Artist description Rachel Arieff was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with two brothers & two loving, wonderful parents. But then she went away to a kooky hippy kollege, and that's where her downward spiral to stardom began. In kollege, Rachel went off the deep end and majored in Dance, that's right, Dance, to avoid reading. For her senior thesis, she dressed fellow students in garbage bags and choreographed dances in which they made out with trees and ran full force into buildings, which the townspeople watched with satisfaction. It was pretty rad. After college, Rachel, armed with a diploma but functionally illiterate, moved to Austin, where she began doing standup comedy at The Velveeta Room, then to New York, where she met drummer ERIC RUDNICK. Desperate for money, the two tried to organize raves for dessicated Park Avenue CEOS who bopped to Michael Bolton and Chuck Mangione. When that project failed, they both moved to LA, where they met world-famous guitar virtuoso GARNER KNUTSON of THE PIPER DOWNS (www.piperdowns.com). Once Rachel and Eric succeeded in prying off the very last crying, screaming, pregnant girl off Knutson (a process that took a good 5 months) they got together and started playing the songs from Rachel's new rock-and-roll variety show, How To Be Happy All the Time. Egged on by their fans, they went into "the studio" & recorded the album, "How To Be Happy All the Time", which you can buy at www.cdbaby.com. This CD is already creating a stir in LA; as a testament to her newfound success, Rachel Arieff now gets approached several times a day by creepy, strange men who want to know if she "likes to party". Rachel's other achievements include appearances on NBC's standup show "Late Friday" and the Nickelodeon feature film "Clockstoppers". Rachel's also the keyboard-playing sidekick in the hot new standup showcase, Rotating Talk Show, featured at the HBO Workspace and the Chicago Comedy Festival.

Music Style If the B-52's sang Sesame Street songs with lyrics by The Dead Milkmen. If you love dead-serious, woe-is-me singer-songwriters, then you'll HATE Rachel Arieff. If you like addictive, toe-tapping, Tin-Pan-Alley pop with hilarious lyrics...you won't.

Musical Influences Sesame Street, Schoolhouse Rock, The Muppet Show, Tammy Faye Starlite, Randy Newman.

Similar Artists Tammy Faye Starlite, The Muppet Show, early Randy Newman

Artist History Piano lessons as a kid, standup comedy, weirdo theater, subway gazing, a B.A. in Dance from Antioch College, no felonies or prior convictions, temped at the World Trade Center 1996-1999 and had pictures taken of herself there in 1997 in a corporate attire but no pants. "Those were the days, my friend; we thought they'd never end."

Group Members Rachel Arieff, plus The Smileytown Boys, who are Eric Rudnick (drums & yelling) & Garner Knutson (bass & guitar, and also yelling) from the band THE PIPER DOWNS; guest musicians Michael Todd (washboard, yelling) & Joe McAlavey (accordion), from the band BREECH.

Instruments Singing, Yelling, Piano, Bass, Drums, Guitar, Washboard, Accordion, Toy Glockenspiel, Tambourine

Albums How To Be Happy All The Time

Press Reviews "Slash-and-burn smarts... (Arieff) thinks and writes her sassing." -Laurie Stone, The Village Voice "The savvy Arieff has touched a chord with her show." -Tom Murrin, Paper Magazine "Rachel Arieff is one of the most brilliant comedians to come out of America in the last decade." - Popular1 Magazine, Barcelona, Spain "You'll find yourself laughing through the tears and gasping for breath at the whole damned spectacle." -Shout Magazine "Often hilarious, always strange...an original and creative performance." -CityTripping "Me divierte mucho. La niña tiene el desparpajo de Frank Zappa (sin su asombrosa exuberancia musical). No sé cómo la aguantan -y la comercializan- en el país más ñoño del mundo. Échenle una escuchada." -Ramon Buenaventura, Novelist & Poet, Madrid, Spain

Additional Info http://www.rachelarieff.com

Location Los Angeles, CA - USA

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