Randy Rainbow

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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)."

Rainbow was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for Best Short Form Variety Series in 2019, 2020, and 2021.