Following a sigh-filled tirade about a recent stunt of 45's, a fellow satire-loving friend introduced me to the delightful phenomenon that is Randy Rainbow. The New York-based performer got his start making videos in his apartment, splicing himself as a "cut the b.s." interviewer into real interview clips and lambasting Trump and his cronies with parodies of songs ripped from famous musicals (think Weird Al for Broadway fans who loathe this administration. It's not as niche a group as you'd think!). I devoured his catalog of work, cackling at a "Jesus Christ Superstar" medley of songs transformed into "Cheeto Christ Stupid-Czar," clapping my hands with dark glee at "Cruella Devos" and TWO Trumped-up versions of "Cell Block Tango" from "Chicago." He's like Shakespeare's power-skewering clowns, if they had serious singing chops. The songs are a riot even if you're not the biggest fan of musicals, and besides, RR creates political parodies of pop songs, too (check out "Desperate Cheeto" to the tune of "Despacito."). And because I watched all those videos, The Algorithm started shooting me ads about his live show national tour, which stops in Rochester this week.
Friday, September 20, 7:30 p.m. Kodak Center, 200 West Ridge Road. Tickets start at $35. 254-0181; ticketmaster.com.