Dratch was a member of the mainstage cast of The Second City comedy troupe for four years. She received the
Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Actress in a Revue for the two revues in which she performed:
Paradigm Lost and
Promisekeepers, Losers Weepers. At The Second City, she performed alongside future
Saturday Night Live head writers
Adam McKay and
Tina Fey, as well as future
30 Rock performer
Scott Adsit. The first incarnation of her
SNL "Wicked" sketch was performed in The Second City's
Paradigm Lost. In addition to acting, Dratch also played the cello onstage. The theater also hosted the first incarnation of
Dratch & Fey (her critically praised two-woman show with Tina Fey), which was later performed at the
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City, where it was dubbed "the funniest thing to be found on any New York comedy stage" by
Time Out New York. Dratch has appeared in several films, including
Martin & Orloff,
The Hebrew Hammer,
Down with Love,
Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star,
Click,
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry,
Spring Breakdown,
My Life in Ruins,
Hurricane Bianca, and
Hurricane Bianca: From Russia With Hate. She also has joined fellow
SNL cast members on
A.S.S.S.S.C.A.T.: Improv, which aired September 7, 2005, on the
Bravo channel. Dratch also made television appearances on
NBC's
Third Watch and in a recurring role on
The King of Queens (playing Denise, the on-off girlfriend of
Patton Oswalt's character Spence Olchin, who worked in a bowling alley). Her other television appearances include
Portlandia,
Monk,
Frasier,
Wizards of Waverly Place,
30 Rock,
Aqua Teen Hunger Force,
Inside Amy Schumer,
Ugly Betty, and
The Middle in
season five. She also appeared online with comedian
Billy Eichner in a spoof of
Jay-Z and
Alicia Keys's "
Empire State of Mind", titled "Forest Hills State of Mind." Dratch was originally cast in the role of
Jenna Maroney on
30 Rock as Jenna DeCarlo, and the original
pilot episode features her in the role. After feedback from test audiences, the role was ultimately recast with
Jane Krakowski. She went on to play a variety of small guest roles in several episodes of the
first season, including
Barbara Walters,
Elizabeth Taylor, cat trainer Greta Johansen, custodian Jadwiga, a blue monster, and Dr. Beauvoir. On March 19, 2012, Dratch's memoir,
Girl Walks into a Bar...: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle was published. In it, Dratch recounts her experiences after being recast in the
30 Rock pilot, including the birth of her child. In 2016, Dratch hosted the program ''Rachel Dratch's Late Night Snack'' on
truTV. The sketch comedy program featured Dratch playing a waitress who does not talk in wraparound segments. Dratch also appeared in sketches and the show ran for two seasons.
Saturday Night Live Dratch's tenure at
SNL spanned 1999 to 2006. Dratch's
recurring characters included
Denise McDenna, a Boston teen; Sheldon, the junior-high-school boy from
Wake up, Wakefield; Virginia Clarvin, a pretentious professor known as one of "The Love-ahs"; Abe Scheinwald, a Hollywood producer with a terrible acquisition record; and (perhaps most memorably)
Debbie Downer, a depressed woman who brought others' moods down with her grim
non sequiturs. In December 2011, she made a guest appearance on
SNLs
season 37 Christmas show, hosted by former cast member
Jimmy Fallon. On April 15, 2017, she made another guest appearance with host Jimmy Fallon. On a February 3, 2018,
season-43 episode hosted by
Natalie Portman, she made a guest appearance as a "Patriot of New England" in a
Revolutionary War-themed sketch parodying the fans of the
New England Patriots and
Philadelphia Eagles in advance of
Super Bowl LII. On a September 29, 2018,
season-44 episode hosted by
Adam Driver, she appeared as
Senator Amy Klobuchar in the opening sketch, about the
confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. She continued to reprise the role of Klobuchar during sketches on the
2020 Democratic Party Presidential primary debates, specifically the fifth and sixth debates in November and December 2019.
Woo Woo with Rachel Dratch Podcast On October 10, 2023, Dratch launched her podcast
Woo Woo with Rachel Dratch by QCODE alongside her longtime friend Irene Bremis. The show explores paranormal, metaphysical, and “woo-woo” topics such as spirits, psychic readings and crystals. Guests include well-known figures like
Tina Fey,
Will Forte, and
Gloria Steinem, who share personal experiences of the supernatural. ==Personal life==