effects. “I try to give myself 48 hours to develop a new video. You gotta be quick. If I wait too long, the news cycle has changed.”
From his new apartment in Manhattan, Rainbow is taking his show on the road again and once more playing in front of large audiences. There’s a big screen, interactive videos, a band and Randy singing live. Last summer, he sold out two shows at the Crown and Anchor in Ptown and returned for two additional nights. Now he returns to Ptown at Provincetown Town Hall for three shows, July 26 and 27, 2019.
Following Ptown, he will be touring the country. Check his website for dates and times.
“I’m living a lot of dreams right now. It’s very surreal what’s happening. It’s so crazy every single day. I’ve stopped pretending to have any idea of what’s going on or what direction we’re going in,“ said Rainbow. “When I’m on the road and I hear people begging for a new video, I feel a pang of guilt. But I let them know I’ll always be here. As long as there is misery, intolerance and injustice in the world, I will be here.”
Provincetown Town Hall – 260 Commercial Street – (508)487-7000
Friday, July 26 @ 8pm, Saturday, July 17 @ 7pm & 10pm
Click here for tickets
I just saw Mr. Rainbow at the Gramercy Theater in NYC. He is very personable and charming on stage AND he is a satirical comedy genius. If you can his show, you will not be disappointed. Thank you sir for sharing your talent!