Playing with Myself
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- €10.99
Publisher Description
Instant New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller!
An intimate and light-hearted memoir by viral sensation and three-time Emmy-nominated musical comedian Randy Rainbow that takes readers through his life—the highs, the lows, the lipstick, the pink glasses, and the show tunes.
Randy Rainbow, the man who conquered the Internet with a stylish pair of pink glasses, an inexhaustible knowledge of Broadway musicals, and the most gimlet-eyed view of American politics this side of Mark Twain finally tells all in Playing with Myself, a memoir sure to cause more than a few readers to begin singing one of his greatest hits like “A Spoonful of Clorox” or “Cover Your Freakin’ Face.”
As Randy has said, “There’s so much fake news out there about me. I can’t wait to set the record straight and finally give people a peek behind the green screen.” And set the record straight he does. Playing with Myself is a first-hand account of the journey that led Randy Rainbow from his childhood as the over-imaginative, often misunderstood little boy who carried a purse in the second grade to his first job on Broadway as the host at Hooters and on to the creation of his trademark comedy character. In chapters titled “Pajama Bottoms” (a look back at the days when he wore pajama bottoms on his head to pretend he was Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz), “Yes, It’s My Real Name, Shut Up!” (no explanation necessary...) and “Pink Glasses” (a rose-colored homage to his favorite accessory), Playing with Myself is a memoir that answers the question “Can an introverted musical theatre nerd with a MacBook and a dream save the world, one show tune at a time?”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this rollicking debut, comedian Rainbow recounts his coming out—but "more like in the ‘eighteenth-century aristocratic debutante presenting herself to society' " kind of way. Growing up in the 1980s in Commack, N.Y., Rainbow adored musical theater, and, by his teenage years, worshipped a new god: Barbra Streisand. Packing his narrative with well-timed zingers, Rainbow recalls chasing his Broadway dreams in Manhattan, juggling a variety of part-time jobs (including as a host at Hooters), and steadily making his way into the performing world. Combining his love of theater and comedy, Rainbow eventually created his blog, The Randy Rainbow Bloggity Blahg-Blahg, where he sharpened his flamboyant comic pieces, playing a "hopefully lovable, part gossip girl... part vapid social media star" version of himself who wound up in such unlikely (fictional) circumstances as dating "homophobic" actor Mel Gibson. As he recounts, his videos garnered him thousands of acolytes, among them Carol Burnett, Rosie O'Donnell, and his idol Streisand—each of whom he writes of with gushing admiration. Though Rainbow's campy on-screen comedy doesn't always translate well to the page, his gift for striking a well-honed phrase ("I was in the prime of my twinkdom and was not about to let these gorgeous gams of mine go to waste") will have readers cackling. Fans are sure to be heartened and tickled by this entertaining account.
