Rachel Feinstein’s Funny Storytelling

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Photo: rachel-feinstein.com

Rachel Feinstein

Rachel Feinstein

“I’m more of a storyteller than a straight stand-up,” declares Rachel Feinstein as a distinguishing characteristic of her comedy, 

But she’s enough of a stand-up to have auditioned numerous times for “Last Comic Standing,” even before the show even aired, until she made the cut for in 2010. From there, she made the series’ top 10, after which, “I was able to quit my day job and make a full living headlining around the country.” 

Feinstein takes her narrative shtick, rife with impersonations and characters and autobiographical observations, to marquee status at The Cooperage (822 S. Water St.) for a 7 p.m. set on Saturday, April 1. As has become something of a leitmotif in her work (though now happily married), she is likely to make light of the schmucks she has dated in the past.  

“I have been blessed to date some deeply worthless men. I’ve zoomed past a cocktail of red flags in every relationship, but in turn, God and Jesus have given me a few late-night sets in exchange for life-long trauma,” she recalls of the duds she has endured on her path to wedded bliss. 

Fortunately for her audiences, Feinstein’s other half doesn’t mind his peccadillos being fodder for his wife’s work. “He seems to like when I talk about him,” Feinstein shares, adding “and it rarely makes him question whatever behavior I’m actively mocking. He’s just like ‘that was solid, see. They loved it.’” Furthermore, Feinstein proves that showbiz types such as herself don't always partner with fellow entertainment professionals.

Blind Date

“We were set up by my friend. Her husband is a retired firefighter, and she asked him for a foreman for me. Then they brought me to this bar to meet Pete. It was a firefighter Christmas party in Brooklyn.” Now Feinstein not only has a spouse for fresh funny material, but a child to inspire some zingers as well.   

“Frankie is definitely giving me material. She calls me sweetie. I’m like, ‘I just wiped your ass; don’t talk to me like you’re an aging waitress at a diner!’” The parents may have to become bilingual in order to understand everything her daughter is saying though. “She also speaks Spanish fluently, that she learns from my mother-in-law. Neither of us speak any Spanish, which I don't think we realized was going to be a problem.”  

Less problematic, and more inspirational, for Feinstein was her own upbringing. 

“The Jewish side of my family is definitely the funnier side. My dad did once sign a letter to his rabbi ‘your humble fucking servant.’ My mom found it in their shared email sent folder on Hotmail and Howie got in big trouble for that.” Feinstein’s mother’s side may be less humous, but the comedian’s maternal parent has provided plenty of fodder for her act through some well-meaning, awkwardly expressed overtures. And what she continues to call Feinstein’s career. 

“She calls it my talent show or my little program. Most people like Karen. They can see her heart! The same is true with Pete; people are oddly protective over the people I mock or complain about. They want pics with them!” If Feinstein’s brand of funny is an increasingly multi-generational affair, she likewise holds that comedy can hold a deeper purpose than maintaining jovial family bonds.   

Of those in her line of work, she offers, “We can sort of use the darker, more gnarled parts of life and hold them up rather than stuff them in some shame corner. We can make you realize that you’re less crazy than you thought you were or at least less actively than I am, I guess?” 

Richard Belzer R.I.P 

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Public Domain

Richard Belzer

Richard Belzer

Comedians parlaying their stand-up talent to acting on TV shows? Nothing unusual there. A comic who goes from comedy to playing the same character in 10 different series, not to a mention a “Sesame Street” Muppet depiction? That distinction could only belong to Richard Belzer. 

Belzer, who died at the age of 78 on February 19 after battling circulatory and respiratory conditions, vindicated an abusive childhood and aimless young adulthood with humor. It took his father’s suicide to prompt him to get serious about comedy, but once he did, Belzer embarked on a pretty momentous run. 

His association with New York City’s Channel One troupe resulted in a movie of its skits, 1974’s The Groove Tube. That picture, Belzer has said, inspired Lorne Michaels’ creation of “Saturday Night Live,” for which Belzer was its original warm-up act, also appearing on it in once in 1978. 

Though his IMDb profile includes numerous other television roles, his most frequent was that of detective John Munch. Belzer portrayed the cagey gumshoe on shows disparate as crime dramas “Homicide” and “Law & Order SVU” and sitcoms “Arrested Development” and “30 Rock.”

Belzer’s kind of small screen crossover isn't likely to be duplicated any time soon. But to remember what got him there, here he is from the 1980s, engaging in crowd work, prop work, camera crew work, and bits about sundry topic including differences between New York City and Los Angeles and Frank Sinatra's mob connections...