Fortune Feimster : Nothing but Laughs and Good Vibes

We may be moving into a post-COVID world, but there is still plenty of concern as to what the new year may bring. Always looking for some form of escapism, nothing can achieve that better than the power of laughter. Fortune Feimster has us covered in that department.

A standup comedian, writer, and actor, Feimster is the true definition of a triple threat. The North Carolina-born-and-raised talent made her television debut on Last Comic Standing and then became known as a writer and panelist on E!’s hit show Chelsea Lately. She has gone on to collaborate with some of the industry’s greatest talents and is currently on her highly anticipated 2 Sweet 2 Salty comedy tour.

Scheduled for two performances on March 11 at Denver’s Paramount Theatre, 2 Sweet 2 Salty comes off the heels of her successful one-hour standup special Sweet & Salty, which premiered on Netflix last year. The special garnered her a nomination for “Best Comedy Special” for the 2021 Critics’ Choice Awards, and Decider ranked it as number four on their “10 Best Stand-Up Comedy Specials of 2020.”

Feimster took some time to chat more about the show and her style of comedy with OFM, as well as being an out woman in Hollywood, contributing to the visibility of queer comedians on stage and screen, and her new role in the upcoming second season of NBC’s comedy Kenan.

Let me begin by asking, what are you looking forward to the most about 2022?

Oh, man. I am just looking forward to trying to get as far away from COVID times as possible (laughs). Every time we think we’re in the clear, they’re like, “A variant!” You’re like, “No!” I hope we keep moving in the direction towards getting past all this craziness and being happy and healthy, and I’m touring a ton, so I am looking forward to all that.

Yes, you will perform your 2 Sweet 2 Salty tour at the Paramount Theatre in March. We are so excited to have you come to Denver. What can audiences expect? Will it be anything like your Sweet & Salty Netflix special? 

It’s all new material, so it’s nothing like Sweet & Salty. We may even shift into a new name for this tour at some point because it is so different. Still in the same vein of storytelling and taking people on a journey of my life, but this sort of picks up at a later part. The more adult part of my life. Sweet & Salty was very much about me growing up and figuring out who I was. Now I know who I am, and it might be a little different than what people think. It’s just sharing a different side of me. 

What do you hope audiences take away from your style of comedy?

I try to lead with very positive, silly type of things. I want people to feel good when they come to a show, and I hope they leave feeling better than when they got there. That is always the goal. I tend to find the bright side of things with my stories. I explore things that have happened to me that might have been sad at the time, but I have found a way to find the humor in it. For me, it’s all about just making people feel good and laugh. Occasionally, things may have a deeper meaning, but I want to send out the positive vibe more.

The pandemic provided a lot of new opportunities for performing artists, but I can imagine it may have been different for comedians. How did you adapt and navigate when live performances stopped?

That was a pretty jarring thing for any live performer because we had not faced that before. Even when times were crazy or awful things were going on in the world, we always had performance. We always looked to entertainers to ease that burden or make us feel better, and this was the first time we just could not do our job. I think everybody, for a little bit, just sort of licked their wounds and stayed at home like everybody else. We were sad, nervous, and scared on top of trying to stay safe and healthy.

That was the focus for a long time, so I kind of shut it down and just allowed myself to be a human who didn’t have to be the one to solve everything. After a while, I started getting back into doing virtual shows and other performances. At the end of the day, you are a performer. It always calls you back because it’s a part of who you are. You’re like, “I need to get to the stage!” So, it was a challenging time to figure out how to still do our jobs, and we did it in a lot of creative ways, but nothing beats being in front of people and hearing them laugh. 

As a comedian, do you believe there are certain topics that should never be joked about?

That’s such a tricky one for me to answer because, personally, I don’t talk about a lot of current events and whatnot because I am such a storyteller. I never know where that line is or what should and shouldn’t be crossed. I tend to just be like, here’s what happened to me, and here’s the story of that. So, I am still figuring that out myself. When I watch standup and see some people go to certain places, I am sometimes surprised. I think the line moves a lot, so I’m not sure. 

You came out before you started your comedy career?

They kind of coincided with each other. I started comedy in 2005, and that was also the year I came out. It was like a double whammy of finally realizing who I was. I came to terms with that, and it was a very freeing thing. That allowed me to be in a space to start something like comedy.When you feel free, that’s usually when comedy comes out of you the most. Nothing is holding you back. I think it was no coincidence that those two things happened at the same time. 

Is it true that you realized you were gay by watching a Lifetime movie?

(Laughs) It is! There were moments and different periods of my life where in the back of my head, something was there, that my attractions weren’t the same as my friends, but you just push it down and push it down. You don’t really think about it, especially when you’re growing up in the South—small town, small college—it was very scary back then. I didn’t know any gay people; I didn’t have any examples of gay people, and when I moved to LA, I started seeing gay people, and it opened my eyes. Seeing people live their lives and be happy. Seeing that movie was what made me say out loud for the first time, “I’m gay.”

Have you faced any challenges being an out woman in the entertainment industry?

You never know why you don’t get hired for certain things. There are so many things about you that Hollywood can say no to, and even straight people get a lot of rejection. I don’t know if being out has affected me in certain ways based on a job, but I have been pretty lucky that audiences have been kind for the most part since I started my career. My first gig was with Last Comic Standing in 2010, and I do think a lot of comics that have come before me opened those doors and paved the way for me to be out and it be OK. I have been incredibly lucky in that regard.

There was a long time where you couldn’t be out and be a professional comedian or entertainer because it was a career ruiner, as we’ve seen. I am living in a time where it has become more acceptable. Besides, when you see me, you kind of know right away that I’m gay (laughs). Even if I put a dress on, it’s not something I can hide. You just have to embrace who you are and hope that people accept you for you. I’ve been lucky that I’ve had that for a good portion of my career.

And you have now become a beloved LGBTQ icon.

Oh, wow! I don’t think I’ve ever heard the word icon. That’s pretty incredible.

Trust me, you are!

I never set out to be any particular thing. I set out to make a living doing the thing I love, which is comedy. In the process of that, people begin to pay more attention to you and your life, and my goal is to always just be me. Hopefully, people resonate with that. If being myself is any sort of positive influence to other gay people, I love that, and I take that responsibility very seriously. I want to be a good example, and that is such an honor. It’s a byproduct of trying to make people laugh, and I am so grateful. 

Many people don’t realize that you are also a writer and used to be an entertainment journalist. What can you tell us about some of the shows you are currently co-writing?

I have been writing my whole career. It’s just that when you are a writer, a lot of it’s behind the scenes, so people don’t really know that you’re doing it. My day job while pursuing comedy was a journalist. I was a journalist for almost seven years, and I would cover a lot of events in LA and interview a lot of people, kind of like this, and that helped me learn a lot about the business from a different angle. It helped me realize that I am a writer because I never fancied myself as one. 

Once I became a comedian, I certainly didn’t realize how much writing went into being a comedian. Like, 70 percent of our job is writing. As I’ve gone through the business, I started writing scripts, and I’ve sold two scripted sitcoms. One’s been shot; the other hasn’t. I also sold a non-scripted show, and I sold two movies to Steven Spielberg’s company that we’re still trying to figure out, and it’s awesome. I love to write because I can write characters for myself and write to my strengths. 

The biggest hurdle is getting something made! So, the next goal, I have three very funny movies that I love, and I would be thrilled to make any one of them. Because I wrote it and was a co-writer with some of my friends, it does play to all my strengths. If I could have the opportunity to showcase that one day, that would be a dream come true. 

We can expect to see you in the new season of Kenan playing Pam Fox. What was that experience like, and can you tell us more about your character?

Oh, man, that show is so fun. I have adored Kenan from day one of meeting him. Everybody says the same thing about him, but it’s true. He is truly the nicest guy. Not just within the business, but as a human. He is so easygoing, and I would go to that set every day smiling. The other costars are wonderful people, and you can’t always say that out here, so I am very grateful to be a part of it. It’s a job that sort of fell in my lap during the pandemic, which doesn’t happen often either. Right away, they were so happy to have me and very collaborative.

I’m just a recurring cast member, and for them to put so much time into my character is awesome. Pam is a news anchor who does the sports on Kenan’s show. The sitcom is partly him being a widower and raising two little girls, then the other part is him being on a morning news show. I’m his coworker, and Pam is very brash and likes to talk about herself in third person. She is always stirring things up in the office, but she’s fun. I get to say really wacky, silly things.

What’s new with your Sincerely Fortune podcast?

New episodes go up every week. We talk with different friends of mine in the business, my mom is on it a lot, my wife does it with me and edits it, so it is very much a family podcast. We have sort of peeled back a bit of our lives, and people feel like they’re a part of our world because we’re sitting at home and chatting with people about work and life. 

People also get to learn about a different part of me. My characters and comedy are very silly and out there, but I don’t shy away from the more real conversations. It’s like getting to know the person behind the comedy, and I like having that outlet where I can connect with people in a more intimate way. 

Stay up-to-date and connect with Feimster by following her on Facebook and Twitter @fortunefunny, Instagram @fortunefeimster, or visit her official website, fortunefeimster.com.     

Photos by Matt Misisco