Randy Rainbow—comic, political satirist, and musical parody artist extraordinaire—has a hilarious new book of essays out today called “Low Fruit.” His three little introductory words are the beginning of a letter he hopes will help him escape his current mindset: “Dear, foolish people,” or as he puts it, “how we feel about everyone and everything.”
For many, myself included, it’s easy to go into the “this guy is speaking my language” position because, well, no matter which side of the aisle you choose to be on, it ends up being more and it’s harder not to let some know that they are idiots. But Rainbow is now approaching these people with a resignation letter in which he says he’s finished “trying to fix you, with immediate efficiency.” And he expands on this truthfully, eloquently, humorously, and in an incredible “I don’t give a fuck anymore” model.
“In a way, I tried to make (writing) this a cathartic thing for me, because I need to let go a little. It’s driving me crazy,” he says of politics, social media and the quicksand it creates that can suck you in and pull you down.
He has a degree. If someone spends an extreme amount of time neck-deep in the political world, it can definitely be crazy, especially when someone has mastered one technique and those who take the opposite method become petty. In fact, hateful. On the other hand, it also gave Rainbow the opportunity to show how diversely talented he is. Although his first viral video in 2010 – “Randy Rainbow Is Courting Mel Gibson” – had nothing to do with politics, his career really took off during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Focusing his research on the Republican party, he excelled – and continues to excel – in brilliantly writing and singing sarcastic and humorous lyrics to Broadway show tunes, while wearing wigs, costumes, makeup and performing in front of a green screen. in the spare bedroom of his New York home. His first mega hit was “Additional Braggadocious,” a riff on “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from “Mary Poppins” that mocked then-presidential candidate Donald Trump with lines like “He’s super despicable, inventive, sexist and nasty, even considered voting for he makes me sick. If you like America, you will stop him from working. Superficial, chauvinistic, presumptuous and reckless.”
“This was when Facebook was king,” he says. “I believe it got about 16 million views a day. This led to the next stage. Today, and especially with anything Trump related, they write themselves because he simply passes the lyrics to you on a silver platter. I mean, it’s over. It’s like the AI does it for you. , the satire is simply already created.”
And although all forms of social media have indeed given him the rocket fuel of his success, he is able to overcome the power it has over him. It’s all part of that catharsis he talked about earlier. In an essay in “Low Hanging Fruit” called “A Pricey John to Social Media,” Rainbow writes: “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do this anymore. I’ve tried for over twenty years to make it work for us, but our relationship has now become poisonous and I think it will be best for me to move on.
He goes on to write that “I’ve been so consumed with sharing my every thought, my every move, my every cherished crab appetizer that I’ve forgotten what it all really means. Things that once gave me pleasure are actually just empty vessels in the empty sea of other people’s approval, floating in an endless search for clicks and likes. This is not an approach to exist. Don’t be mad, but I feel like I want to start dating my real life again, at least casually. I miss that.
And then there’s the whole “cancellation of tradition” factor that people in the spotlight face that can end a career and ruin a life. To get a jump on this opportunity that’s always lurking in the shadows, he tackles the problems head-on in “Low-Hold Fruit” by issuing a Declaration of Cancellation… for himself. “I, Randy Rainbow of the USA of America, to get ahead of any potential future mass public shaming, punishment or ostracism; guarantee social {and professional} tranquility (for me); gift for frequent protection (from myself); promote my basic well-being; and save the blessings of the social media mob, I hereby cancel myself.”
It’s understandable that some on the right want him gone. I mean, he nailed the sarcasm factor with a smile, belittling everyone from Trump to Rudy Giuliani to Marjorie Taylor Greene to JD Vance. He’s used to it and, frankly, expects more than he got. But there was one specific incident where he called President Joe Biden “the old man” in the past, and the response from the left really disturbed him.
“I got a lot of people who were sending me nasty mail that was from my base. It irritated me a little, actually, because it was benign,” says Rainbow. The single track was “The Farmer and the Cowman” from “Oklahoma!” Rainbow changed the lyrics to “The Lawyer and the Conman”, in which he basically reduced all the main characters to their most basic descriptions. So Biden was the outdated man.
“I think the worst line was: ‘The old man handed down the torch for his nation, a selfless act of sacrifice to resurrect the campaign. He was on fire, he promised to still defend us and defend us to the end, just as long as he’s in bed by the “Wheel of Fortune,”’ Rainbow says. “I thought this was hysterical and adorable and wonderful. And Joe Biden, I have no doubt, would laugh about it. But I received very strong criticism from people who said I was a traitor to the country and that I should be ashamed. … Right here I’ve been calling Trump a racist and a thief and a criminal and a horror and a crook and a bit of shit. And they celebrate it, but the moment I said ‘the old man’ should be in bed by eight o’clock, they started clutching their pearls.
All of his trading got Rainbow considering… and he’s still serious about it because he actually got it from him. “I personally don’t want to be caught in a vacuum or an echo chamber and never hear things that don’t necessarily fit the script of what I have organized for my life in the palm of my hand. I don’t think that’s safe or healthy for any of us,” he says candidly. “Anyone said, ‘You’re taking a jab because he’s an older man and he’s done such good things for our nation,’ which I agree with. However, it is such a hypocritical argument. I mean, ‘punch’? He’s the most powerful man in the world and I’m a dumb comedian in my second bedroom in front of a green screen with a $9.99 Amazon wig. I don’t like it when people try to limit comedy. It is precisely what you declare you are in opposition to. I assume this is my biggest disadvantage. It’s a bit hypocritical.”
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