Randy Rainbow
Quick Facts
Biography
Randy Stewart Rainbow is an American comedian and singer, best known for videos published on YouTube, in which he spoofs interviews with famous figures and parodies musical numbers with a political focus. Rainbow is his real last name. He has also released an EP and an album.
Early life
Randy Rainbow was born to a Jewish family in Huntington, New York. He grew up in Commack, New York. When he was 10 years old, his father, Gerry Rainbow (né Ribner), a musician and talent booker, moved the family to Plantation, Florida. Rainbow credits his grandmother as his greatest comedic influence. In a 2017 interview with The New York Times, he recalled "It was really my grandmother who was the biggest influence because she'd talk back to the celebrities and politicians on TV. She was a combination of Joan Rivers, Elaine Stritch, Betty White, and Bea Arthur rolled into one." After dropping out of community college in his early 20s, Rainbow moved back to New York to pursue a theatrical career. It was then he began blogging and making comedic videos.
Career
Blog
Rainbow created his blog, The Randy Rainbow Bloggity BLAHg-BLAHg, to document his theatrical experiences and "kvetch about my day-to-day as a single homo in the city."
Celebrity videos
In his early work, Rainbow stages fake phone conversations with famous people by editing real audio clips of those celebrities. He posted his breakout video, "Randy Rainbow is Dating Mel Gibson" in 2010. It received more than 60,000 views in one week and has since surpassed 170,000 views. Subsequent videos include "Randy Rainbow Calls Lindsay Lohan", "Randy Rainbow Calls Dr. Laura", "The Morning After Chelsea's Wedding", "Randy Rainbow Gets a Job (from Rachel Zoe?)", "Randy Rainbow Kicks It with Kanye West", and "Randy Rainbow Spends Christmas with Mel Gibson". Michael Urie appeared as himself in "Randy Rainbow Getting Married?" Tituss Burgess appeared as himself in "Randy Rainbow Stars in a Show!" Brent Corrigan appeared as himself in "Randy Rainbow Makes a Sex Tape (w/Mel Gibson)". Rainbow's cat Mushi has also appeared in some of his videos.
Rainbow's videos have been featured on a number of blogs. Popular LGBT blogs Towleroad and Queerty have reposted many of his videos since "Randy Rainbow is Dating Mel Gibson". His Lohan clip was featured by Perez Hilton. Rainbow made a guest appearance in Tituss and the Tightass Band, a 2010 benefit concert for The Trevor Project at New World Stages. He also made a guest appearance in the third annual Living for Today benefit concert at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. Rainbow appeared on the cover of Out Front Colorado.
Political videos
Rainbow gained a larger audience and shifted focus during the 2016 American presidential campaign, with a series of spoof interviews and musical parodies skewering the election process and the candidates, especially Donald Trump, who became Rainbow's primary subject following his nomination by the Republican party and subsequent election. Among the musical parodies he has done about politics are:
Title of parody | Release date | Original song | Original show, movie, or artist |
---|---|---|---|
Braggadocious | 26 Sep 2016 | Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious | Mary Poppins |
The Nasty Woman | 24 Oct 2016 | The Lonely Goatherd | The Sound of Music |
Alternative Facts | 24 Jan 2017 | Jellicle Cats | Cats |
Fact Checker, Fact Checker | 6 Feb 2017 | Matchmaker, Matchmaker | Fiddler on the Roof |
You're Making Things Up Again, Donald | 22 Feb 2017 | Making Things Up Again | The Book of Mormon |
Unpopular | Apr 29 2017 | Popular | Wicked |
The Russian Connection | 15 May 2017 | The Rainbow Connection | The Muppet Movie |
The Covfefe Broadway Medley | 2 Jun 2017 | Various | |
Before He Tweets | 5 Jul 2017 | Before He Cheats | Carrie Underwood |
The Room Where It Happens | 21 Jul 2017 | The Room Where It Happens | Hamilton |
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Korea? | 25 Sep 2017 | Maria; Rocket Man | The Sound of Music; Elton John |
Desperate Cheeto | 11 Oct 2017 | Despacito | Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee |
Those Were The Good Old Days | 14 Nov 2017 | Those Were The Good Old Days | Damn Yankees |
She Was 16 Going On 17 (Roy Moore Was 32) | 11 Dec 2017 | Sixteen Going on Seventeen | The Sound of Music |
All About His Base | 29 Jan 2018 | All About That Bass | Meghan Trainor |
Stand By Your Man (Donald Trump) | 14 Feb 2018 | Stand by Your Man | Tammy Wynette |
You Can't Stop His Tweets | 9 Apr 2018 | You Can't Stop the Beat | Hairspray |
Rudy and The Beast | 7 May 2018 | Beauty and the Beast | Beauty and the Beast |
A Very Stable Genius | 16 Jul 2018 | Major-General's Song | The Pirates of Penzance |
If You Ever Got Impeached | Aug 27, 2018 | If I Only Had a Brain | The Wizard of Oz |
Omarosa | 4 Sep 2018 | Oklahoma! | Oklahoma! |
Kavanaugh | 24 Sep 2018 | Camelot | Camelot |
Just Be Best | 15 Oct 2018 | Be Our Guest | Beauty and the Beast |
Trump's Favorite Things | 5 Dec 2018 | My Favorite Things | The Sound of Music |
There Is Nothin' Like a Wall | 14 Jan 2019 | There Is Nothing Like a Dame | South Pacific |
The Donald Trump Cell Block Tango (Part 1) | 28 Jan 2019 | Cell Block Tango | Chicago |
Cruella DeVos | 5 Apr 2019 | Cruella de vil | 101 Dalmatians |
Barr! | 29 Apr 2019 | Belle | Beauty and the Beast |
Just Impeach Him | 28 May 2019 | Breathin | Ariana Grande et al. |
Suckers | 22 Jul 2019 | Sucker | The Jonas Brothers |
Cheeto Christ Stupid-Czar | 29 Aug 2019 | Superstar | Jesus Christ Superstar |
GIULIANI! (Here He Goes Again) | 17 Oct 2019 | Mamma Mia | ABBA |
He's Just a GURL Who'll QUID PRO QUO! | 22 Nov 2019 | I Cain't Say No | Oklahoma! |
That Don! | 20 Jan 2020 | Gaston | Beauty and the Beast |
No Rules For Donald | 18 Feb 2020 | New Rules | Dua Lipa |
Any Dem Will Do | 3 Mar 2020 | Any Dream Will Do | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat |
The Coronavirus Lament | 14 Mar 2020 | Adelaide's Lament | Guys and Dolls |
Social Distance | 22 Mar 2020 | Go the Distance | Hercules |
Andy | 6 Apr 2020 | Sandy | Grease |
A Spoonful of Clorox | 25 Apr 2020 | A Spoonful of Sugar | Mary Poppins |
Distraction | 19 May 2020 | Tradition | Fiddler on the Roof |
The Bunker Boy | 7 Jun 2020 | The Jitterbug | deleted from The Wizard of Oz |
Cover Your Freakin' Face | 29 Jun 2020 | Put On a Happy Face | Bye Bye Birdie |
Poor Deplorable Troll | 6 Jul 2020 | Poor Unfortunate Souls | The Little Mermaid |
Gee, Anthony Fauci | 22 Jul 2020 | Gee, Officer Krupke | West Side Story |
Kamala! | 17 Aug 2020 | Camelot (repeated) | Camelot |
I Won't Vote Trump | 13 Sep 2020 | I Won't Grow Up | Peter Pan |
If Donald Got Fired (featuring Patti LuPone) | 7 Oct 2020 | If Momma Was Married | Gypsy |
How Will You Vote? | 30 Oct 2020 | That's How You Know | Enchanted |
Don't Tell Donald He's NOT RE-ELECTED TODAY! | 17 Nov 2020 | Getting Married Today | Company |
Rudolph the Leaky Lawyer | 15 Dec 2020 | Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer | Gene Autry |
Sedition! | 8 Jan 2021 | Tradition (repeated by popular request) | Fiddler on the Roof |
Seasons of Trump | 19 Jan 2021 | Seasons of Love | Rent |
Marjorie Taylor Greene | 3 Feb 2021 | Evergreen | A Star Is Born |
Mr. Biden, Bring My Vaccine | 9 Mar 2021 | Mr. Sandman | The Chordettes |
Ted and Lindsey | 5 Apr 2021 | Kansas City | Oklahoma! |
Clang, Clang, Clang Went Josh Hawley | 10 May 2021 | The Trolley Song | Meet Me in St. Louis |
Controversy
In August 2020, critics of Randy Rainbow circulated a collection of about 60 tweets posted between 2010 and 2016 on social media, highlighting his history of transphobic and racist statements. Rainbow apologized on August 20 in an interview with The Advocate.
Personal life
Rainbow is openly gay and Jewish. He was born on Long Island, lived in Queens for 17 years and has been residing in Manhattan since July 2019. He has also lived in Plantation, Florida, where he attended school, including community college.
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | GOP Dropout | Randy Rainbow | 6 episodes |
2018 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Special Guest | Episode: "Breastworld" |
2020 | Better Things | Andrew | Episode: "New Orleans" |
2020 | Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Celebration | Performer (song: "By the Sea") | Television Special |
Discography
In August 2012, Rainbow released two original songs: a jingle that he wrote for Chick-fil-A from when he worked there and "An Old-Fashioned Wedding," plus a parody of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" called "Born This Gay." His music is released under Broadway Records.
On November 8, 2019, he released a Christmas EP called Hey Gurl, It's Christmas! It features seven tracks, including a studio version of "Trump's Favorite Things." The title track is an original song.
In June 2021, he announced the Pink Glasses Tour, which started on September 17, 2021 in St. Louis. On October 21, 2021, he announced the release of his debut studio album, A Little Brains, A Little Talent. The album was released on October 29. It includes several studio versions of his YouTube parodies, plus the two original songs "Pink Glasses," or "Randy Rainbow For President!" These tracks were co-written by Rainbow. It also includes a studio version of "The Jitterbug," a scrapped song from The Wizard of Oz which he had parodied in June 2020. The album has two bonus tracks, "If Donald Got Fired" (featuring Patti Lupone) and "Mr. Biden (Bring My Vaccine)."
Awards and nominations
Rainbow was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for Best Short Form Variety Series in 2019, 2020, and 2021.