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.
Early life
Randy Rainbow was born to a Jewish family in Plantation, Florida. He grew up in Commack, Long Island, New York, and Plantation, where his father, Gerry Rainbow, was a musician and talent booker. He 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 to New York to pursue a theatrical career. It was then he began blogging and making comedic videos. Rainbow is gay.
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 ", "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 ". Randy's cat, Mushi Rainbow, also plays a prominent role in his videos. Rainbow's videos have been featured on a number of blogs. PopularLGBT 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 Trump and his administration are "You're Making Things Up Again, Donald", "Unpopular", "Fact Checker, Fact Checker", "There Is Nothing Like a Wall", "The Donald Trump Cell Block Tango", "Suckers", "Cheeto Christ Stupid-Czar", "No Rules For Donald", "Gee Dr Fauci", "The Coronavirus Lament", and "A Spoonful of Clorox".
