Talent must be genetic in Jewish comedian Laraine Newman’s family. She herself was one of the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players on “Saturday Night Live” and her sister Tracy is an Emmy award-winning television writer known for the showing “According to Jim.” In the next generation, her daughter is stand-up comedian Hannah Einbinder who shot into the spotlight through her starring role in “Hacks.” And Laraine’s oldest child Spike is also a comedian and actor with roles in “And Just Like That…,” “Poker Face,” “The Other Two” and more.
It’s no secret that we here at Hey Alma are obviously big fans of Hannah’s work (see: here, here and here), but frankly it’s past due that we cover the older Einbinder.
Here are 18 things to know about him.
1. Spike was born on Aug. 24, 1991 in Los Angeles to creatives Laraine Newman and Chad Einbinder.
2. He’s a Virgo!
3. Please enjoy this adorable photo of Hannah and Spike as young Eagles fans:
4. As a kid, he once had a Westminster Dog Show-themed birthday party. (More on dogs later…)
5. Spike has said of his Jewish identity, “my existence in the Jewish diaspora is congruent to how i relate to the earth and humanity. my surroundings are my community and home.”
6. He is also trans, which he channels into his comedy. Kinship describes his style of performance as “demonic, post-gender, post-human drag cabaret personas.”
7. One example of Spike’s demonic personas is this character on the Manhattan public access show “The Special Without Brett Davis.”
8. Another one of Spike’s personas is the Green M&M’s Mother!
9. He graduated from The New School with a Bachelor of Arts in Literary Studies in 2013.
10. Spike has been with his partner Eric since 2016, and the pair got engaged in 2023. “I proposed to him at Coney Island on the boardwalk as the fireworks lit up the sky. I got us both gold bands, as is Jewish tradition,” Eric wrote on Instagram.
11. He does a pretty spot-on Nosferatu impression:
@spike_e
12. He has had roles in the TV shows “Search Party,” “High Maintenance,” “The Other Two” and “Poker Face,” as well as a role in the Julia Louis-Dreyfus movie “You Hurt My Feelings.”
13. In addition to acting and comedy, Spike is also a dog walker! (Despite being allergic to dogs.) He owns his own business called The Rainbow Pack. “Being with dogs is truly soul-nourishing to me,” Spike told Kinship. “Coming to meet these creatures, where they’re at, is something I find many people don’t do for each other, even for people who know each other.”
14. He also has his own dogs, Spiderman and Nellie. Before the two of them, he had a beloved dog named Fabio who, according to Spike, lives on in “heaven/my heart/my mind/my eyes when i close them.”
15. Spike is a close friend and frequent collaborator of comedian Julio Torres. Spike played the Water Shadow in “Los Espookys,” Spray in “Problemista” and Carl in “Fantasmas.”
“i love being your monster, your loyal k9 and BFF, and watching you paint the world clear with your otherworldly visions,” Spike wrote about Julio in a 2022 birthday Instagram post.
16. Spike credits Julio with helping him navigate the entertainment industry.
“He has really taught me how to move my way through these channels in order to get something made,” he told the New York Times. “He’s helped me reframe it in a less selling-out way, and more like a subversion, infiltration type of thing.”
17. He looks pretty good in a Jewish star sweater.
18. Spike has a role in the third season of “And Just Like That…“
