Book Review: Playing With Myself by Randy Rainbow

Playing With Myself
by Randy Rainbow (Biography Rainbow)

Randy Rainbow, if you are not already aware, is the fellow on social media who parodies anyone and everyone through Broadway musical show tunes and his own witty lyrics. Turns out he’s actually very shy so even though he moved to NYC, in the end he didn’t have the confidence to try-out for anything. So he worked for several years in show business periphery jobs, finally began a blog, and one day posted a musical parody created in his studio apartment with his cell phone, laptop, green fabric stretched along his walls, and software editing programs available to anyone. And the rest, as they say, is history. Though it took him several years to get there.

 

His biography is linear, starting with his youth in Florida, his experiences in children’s theater and through high school drama clubs, then finally his move to NYC and his various jobs there. A lot of name-dropping occurs but that’s half the fun of this biography. Turns out he can be as star-struck as any of us.

 

There’s swearing and standard Rainbow snark that we’ve come to expect from viewing his videos. I enjoyed his behind-the-scenes stories of how several of his videos came about. His reminisces of growing up, struggling in NYC, figuring out a career, and meeting people are funny, sometimes sad, and always entertaining. (P.S. He has a website, and you can buy your own pair of the pink eyeglasses!)

 

If you’re a fan of Randy Rainbow, this is a fun, light, enjoyable read. Playing With Myself is also available from the library as a downloadable audio book narrated by the author himself, and as a downloadable e-Book.

 

( publisher’s official Playing With Myself web page ) | ( official Randy Rainbow web site )

 

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!