Fortune Feimster, coming to Kansas City, got into comedy for laughs but found more
Fortune Feimster’s confessional brand of comedy is designed, first and foremost, to elicit belly laughs. It wasn’t until the stand-up released “Sweet & Salty,” her hour-long Netflix special, in January 2020 that Feimster realized she had a knack for tugging at heartstrings as well.
Packed with anecdotes about her North Carolina upbringing, as a gay, self-described “fat kid” in a deeply religious and body image-conscious environment, the special amplified Feimster’s message of self-discovery and acceptance for a global audience. Although viewers may have known Feimster from her appearances on such TV shows as “Chelsea Lately” and “The Mindy Project,” “Sweet & Salty” gave them a taste of her more personal comedic stylings.
“That Netflix reach is so huge, and I was getting really incredible messages from straight people, gay people, parents of gay people,” says Feimster, 41. “It certainly took me back, just because when you are a comedian, your first goal is to be funny. You don’t really realize that by telling that story, you’re sharing that story with other people who’ve felt like they’re different or that they don’t fit in. There’s a lot of power in that.”
After a pandemic-induced break from stand-up, Feimster is back on the road with her follow-up act, “2 Sweet 2 Salty,” with two shows at Kansas City’s Uptown Theater on Jan. 29. In a phone interview last month, Feimster discussed responding to “Sweet & Salty’s” success, rewriting her material in quarantine and getting married during the pandemic.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Let’s start by rewinding to January 2020. What do you recall from the release of “Sweet & Salty”?
A: The response right away was really incredible. The byproduct of me telling my story was that it seemed like it helped people in their journey. I even had parents email me and say, “I didn’t know what to expect when my kid came out. I didn’t necessarily handle it the best way. I watched your special and learned some things about how to be there for them.” And I had people say, “I’ve been afraid to come out to my mom or dad, and I played them your special and I watched them watch you. When I saw that they were smiling and laughing, I felt safe to come out.” I mean, that kind of thing just really blows you away.
Q: How did you imagine the rest of 2020 playing out as you looked to build off the special’s momentum?
A: Right after it came out, we put up this big tour. It was my first theater tour and we didn’t know what to expect, and that whole tour sold out, like, in a month. So 2020 was looking like it was going to be a very exciting year — and the first show was supposed to be March 14, which obviously did not happen. I had my suitcases packed to go to Michigan and the world basically shut down.
Q: What was your response to the pandemic putting your stand-up career on pause?
A: I kind of sulked for a good month of just watching TV and being sad. But at some point, after (the pandemic) just kept going and going and we kept being at home and the waves kept coming, you just had to figure out how to make life OK. I got to spend a lot of time with my wife (Jacquelyn Smith) and my dogs and just let go of the stress of the business and the grind, and I think it did a lot for my mental health. My brain was clear and I felt really good after a while, aside from obviously the horror of trying not to get COVID. When I could just be at peace at home, it allowed me to free up my brain, and I wrote an entire new hour of stand-up. And that’s the tour that I’m doing now.
Q: Did you work the material you originally planned on touring in 2020 into the new hour or is it on a shelf?
A: It’s on a shelf. A year and a half later, it just didn’t work. Some of it is in this new set, but most of it is all new. It really picks up where “Sweet & Salty” left off. That was a story of my journey and trying to figure out who I was. This is who I am as an adult, and here are things about me where you might think I’m one way but I’m really this way. It just shows people who I am at this stage in my life.
Q: I saw you and your longtime partner got married in October 2020 with a small ceremony in Malibu. How did the wedding come together?
A: We were planning to get married at some point in 2020, but we got to a place where we were like, “I guess we’re not getting married because, I mean, how could we?” And then it was a pretty bleak fall. The politics were really all over the place. Everyone was super divided. (Justice) Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died. And we honestly didn’t know what the future had in store. We were like, “Are gay rights in trouble? We shouldn’t wait. We’ve been together six years. Let’s just get married.” So we ended up planning this in, like, three weeks, and it ended up being really perfect.
Q: How have you adjusted to the larger venues on this tour, making the jump from comedy clubs to theaters?
A: Pre-COVID, I had been doing clubs and colleges for 11 years. But the theater part, for me, it’s perfect because I am more of a storyteller. I consider myself not a traditional comic. I’m not doing a bunch of setups and punchlines. I am telling a lot of stories, and I feel like theaters are way more conducive to that. It’s a perfect setting to hear stories, whereas clubs, you have to work that much harder because I’m telling these longer stories while people are yelling for ketchup for their cheeseburger. So the theaters feel like this beautiful payoff of the last 10 years of building my act and trying to become a better stand-up.
Fortune in KC
Comedian Fortune Feimster brings her “2 Sweet 2 Salty” tour to the Uptown Theater at 7 and 9 p.m. Jan. 29 ($29.50-$59.50; early show sold out). uptowntheater.com.