‘If Donald Got Fired’? Randy Rainbow and Patti LuPone delight in the possibilities
There’s a pot of comedy gold at the beginning, middle and end of Randy Rainbow’s latest musical parody costarring Broadway icon Patti LuPone.
On Wednesday, the comedian joined forces with LuPone to debut a clever, new anti-Trump anthem, “If Donald Got Fired,” sung to the tune of “If Momma Was Married” from the musical “Gypsy.”
“If Donald got fired, we could go back to life as we once knew it,” Rainbow muses in his preface. “Miserable and unfair, but at least without the daily threat of complete authoritarianism and apocalyptic destruction.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice?” LuPone chimes in.
Rainbow introduces the number by mock-moderating the first presidential debate between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden — clips from which are strategically placed throughout the parody.
Enter LuPone, who magically appears in a dramatic cloud of smoke, explaining, “When gay men are in crisis, I just materialize.”
Patti LuPone’s videos on Twitter are medicine to fans: “I live for Patti on a normal day, but the joy she fills me with is especially vital right now.”
“If Donald got fired according to plan / Just think of the things I could do,” Rainbow sings in the duet. “I’d stop having nightmares about Kellyanne / And finally sing songs about somebody new / If Donald got fired.”
“If Donald got fired / Would that be sublime? / I’d put down my bottles and bongs,” LuPone muses. “I’d be back on Broadway and belting Sondheim / Instead of cheap internet parody songs / If Donald got fired.”
“If Momma Was Married” is the latest of several showtunes Rainbow has rewritten to critique the Trump administration and raise awareness about the upcoming presidential election. Past hits of his include, “I Won’t Vote Trump,” “Kamala,” “Gee, Anthony Fauci,” “Poor, Deplorable Troll” and “A Spoonful of Clorox.”
“Donald, we’re all in a jam / Please get the hell out and take Lindsey Graham,” he and LuPone vocalize in unison. “Donald, the truth might be tough / The polls all project we’ve all had enough / Donald, don’t stand there and scoff / With all due respect, please kindly f— off.”
On Tuesday night’s episode of “The Late Late Show,” comedian James Corden performed another musical parody, “Maybe I’m Immune,” roasting Trump’s COVID-19 messaging to the tune of Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed.” The title is a play on a recent video of Trump speculating that he might be “immune” to the novel coronavirus upon his return to the White House.
Trump recently contracted COVID-19 along with First Lady Melania Trump and several other White House figures. The president has yet to recover from the respiratory illness after receiving treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
“Maybe I’m a man / And maybe I don’t wear a mask ‘cause I don’t care about others,” Corden belted on his late-night program. “Science, I don’t really understand / Maybe I’m a man / And maybe I’m just high from this experimental cocktail / Maybe I just need some oxygen.”
“Republicans seem to be handing this outbreak the way they’ve handled the whole pandemic,” said John Oliver on “Last Week Tonight.”
Several of Corden’s late-night TV peers — including Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, Jimmy Fallon, Amber Ruffin, John Oliver and Jimmy Kimmel — have tackled Trump’s widely criticized response to his COVID-19 diagnosis on their shows as well, accusing the president of carelessly putting himself and others at risk.
“Maybe I’m immune to the way the polls are looking now,” Corden sang. “Maybe I’m afraid that it’s not fake news / Maybe I’m immune to all the lies that I have made / I shouldn’t have downplayed / Maybe I’m afraid of the way that I might lose this.”
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
