by Olga Merino

Monday, June 23, 2014

A North American born in Milwaukee, what she refers to «the deep midwest». Biting and irreverent, Rachel Arieff has two unique shows: Anti-Karaoke (Sidecar) and Coñólogos (Gipsy Lou).

-My grandmother was Norwegian, one of my grandfathers was German and the other was Russian… I’m a mongrel, like most North Americans. My father sold aluminum siding, my mother was a housewife and I came out an artist; let’s just say I was a surprise.

-How did you discover your comic vein?

-I was that way as a kid. I was always kind of a hippy and a nerd. Once, on the gymnastics team, I had to wear leotards, but I preferred to wear men’s underwear that I’d tie-dyed. I knew I was an artist not because I went to ballet and music classes, but because of the way I thought. I felt constrained at home, at school with the cliques of students. Everything seemed so conformist.

-But you went into Political Science.

-Yes, I began very straight-laced; at 14 I learned about the imperialism of my country and it was doing around the world really bothered me. But later I went into dance because I had bulimia, I got fat and I wanted to lose weight.

-Wow…

-I wasn’t happy and I hadn’t discovered my path. We’re all prisoners of the environment we’re born into until we get old enough and can escape. As artists we need to get out of our bonds and experiment. I felt that place was somewhere else.

-And you packed your suitcase.

-I began my career in Texas as a stand-up comedian. Later I went to live in New York: during the day I worked as a secretary in one of the Twin Towers, disguised as an executive, and at night, I performed in dives. I took the anger and hatred inside and created something new; that is what stand-up comedy is.

-And finally you ended up in Barcelona.

– I fell in love with Barcelona on a school trip, with my Spanish class! It seemed that in this society there was love and beauty, even though that might sound like a cliché. So here I am, since 2004, doing comedy, composing music and studying flamenco.

-You don’t say!

-Yes, singing and dancing. I began to listen to it last summer; Camarón de la Isla, of course. Now I’m preparing a flamenco show, yankee-style. I’ve already decided on my artistic name: “la Terremoto de Milwaukee.”

-It’s a promising name. What do you think is the best subject for comedy?

-The Vatican seems begging to be satirized because it’s one of the most corrupt businesses on the planet, although the new pope gives us reason to hope. The powerful are always fodder for ridicule.

-Does the label “underground” bother you?

-No, com vostè vulgui (as you like” in Catalan). I try to get away from the underground, of the margins, but I get bored. I did some movie roles and TV series in the U.S. and I was beginning to have some success, but I couldn’t dedicate myself to it 100%. I can’t be an actress.

-Why not?

-In the U.S. there were horrible roles for women. And if you’re blonde, I can’t even tell you: “How are you, dear? How was your day? Can I make you a sandwich?” I’ll never forget what my acting teache, who was the ex-wife of Jack Nicholson, told us: “If you want to dedicate your life to this craft, much of your work will be polishing turds.”

-Do you vote in the U.S. elections?

-Yes, I vote. For the progressives it was better to have Obama in the White House than George Bush, but in the end it was a disappointment. He sold us out!

-We’re headed towards a controversial autumn over here.

-Yeah… I’m not particularly pro-independence, but it depends on the changes they make, how they will affect my life.