‘Defying Democracy’: How Political Satirist Randy Rainbow Sang His Way Into His First Emmy Performer Nomination

Musical comedian, acclaimed political satirist and producer Randy Rainbow is no stranger to receiving Emmy nominations. However, for the first time, the New Yorker has received a nod for best performer in a shortform comedy or drama series for the political-parody music videos that make up his YouTube hit The Randy Rainbow Show . Also up for best short form comedy, drama or variety series, bringing his total number of Emmy nominations since 2019 to six, Rainbow is hoping this could be his year to stand in the spotlight.

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It is thrilling, and that’s not hyperbole because when I started making these videos, the impetus was to showcase myself as a performer. The way it unfolded and what I ended up adding to the recipe all came later. To finally be recognized in this way is a big freaking deal.

It’s usually a few weeks, but that has evolved over the years. One thing that has changed is that now I have a musical team. I work with a music producer and a vocal arranger, and instead of pulling karaoke tracks like I used to, we meet and come up with more interesting ways to put the music together. That involves getting a band together, and they’re all Broadway musicians. These days, the tracks are created for me by Michael J. Moritz Jr., who is a fellow nominee in the series category.

Oh my God! There are so many. It’s kind of a weird place that we’re in now, especially with comedy. We’re trying to determine what people will be offended by versus what they will understand as just irreverence. We’re in a moment where everything is such a fucking shitshow that the threshold for being offended is quite high.