Hi! I'm Rachel Arieff. I'm an American expat living in Spain.
I was born in Milwaukee and spent much of my adult life in Austin, NYC, and L.A, where I began my career as a stand-up comic.
I now live and work as a comedian/show-woman/impresario in Barcelona, Madrid and other parts of Spain.
For the past couple years, I've been performing my comedy show, Cómo ser feliz todo el tiempo, in the Café Teatre Llantiol, the only independent cabaret theater of its kind in the rapidly modernizing, self-cannibalizing city of Barcelona. The Llantiol is located in the so-called "Chinese Neighborhood" in the Raval section of Barcelona.
I'm not sure why it's called the Chinese Neighborhood. No Chinese people live there. My guess is they're trying to lure back the Jews.
Every Monday, I also host a very fun, theatrical, rock-n-roll karaoke show called Anti-Karaoke, in a club called the Sidecar in the Plaza Reial of Barcelona.
Once a month I also travel to Madrid, where I offer Anti-Karaoke the last Wednesday of every month at El Sol club.
You can learn everything about my shows here.
I hate writing my autobiography. If you really wanna know more about me, I suggest you read my Late Night Naughty Diary, or my MySpace pages (one can never have too many!):
http://www.myspace.com/rachelarieff
http://www.myspace.com/rachelarieffmusic
http://www.myspace.com/antikaraoke
Too Poor to Wear Pants to My Job at the World Trade Center
Buy an 8x10 print of this inspirational photo (c. 1998) for your office!
My Career & Crap
In 1992 I began doing stand-up comedy in Austin, Texas at the Velveeta Room, where I met friends such as Joy Gohring, Chip Pope, and Laura House. Austin was a magical place with a lot of wonderful people and great creative energy. I got my first taste of it during a college internship there, where I worked in a refugee shelter for Mexicans and Central Americans.
In 1996 I left Austin for New York, where I was so poor that I subsisted on coffee and Snackwells™ and got my finest office attire from the garbage. Don't feel bad for me -- New York has lotsa rich people with lotsa style, so fashions found in the trash there is the equivalent of prime TJ Maxx in the rest of the country. But even better, 'cause it's free!
Anyway, while temping my days away, I took advantage of the fine office facilities to write solo comedy shows for myself. I'd laser-print them on top-quality Hammermill Heavyweight Gloss paper. I would then perform them at weirdo alternative theaters on the Lower East Side such as Collective Unconscious or Surf Reality. My favorite show was called Hi, I'm Brittany, and I'm Rotting! - a Comedy About Career Girls in Decay.
In 2000, I decided to leave New York for Los Angeles to try and make money in TeeVee and MooVees. It was sad leaving the fucked-up but always inspiring vibe of New York, but I tried to keep the flame alive by starting a lounge show called Discotown! in a Ramada Inn.
While in LA, I did get to do standup on NBC's Late Friday and appear as the "Hot Skates Salesgirl" in the Nickelodeon feature film Clockstoppers.
I was also a contributing editor to the upstart Tinseltown rag The L.A. Innuendo. I also made a very fun CD of tin pan alley pop with satirical lyrics called How To Be Happy All the Time. There are still some copies left, so order now if you'd like one!
More importantly, I also saw Lily Tomlin, Catherine Keener, Geena Davis, and Dr. Laura at the Mayfair supermarket. I also got to witness Kirstie Alley and Giovanni Ribisi leaving the Scientology Celebrity Center. And once I even had to luck to see Keanu Reeves have an alleged "caffeine fit" at my neighborhood coffee house.
Great, I just linked my site to the Scientologists.That was so dumb. Now they're gonna come after me.
Awesome. I'll have to move again.
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