Comedian Fortune Feimster brings new ‘Live Laugh Love!’ tour to Lexington

The list of stand-up comedians who can say they have shot action scenes with Arnold Schwarzenegger is pretty short – and Fortune Feimster can say she’s on it.

The 42-year-old comedian, writer and actress has gone from filming her own stand-up specials for Netflix to starring alongside the action-movie icon for an upcoming Netflix action series set to release later this year.

“It’s very trippy for me, too. Trust me,” the North Carolina native said of starring alongside Schwarzenegger. “They approached me to do it. I was like, ‘Me? Really?’ It ended up being a really cool fit.”

The comedian has brightened up comedy stages, radio and screens big and small for the last few years but she didn’t get there without a few periods where the chances for success were dim.

Feimster started off as a comedy writer but it was always a means to eventually act or do stand-up comedy. For her acting aspirations, that success had to wait for the tide in entertainment to shift in her direction and being unique wasn’t discouraged.

“Very early on in my career, I was getting told ‘no’ constantly because I was considered different,” she said. “I came up at a time when being different wasn’t really celebrated. It was still that time in Hollywood where people wanted you to be like everybody else.”

Working in television

Feimster eventually broke through as a writer and panelist on E!’s hit late-night talk show “Chelsea Lately” before later becoming a recurring character on Mindy Kaling’s Hulu sitcom “The Mindy Project.” She would later make guest appearances on everything from CBS’s “2 Broke Girls” and FOX’s “Glee” to recurring roles on Showtime’s “The L Word” and CBS’s “Life in Pieces.”

The one place where her look, warm personality and fun sense of humor found a welcome home was stand-up comedy. Feimster worked her way through the clubs and made appearances on the biggest late-night talk shows. She released two half-hour comedy specials (one for Comedy Central and one through season one of Netflix’s “The Standups”), but her upward rise in stand-up hit a sticking point when she pitched Netflix her hour-long special.

“The feedback I was getting was, I wasn’t ready,” she said. “It forced me to go back on the road and really dig into my material and like, ‘what am I trying to say?’”

Coming out as gay

Feimster admits even though she had been touring doing stand-up comedy since 2010, her only objective was to make people laugh and entertain. Only after getting a pass from Netflix and hitting the clubs again telling stories about her past, her family and her coming out as gay that she honed in on a style that landed her first full-length special for Netflix, “Sweet & Salty” in 2020.

“I like that narrative and that personal feeling to it,” she said. “By the time I got a ‘yes’ from Netflix, I really tapped into what I think now is my voice.”

While Feimster was getting the greenlight from Netflix for “Sweet & Salty,” her ability to tour was shot down thanks to the closing of comedy clubs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She said all the time people spent indoors binging Netflix may have ended up working in her favor.

“It (“Sweet & Salty”) might have been watched by people who might not have known about it,” Feimster said. “I was at home like everyone else for almost a year and just getting a lot of messages from people ... just staying it helped get them through that difficult time.”

New tour, new material

Late last year, Feimster released her second hour-long Netflix special aptly titled “Good Fortune.” She touches on proposing to her wife Jacquelyn “Jax” Smith and her mom and dad, who have become beloved characters from her stand-up and on her Sirius XM radio show “What a Joke with Papa and Fortune” with stand-up comedian Tom Papa.

Feimster is three weeks into her “Live Laugh Love! Tour,” which comes to the Lexington Opera House on Sunday, Feb. 19. She said in addition to giving audiences a whole new hour of material, she wants to give a further look into her life, using her individual ups and downs to help people unify around collective laughter.

“There’s something exciting about starting a new set and challenging yourself creatively,” Feimster said. “I’m very grateful I get to do what I love and people want to come see these shows ... I’m very excited for what’s to come.”

Fortune Feimster “Live Laugh Love! Tour”

When: Sunday, Feb. 19, 5 and 8 p.m.

Where: Lexington Opera House, 401 W. Short St.

Tickets: $29.50 to $78

Call: 859-233-4567

Online: lexingtonoperahouse.com