The last time Fortune Feimster performed in San Jose in 2022, she had just released her second Netflix stand-up special, Good Fortune. The comedian, actress and podcaster joked about surviving the COVID-19 lockdown, discovering that she’s not very “butch,” meeting her wife at a Chicago pride festival, and getting married in a Zoom wedding in Malibu during the pandemic. “We met in a parking lot,” Feimster said. “That’s how few lesbian bars are left in America.”
In the three years that have followed, Feimster has experienced great professional highs, and some personal lows, some of which she explores in her current stand-up tour, Takin’ Care of Biscuits, which includes a stop at the San Jose Civic on Nov. 22.
“I talk about what’s going on in my life and just life in general,” says Feimster. “I talk about my trip to Greece, where things went awry. I talk about having to grow up and learning to be more domestic. But I also talk a lot about nostalgic stories and some things that my mom made me do as a kid, like going to a nutrition class and haunted houses. I just tell really fun, silly stories. Nostalgia is the best word I can think of.”
After growing up in Belmont, North Carolina, where life is pretty much “church and Chili’s,” Feimster moved to LA and graduated from the famed Groundlings Theater. She got her first big TV break as a regular panelist on E!’s Chelsea Lately, the nighttime talk show hosted by Chelsea Handler, which helped popularize fellow comedians like Whitney Cummings, Guy Branum, Jo Koy, Moshe Kasher, Natasha Leggero and Loni Love.
Since then, Feimster has filmed her third Netflix stand-up special, 2024’s Crushing It. She starred alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in the comedy series FUBAR, and will play Will Ferrell’s caddy in another comedy series about golf, both also on Netflix. Soon, she’ll voice the character of a beaver in Zootopia 2. And she co-hosts a radio show, What a Joke with Papa and Fortune, with Tom Papa, and a podcast, Handsome, with Tig Notaro and Mae Martin.
Recently, Feimster also guest hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where she got to interview Schwarzenegger, Mariah Carey and her mother, Ginger, who opened up about undergoing chemotherapy after being diagnosed with a rare form of bile duct cancer.
“I’m appreciative of anyone who’s followed my career and cares about me and my mom,” says Feimster. “Seeing that kind of support, love and care from strangers has really blown me away. So I’m grateful for the community around me. I hope that everybody can experience their own form of community, whatever that looks like for them.”
Though she’s navigating her mother’s health issues and going through a divorce, which she announced earlier this year on her Instagram, Feimter insists that she concentrates on “lightness” in her comedy.
“I have all these serious things going on in my life, which I touch on in these shows,” Feimster says. “But as of right now, I’m focusing on lightness. Maybe that’s because I need the lightness.”
And despite the current political climate, especially President Trump’s threats targeting the LGBTQ+ community, Feimster says that touring for her hasn’t changed, including appearing in more conservative cities.
“I don’t think for any reason that we should shy away from these areas that need different voices now more than ever,” she says. “Otherwise, we’re all just living in our own bubble. And I surprisingly sell more tickets in red cities than blue cities. People are very much wanting that representation in those areas. They want to be in theaters where they can look around and see allies and feel hopeful in their own city, and I’m happy to provide that.
“Maybe a lot of people that are coming are already familiar with me and are already fans, but sometimes they do bring people that haven’t heard of me,” Feimster muses. “And if I can open up one mind, then what a cool byproduct that would be?”
Fortune Feimster takes the stage at 7pm on Nov 22 at the San Jose Civic Auditorium, 135 W San Carlos St, San Jose. $64-$117. sanjosetheaters.org
