Rachel Feinstein () is an American actress and stand-up comedian. Feinstein was a finalist on season 7 of ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' is an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, and again in 2014 and 2015. Each season a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls was picked as ...

'' (2010). In 2011, she released her first comedy album, ''Thug Tears''. Her first comedy special, ''Only Whores Wear Purple'', was released in 2016 on

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, and her second special, ''Big Guy'', was released on

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in 2024.

Early life

Feinstein was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and grew up in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

. Her father, Howard Feinstein, was a civil rights lawyer and a blues musician and her mother, Karen, was a social worker. Her father is of Russian and Polish Jewish ancestry, whereas her mother was raised a Methodist, converting to Judaism upon marrying her father. Feinstein's mother was raised in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

region of California, and met Feinstein's father while the two were studying at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

. Feinstein has said that she was a poor student and "barely graduated" high school. She moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

at age 17 with her then-boyfriend, a musician. After breaking up with her boyfriend, Feinstein "did some theater first. Then I started doing open mics. The first time I went out was at a bar that was doing a comedy night and I bombed wildly. I just kept trying to go up and do those bringer shows where you have to bring like five people just to get on stage. I didn’t know many people in New York, so I would just try to make friends with people and bother them into coming to shows."

Career

Feinstein was a finalist on season 7 of ''

'' (2010). She played a comedian performing as herself in the feature film ''Her Composition'' (2015), directed by Stephan Littger. In 2011, she released ''Thug Tears'', her first comedy album, through

Records. In 2013, she was featured on the video game ''

Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...

'', providing the voice of talk show host Michele Makes. Feinstein released her first comedy special, ''Only Whores Wear Purple'', in 2016. She subsequently appeared on the HBO series '' Crashing'' (2017–2019), and in the comedy series '' Inside Amy Schumer'' (2013–2022), and '' Life & Beth'' (2022). Feinstein was also featured on an episode of '' The Standups'' (2018). She has performed sets on ''Conan'', ''The Tonight Show'' and ''The Late Late Show''.

Personal life

In September 2018, Feinstein married Peter Brennan, a Battalion Chief of the

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. Best friend and fellow comedian Amy Schumer was her maid of honor. On February 20, 2020, on the ''Dudley & Bob with Matt Afternoon Show'' (93.7 KLBJ-FM), Feinstein stated she was 7 months pregnant. She later gave birth to a daughter.

Discography

* ''Thug Tears'' (2011) * ''Only Whores Wear Purple'' (2016)

Filmography

Film

Television

Comedy specials

Video games

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Feinstein, Rachel Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Actresses from Washington, D.C. American film actresses American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American stand-up comedians American television actresses American women comedians Jewish American actresses Jewish American comedians Jewish women comedians Last Comic Standing contestants Entertainers from Bethesda, Maryland 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American Jews Comedians from Washington, D.C. Comedians from Maryland Year of birth missing (living people)