LGBTQ news and entertainment
Randy Rainbow starts our week out on the right track with his parody of Judy Garland’s iconic “The Trolley Song” from the 1944 classic film Meet Me in St. Louis. In Rainbow’s version, “Clang, Clang, Clang Went Josh Hawley,” the artist skewers current GOP members of Congress including Hawley, Lindsey Graham, Matt Gaetz, Ted Cruz and more.
Clang, clang, clang went Josh Hawley Yap, yap, yap went Ted Cruz Crap, crap, crap went McCarthy Cause his party continued to lose…
For those who thought Donald Trump’s exit from the White House might leave Randy Rainbow without any further inspiration… Based on “Kansas City” from the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, OKLAHOMA!, the satirical genius offers his version of the song taking aim at Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). As always, the parody lyrics are totes clever:
Everyone loves to hate on Ted and Lindsey Their problem isn’t popularity You’d think they’d be ashamed of the shenanigans they try But never Cancun Cruz or Lady G
Happy Monday, folks!
Randy Rainbow drops his first Biden parody video with his take on the classic “Mr. Sandman.” But in this iteration, Randy is getting randy to get his vaccination:
Mr. Biden – bring my vaccine Keep me protected from COVID-19 Tell me the trick to how I might earn a Fix of that magic Pfizer or Moderna
Our musical hero also has a bit of ‘Trump PTSD’ to cope with along the way, but let’s face it – who doesn’t? Hit the play button and enjoy. Happy Tuesday!
Donald Trump may be gone from the White House, but political satirist Randy Rainbow is NOT hanging up his microphone. With his thumb on the political pulse of Washington, he offers up his timely take on Barbra Streisand’s timeless, “Evergreen,” from her 1976 film A Star Is Born. Streisand and co-creator Paul Williams took home that year’s Oscar for Best Original Song. Babs also scored the Song Of The Year trophy at the Grammy Awards for the track. But in this parody, Rainbow skewers QAnon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. You can find my past coverage of Rainbow’s clever musical musings on The Randy Report here.
(image via YouTube)
Today, Rainbow and company remember the “Seasons of Trump” the country has had to endure for the past 2,102,400 minutes.
Two million a hundred two thousand four hundred minutes With just one president so unhinged and unfit Two million a hundred two thousand four hundred minutes How do you measure four years of this sh*t?
In scandals, impeachments, in porn stars, in Scaramuccis In rallies, in insurrections, in flies In two million a hundred two thousand four hundred minutes How do you measure four years of the lies?
Along the way, we’re reminded of some of the outrageousness that was the Trump administration. That includes Trump’s declaration as ‘a very stable genius,’ plus a rogues gallery of characters like Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kelly McEnany. Rainbow also manages to mention pee tapes, fake news, COVID, covfefes, and ‘alternative facts.’ It all culminates in a Mariah-inspired high note and a whispered ‘bye gurl.’ 
His most recent musical missive took aim at the insurrectionists who invaded the U.S. Capitol building. Co-opting the tune of ‘Tradition’ from Fiddler on the Roof, Rainbow’s ‘Sedition!’ garnered over 2 million views in less than a week. As Saturday Night Live has found, there’s always something in politics to lampoon, so here’s hoping Rainbow continues to entertain us even without the Orange one in office. You can find my many posts covering Rainbow’s past parodies by clicking here.
You didn't think I'd send him off without my own departure ceremony, did you? 👋🏻🌈🎶 #SeasonsOfTrump pic.twitter.com/hEI276wISC
— Randy Rainbow (@RandyRainbow) January 19, 2021
Political satirist Randy Rainbow breaks his own rule of never parodying a song twice after getting numerous requests to revisit ‘Tradition’ from the hit Broadway musical, Fiddler on the Roof. Rainbow first tackled the tune back in May with ‘Distraction!‘ After the events of this week at the U.S. Capitol, Randy Rainbow parodies Fiddler again with this second satirical take titled, ‘Sedition!’ As usual, Rainbow’s lyrics are sharp as a tack as he takes on Trump and his delusional supporters insurrectionists who continue to push the baseless idea that the Donald ‘won his reelection in a landslide’ (oh my sides). “A Twitler with no proof. Sounds like a horrible idea for a musical, no?” says Rainbow in the prologue. “Or at least a horrible idea for a president.” “How does a desperate lame duck president and his boot-licking minions with no hope or evidence try to overturn an election they’ve clearly lost multiple times?” continues our hero. “I can tell you in one word – Sedition!” You can find more of my coverage of Rainbow’s clever satire here.
While Team Trump continues a facade of ‘fake news’ regarding the Donald’s many filed (and then dismissed) lawsuits in trying to re-litigate the 2020 election, Randy Rainbow lampoons White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany and her constant assertions her boss “won” via Stephen Sondheim’s “Not Getting Married Today” from Company. Rainbow’s rapid-fire satirical lyrics are seriously on point. Enjoy 🙂
Randy Rainbow turns in this musical rumination on which presidential candidate to vote for (hint – yeah, you already know the answer) set to the tune of Enchanted’s “How Will You Know?” Rainbow first ticks off some of Donald Trump’s, umm, qualities:
Well, does he give a flying f**k about whether you live or die? Cover-up his crimes and wish them all away? Does he lock children in cages? Act like Nazis are okay? That’s how you know, that’s how you know that he’s the one.
And then’s there’s his assessment of Joe Biden:
Does he leave you little clues that let you know he’s not insane? Have a plan in place you know he’ll carry through? If he isn’t porkin’ Putin and he pays his taxes, too That’s how you know, that’s how you know he’s the one.
In the end, it all comes down to “One’s an incompetent toddler, the other one’s name is Joe, that’s why it’s Joe – He’s the one.”
Broadway legend Patti LuPone and Randy Rainbow (screen capture)
Comedian/satirist Randy Rainbow
“Twitter has recently reminded me about 10 years ago, in my maiden quest to be funny, I tweeted some jokes that were completely offensive and insensitive to look back on them now, especially with no context or nuance and through the prism of where we are in 2020 with racial inequality and the fight for social justice, which I’m proudly a part of,” he begins.
“In light of issues that are now at the forefront, which I’m passionate about and have spoken up about over the years, these tweets just sound racist and awful. I’m embarrassed by them. They make me sick to my stomach, in fact, and I deeply apologize to anyone I offended.”
The aforementioned tweets, some of which have been deleted, span from 2010 to 2011 and reference racist tropes.
“My parents said that had I been a girl, my name would’ve been Randi with an ‘i.’ And had I been black, it would’ve been ‘MISS JENKINS!!!’” read one tweet dated March 24, 2010.
Another tweet from February 2010, reads, “Why is it OK to call it a ‘white noise’ machine, yet offensive to say that I bought it to drown out all the ‘black noise’ in my building?”
Rainbow explains that at the time, he was in the early stages of crafting the “character” he’s now known for.
“The comedy landscape was completely different back then,” he argues. “This kind of edgy shock comedy was not only acceptable but a prevalent style. I was an aspiring comedian in my 20s working the stages in gay nightclubs where we said the most outlandish, raunchy things we could think of. I was searching for my comedy voice, my persona, and I was emulating styles and jokes of people that I was seeing in the mainstream.”
“I had this sort of character in my head and there were different ingredients I was throwing into the pot. There was some Karen Walker from Will & Grace, there was some Joan Rivers, there was some this, some that.
“Any jokes that I tweeted out around this time were meant to be read in the voice of this character I created, and the intention was always that my forced ignorance would be the butt of the joke,” he says. “Now, comedy is not evergreen. Jokes have timestamps and reflect the times you’re in when you wrote them.
“I am incredibly sorry. I would never intentionally do anything to hurt anyone,” he continues. “I learned many years ago, over the last decade, that there are things that you must be sensitive about. I continue to educate myself, I continue to listen and learn.
“I am in no way a racist. I am in no way transphobic,” he adds. “I’m a gay Jew who was brought up in a very open, accepting family. There is not a racist or intolerant bone in my body. When I say that I have evolved with the times, I mean that my comedy has. I did not need to be taught not to be racist or transphobic because I never was.”
Read his full comments at The Advocate.