Interview: Fortune Feimster of LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE at Holland Performing Arts Center

Comedian Fortune Feimster sat down with BroadwayWorld in Omaha columnist Analisa Swerczek to discuss life on the road, Netflix specials, and her new hit series, Fubar!

First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with BroadwayWorld in Omaha today!

Thank you!

Who were some of your biggest influences and role models in the arts growing in your career?

You know I was from a small town in the south, so it wasn’t somewhere that was very privy to stand-up comedy. We didn’t have a comedy club or anything like that. I don’t ever remember listening to stand-up albums or things like that. I was definitely more influenced by the Saturday Night Live world. It was always on my television every Saturday night. Chris Farley always had really great over the top characters. That comedy morphed into Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon and Cheri Oteri. I always gravitated towards those types of performers who were just unique. Those were big influences. When I was at my grandmothers house we would watch reruns of the Carol Burnett Show, and that was something I always really loved to do.

You have two extremely successful specials on Netflix. How do you craft your material? What is that process like for you?

I’m always sort of navigating what’s happening in my life at the time. The last two specials followed the timeline of what was happening in life then. Sweet and Salty was for the most part my journey of growing up and figuring out who I was. And the next one, Good Fortune, picked up where that left off, so it was about marrying Jax and kind of becoming this adult. Now the material that I’m doing is me being firmly planted in this present day and figuring out life as a wife and as a daughter. I talk a lot about my mom. I guess I’m always mining my own personal stories, so I just kind of sit down at the computer and think about where I’m at in life and I write down stories when they come to me. Sometimes I’ll make a note in my phone about things that happen so I don’t forget it.

Speaking of Netflix, you have a new series on Netflix! Fubar! What was that experience like for you?

You know, it was filmed like a movie. Every episode feels like a movie. Everything was very big and over the top, which was a whole new world for me because I’ve never done action before. The fact that this project was led by Arnold Schwarzenegger drew me to it in the first place. I got to do action with one of the worlds biggest action stars. I mean, come on. I loved it! The comedy part was fun was in my wheelhouse cause that’s what I do, but to get to be in helicopters and running from explosions and using weapons… It was just a whole different ballgame. I just love doing something different. It kept me on my toes. I have never had to memorize those kind of lines before. It is probably the hardest I’ve ever worked acting wise, and the show is doing really well and had like 90 million hours watched in the first four days. It’s a trip that it was like number one worldwide. It was cool to see that hard work paid off.

You’ve done film, television and comedy, but would you ever consider a stage role if Broadway came calling?

Maybe! I mean, I’ve always been a shower singer. I love to sing in the shower. I love to do karaoke. But I’m not a classically trained singer by any means so I know that the musical world on Broadway is a different art form and requires a lot of skill. That would be quite the challenge, but I’m always up for a new challenge. I don’t know if that opportunity would ever present itself but if it did, I would definitely consider that or a stage play. You never know. I’m definitely open to things and going out of my comfort zone and trying new art forms in the art world.

Has there been a moment in your career where you realized “Hey I’ve made it! I’m doing the thing!”

Yeah! I have those surreal moments all the time. I’ve been having one lately because of the show coming out involving someone who I grew up watching and someone who is bigger than life. To think that I used to watch him when I was in elementary school when he was a physical fitness ambassador is wild! I mean, there I was working alongside him. Even though I’ve been in LA for 20 years and I’ve gotten to work on a lot of cool projects, it never fails to catch me off guard in a really good way when I’m working with these really incredible people like Jennifer, Aniston or Jennifer Garner or whoever those people are who’ve built such an impressive career. To get to work alongside those people is just something that’s hard to believe I’m doing. It’s not something I could’ve ever imagined when I was young.

Favorite thing and hardest thing about touring?

I mean, I really love touring. I really amped it up once the world opened back up after Sweet and Salty. That tour actually got postponed for a year, but once things started open up, I have been going ever since. I love it because it’s so different from acting. With acting you’re on a stage and you don’t really know what’s working and you don’t really meet the people who are watching it unless you’re traveling for some other reason and end up running into people at the airport. Stand-up allows you to be right in front of the people who support you and who like what you do. It’s cool to have that connection with them and to meet them. And I get to show appreciation for them, and I really love that connection in the way that stand-up provides. Those are always the cool parts of touring. The hard parts of touring are being on the road, being on planes and being in hotels and rental cars. It’s pretty grueling when you’re doing it every week. But I’ve been touring for 13 years now so you just kind of get used to it I guess. The rewards of the job far outweigh any of the hard travel days.

Have you ever been to Omaha before? Anything you are looking forward to experiencing?

Oh yeah, I love Omaha! I’ve been a couple of times actually. I always really like the people there. The people are all very nice and friendly, even if they don’t know who I am. They come up to me and say, “Hey, what are you looking for? Anything we can help you with?” I love the hospitality. And I think it might’ve just closed but there was a chocolate shop I would always go to. I usually found myself in the downtown area so I would go down to local restaurants, but this time I’m only there for one night so I have to make all the meals and the coffee count. I’m excited to be coming back.

Fortune Feimster will be performing live in Omaha at the Holland Performing Arts Center this Friday, July 7th at 7:30pm. Don't miss your chance to experience an unbelivable evening of laughter with one of today's biggest entertainers.

Photo Credit: Todd Rosenberg

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