Giggle Goddess: Rachel Feinstein

Did you have an act that you would do growing up, or certain jokes you would tell?

I always used to imitate people as a kid.  My friends would always ask me to do the bagel face, this mangled, gnarled thing I used to do with my face.  They would request it in kindergarten.

[laughs] Does that still come in handy?

Oh yeah, I mangle my face all the time.  It still comes in handy.

I also had a teacher who had really thin lips, so in my class photos I did this face with her thin lips.  [Ms. Dellastious] looked like a Barbie doll and I had this gnarled big Jew fro.  I would try to imitate her handwriting, her voice.  She would bring me up to the front of the class and tell me to do the “Ms. Dellastious.”  She was encouraging.  She let me sit and work on her desk.  I would be curled up by her and work in my workbook.  It was weird.  I just wanted to be Ms. Dellastious.

Tell me about your first comedy show after you moved to New York at 17.  What were some of the subjects of your skits?

I went up at this bar where they were doing some sort of comedy show.  I just rambled on and told stories from my life.  I would tell these long-winded funny stories.  I know for sure I was awful.

I believed I did really well because I found it so exhilarating.  But really I went on too long and they had to wave me off.  I wasn’t projecting properly and no one understood me.

[My friends] explained to me what went awry.  It took me a while to figure out myself on stage.  I watch old tapes and find it traumatizing.  I think, “Ugh, what’s that thing you do with your hands?” or “What’s with your verbal tick?”  It’s difficult to watch myself and not be disgusted.

What happened after that very first, somewhat awful show?

I did open mics, opened for various people.  Todd Barry and John Heffron took me on the road a lot.  I had various people who were kindly toward me and gave me good advice.  I was a babysitter during the day and worked at a bar on the weekends.  It took me a long time.

It was nice to finally be able to quit my day job in 2009, right before I got my first Comedy Central special in 2010, and say, “I’m a comedian,” and not feel like you’re lying.  Last Comic Standing came off of that, so that was cool.  That was a high point.  I was actually able to be in the moment when that came out.

You said you had a lot of people who gave you good advice when you were starting out. What was the best advice you received?

Greg Geraldo told me to stop trying to sound so intelligent.  Brevity is clarity.  I was insecure about not having a college education.  I wanted people to perceive me as intelligent.  I was trying too hard to sound like I knew what I was talking about.  I probably used the words wrong, too.

I ramble on; I tell these stories.  I had to shorten my jokes, and those are harder when you’re a storyteller. Don’t be married to every part of the story — be willing to shed things and find the funniest parts of what you’re saying.  The best stuff is always sprinkled with humiliation.  A lot of jokes start with something that makes you uncomfortable, for you or someone else.

I try not to have an agenda.  Don’t try to prove a point.  Start with what you think is funny.  Then you’ll touch on points you want to touch on.  Don’t start off with the message, because then you’ll sound heavy-handed.

What was your big break that catapulted you to The Onion and Comedy Central?

Of the things that have happened to me, “Comedy Central Presents Rachel Feinstein” was definitely the most important.  I didn’t have a manager or an agent, so it was cool to know it was just me.  I did my stand-up routine in front of a live audience.