Speaker 1: The nick Ki Glaser Podcast.
Speaker 2: Glasers, Hello here I am. It's Nicky Glazer. Welcome to
Speaker 2: the Nicky Glazer Podcast. I'm here in Saint Louis, joined
Speaker 2: by my mom and studio.
Speaker 3: Hi Mom, Hi Nicky.
Speaker 2: I'm so glad to have you back, and I know
Speaker 2: I'm excited you're here for a special reason today. Brian
Speaker 2: is also here with us from New York. Hi Brian.
Speaker 2: He's in New York right now for the holiday. But
Speaker 2: we have a very special guest on the show today,
Speaker 2: which I'm sure you already know from the description on
Speaker 2: the podcast. It's one of my favorite comedians of all time,
Speaker 2: and my mom's like favorite comedian. You're like our your
Speaker 2: our favorite.
Speaker 4: I don't want to say she's my favorite. I would
Speaker 4: have said it's your favorite.
Speaker 2: Kathy Griffin is the is just such an inspiration to
Speaker 2: I would not be who I am without Kathy Griffin.
Speaker 2: My mom would not be who she is without Kathy
Speaker 2: grif so inspiring to us. We've watched her along just
Speaker 2: for so many years. Now she is embarking on her
Speaker 2: first tour of America in six years. It's called My
Speaker 2: Life on the PTSD list. It is a forty city tour.
Speaker 2: I am definitely traveling to Kansas City to go see
Speaker 2: it because it's the closest that it's getting to me.
Speaker 3: Nice.
Speaker 2: I was sad that I couldn't go see you in Vegas.
Speaker 2: I thought, oh my gosh, this is just a one
Speaker 2: off thing. I'm so glad you're back on tour. Welcome
Speaker 2: to the show, Kathy. I'm sorry to keep talking, please,
Speaker 2: I'm just I'm just so blessed to meet you today.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, you're so sweet. Well, I love you,
Speaker 1: you know that. And Julie, I'm your favor. Just say it.
Speaker 1: I'm your aunt.
Speaker 4: Katley, Okay, you're my favorite, definitely, and you always have been.
Speaker 3: But Nikki came into the scene and it was like,
Speaker 3: what do I do?
Speaker 1: No, yeah, Reilly, I prefer you to Nikki. I'm nothing
Speaker 1: about that.
Speaker 2: No, Kathy. Whenever my mom laughs at your material, because
Speaker 2: we'll watch your stuff together, she always goes, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2: She's just so funny. She says to say, I'm sorry
Speaker 2: to go why are you apologizing? And it's always because
Speaker 2: she thinks I'm getting offended on some level, and I go, I'm.
Speaker 1: Not, because she is the queen. My mom did the
Speaker 1: same thing when I was in the Groundings, the improv
Speaker 1: group back in the day, I was in the Growndings
Speaker 1: with Lisa Krudro, who of course went on to be
Speaker 1: in Friends, and my mom would come to the show
Speaker 1: and afterwards you would go, oh, Kathleen, that Lisa Kudro
Speaker 1: just has the if fact maybe I sketch and she get, well,
Speaker 1: you should keep working, but has everything. It's a path.
Speaker 1: So I'm used to it. That's what moms do at
Speaker 1: your job.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, don't you think that's a reason why
Speaker 2: you are the way you are? Though? Is because of that?
Speaker 2: Just were you always seeking her validation? Were you always
Speaker 2: trying to get your mom's approval? Is that a yeah?
Speaker 1: Look at me, Look at me. I mean, it's just beainiful.
Speaker 1: I was the youngest of five and you know, a
Speaker 1: wonderfully dysfunctional family, and my parents enjoyed the drink and
Speaker 1: so I was just dancing around trying to get their attention.
Speaker 1: But it was hard to get their attention away from
Speaker 1: like the high ball mix. Do you guys remember the
Speaker 1: fornixens where you would put a powder in a drink
Speaker 1: and stir it, which I could do when I was
Speaker 1: like seven. I can make my parents like a high
Speaker 1: ball Ernold it was powder, and then we had Hanburger Helper,
Speaker 1: which was more powder. I was raised powder there.
Speaker 3: That was the day. That's what they ate.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you find that your parents? Did your parents watch
Speaker 2: a lot of TV? So was that a way for
Speaker 2: you to go like, Okay, they'll pay attention to me
Speaker 2: if I get on that as a part of it.
Speaker 1: We're totally starstruck, so I want and believe it or not.
Speaker 1: Until the John Hughes movies started filming in Chicago, you know,
Speaker 1: like the Breakfast Club and stuff. Yeah, their daily Who
Speaker 1: was the mayor when I was a kid, I would
Speaker 1: not sorry the dogs here, he would not filming in Chicago.
Speaker 1: So my parents were very starstruck and we saw every movie.
Speaker 1: And there was one theater in our town called the
Speaker 1: Lake Theater in olk Park, Illinois, and we would go
Speaker 1: to every Friday, no matter what the movie was. And
Speaker 1: I remember one time the movie for a week was
Speaker 1: the documentary Pumping Iron with Our Wornigger, and we still went.
Speaker 1: We were like, yep, we're going because movie every Friday.
Speaker 1: They were super starstruck. And so when I started to
Speaker 1: become like when I started to get like TV gigs
Speaker 1: or little arts and movies. I took my parents to
Speaker 1: every gig I had, and it is to this day
Speaker 1: the joy of my career. Like I had a little
Speaker 1: part on er and I would even wow two lines
Speaker 1: somehow I would talk the producers into letting my parents
Speaker 1: come to the set with their folding chairs, and I
Speaker 1: have pictures of my parents with George Clooney from me
Speaker 1: are and it was like the episode that Quentin Tarantino directed,
Speaker 1: So there's a picture of my parents with Quentin Tarantino. Wow.
Speaker 1: It was honestly like it was a blast to bring
Speaker 1: them because they and by the way, they didn't bother anybody,
Speaker 1: and by the end of the time they would be
Speaker 1: the darlings of the set and people would see the.
Speaker 2: Way it is for me, Great Kathy, I really took
Speaker 2: a page from that book of yours of bringing my
Speaker 2: parents to everything that I can, involving them in every way.
Speaker 2: They've been on pretty much every shoot that I can
Speaker 2: get them on. I've incorporated them into every kind of
Speaker 2: TV show and I bring my dad on stage with me.
Speaker 2: I just love them so much, and I think I
Speaker 2: do know that they appreciate and value show business. So
Speaker 2: much that it is something that's it's nice to be
Speaker 2: able to. I mean, it's a way to get their attention.
Speaker 2: I do think that was a thing that I was like, Oh,
Speaker 2: my parents really like TV people. I mean, I think
Speaker 2: it's was probably one of the reasons as I got
Speaker 2: into this, I'm gonna take a little dark turn here.
Speaker 2: I really fear losing my parents because I was even
Speaker 2: crying to it about my my therapist yesterday. I was like,
Speaker 2: I don't know that I will have any reason to
Speaker 2: keep doing this if i'm not. Because they're the first
Speaker 2: ones who text me when I'm on TV. They watch
Speaker 2: everything I do. They are you know, they maybe don't
Speaker 2: say every all the right things, but they're so supportive
Speaker 2: they you know, and maybe sometimes I get a text
Speaker 2: and I'm like, oh, I don't even I don't even
Speaker 2: care that they watch that, but they're always But I
Speaker 2: do care. It's it means so much to me that
Speaker 2: they're always watching. And I fear that if when they're
Speaker 2: gone mentally, physically, whatever, that I will have no What's
Speaker 2: what's making me do this? Because I really think it's
Speaker 2: nice to make them grow.
Speaker 1: Them back, you'll bring them back. I learned this from
Speaker 1: the Great Don Ripples, the Why Dear de Party Friend,
Speaker 1: the one Tonnolly Don Ripples, and he would his mom
Speaker 1: given every show, and he would talk to her and
Speaker 1: she said, wait, I can't remember what she said in
Speaker 1: the front of the back. But then she passed away,
Speaker 1: and there was a certain period of time when he
Speaker 1: kind of didn't do anything, and then he would talk
Speaker 1: about her in a way that was very you know, poetic,
Speaker 1: and I I still talk about my mom and I
Speaker 1: act because the people that come to my shows knew
Speaker 1: my mom and my dad, and they say tip it,
Speaker 1: which is something my mom would say, because my mom
Speaker 1: enjoyed a box of wine and when the plastic bag
Speaker 1: inside the box was getting low, you gotta tip it,
Speaker 1: playing tip tip the box and then you use the
Speaker 1: figot to get the very last drops broken. Live in
Speaker 1: our car any don food like all that stuff you
Speaker 1: can still talk about. But I do love talking about
Speaker 1: your dead mother when she's in the room now, Julie,
Speaker 1: and I don't want to burst into tears of white therapist,
Speaker 1: But Julie, what celebrities have like stuck out with you?
Speaker 1: Did you? Oh?
Speaker 3: With through Nicki Blake Shelton, Well, yeah, Blake.
Speaker 4: I've met so many Dave Matthews, Blake Shelton.
Speaker 1: Way taught me about nick Shelton.
Speaker 3: Uh well, Nicky was doing a game show with.
Speaker 2: Him, Barmageddon now episode will be in January.
Speaker 3: Oh good, good to know.
Speaker 4: Anyway, we got to and Nicky's like, do you want
Speaker 4: to go because Taylor Swift is playing in Nashville also,
Speaker 4: and you can go with me to that.
Speaker 3: And I'm like, I'm so in.
Speaker 4: She took me on tour with her to go see Taylor,
Speaker 4: like four different shows, different cities. Nicky's so generous with me, Kathy,
Speaker 4: It's anyway, Blake like spent fifteen minutes with me just
Speaker 4: sitting next to me.
Speaker 1: Shelton, but go ahead.
Speaker 4: Well he honestly, he didn't cringe when I said Blake.
Speaker 3: He's such a nice guy. He's just like I was.
Speaker 4: I really didn't even know who he was, to be honest, Like,
Speaker 4: I know who he is, but I didn't know how
Speaker 4: cool he was.
Speaker 3: No, to be honest, did he.
Speaker 1: Just charm the pants off you? Yeah?
Speaker 3: He did.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was just really He's like he's talking about
Speaker 2: how he met Gwen, like he was letting us in
Speaker 2: on all this kind of like insider info. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: he had his own green room, but he didn't even
Speaker 2: use it. He just hung out in ours. And then
Speaker 2: I thought he was just being nice to me and
Speaker 2: just like, you know, saying hi to my mom and
Speaker 2: me and sitting down for a second when we first
Speaker 2: got there.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But then I got called to set and he just
Speaker 2: he just stayed with my mom. He just stayed behind
Speaker 2: and sat with her for fifteen minutes. And it wasn't
Speaker 2: even like, oh, I'm just going to be a real
Speaker 2: gentleman now. It was just like he was genuinely interested
Speaker 2: in her and her story. And you know that that
Speaker 2: stuff really stands out to you. Gwen.
Speaker 1: So FRANI feel about your whole mother trying to take cake.
Speaker 3: Well, I don't know. I said, don't tell Gwen.
Speaker 1: Mother's a harlot.
Speaker 3: I said, I said, don't tell Gwen.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But it was so funny because I went on to
Speaker 2: I was shooting a show this this summer, and there
Speaker 2: was some of the same crew from that show, and
Speaker 2: they kept coming out to me and going, when's your
Speaker 2: mom coming to set again? We love your mom. I
Speaker 2: just texted a guy about your mom, like you're people
Speaker 2: just loved you because you were throwing back a couple
Speaker 2: you got into the wine on that shoot. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: you were just being funny and hilarious, and you were
Speaker 2: filming me. She was in the crowd shot, which is
Speaker 2: supposed to be like a drunk honky talk bar of
Speaker 2: like cool you know, millennials gen z. And my mom's
Speaker 2: just holding off my filming as I'm doing some these
Speaker 2: like competitions. I didn't know like we had to cut
Speaker 2: around your mom filming you the whole time, but it
Speaker 2: was She's just like a blast everywhere she goes. And
Speaker 2: she just told me story embarrassed.
Speaker 1: You come on, be honest.
Speaker 2: Oh, I mean yeah, surely, yeah, for sure. But but
Speaker 2: that was like in high school, you know, when I
Speaker 2: was like trying to be cool. I think I heard
Speaker 2: you say it too about your parents. Is that my
Speaker 2: my dad is the one who's like intentionally funny and
Speaker 2: has the jokes, and then my mom is the one
Speaker 2: that's just born funny and doesn't really know why she's funny,
Speaker 2: and like she makes everyone laugh everything. She's yeah, mom,
Speaker 2: you were. I feel like I'm listening to like a
Speaker 2: couple of counseling sessions like I do on these podcasts.
Speaker 2: They always goes, you can tell her, Nikki, you can
Speaker 2: tell her I love you. Yeah, I mean I've told
Speaker 2: you this before. You're you're the funniest person I know.
Speaker 2: But you don't even I've tried to actually imbuse some
Speaker 2: of your characteristics of the way you talk.
Speaker 3: And just those things you need to do a good job.
Speaker 2: Well I know, I don't know. Yeah, no I do,
Speaker 2: but you just you are just funny the way you are,
Speaker 2: and so it's uh and that to me. I don't
Speaker 2: know about you, Kathy, but I feel like I've always
Speaker 2: tried to be funny or it's been like you know,
Speaker 2: I think I have some of that natural ability, but
Speaker 2: it's more for me. I think I'm I'm more of
Speaker 2: like my dad's version. But as I get older, I'm
Speaker 2: trying to relax and be like, oh wait, there is
Speaker 2: a natural funny part of me that I've been kind
Speaker 2: of almost fighting by trying so hard.
Speaker 1: No, I love that though I love both of those
Speaker 1: kinds of people. I'm so lucky to have those like
Speaker 1: arch types of people with my parents because my dad, honestly,
Speaker 1: he could have been a comic, like he was really funny.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's the kind of humor of that I have,
Speaker 1: which you know, sometimes it serves me well and sometimes
Speaker 1: it hasn't. But like I remember, when I was a
Speaker 1: little kid, we had this like really close family friend.
Speaker 1: He was almost like an uncle, and he redid their
Speaker 1: wreck room. Remember wreck rooms, Julie, of course, since sort of,
Speaker 1: but we called a wreck room, right he So mister
Speaker 1: Gillian was his name. So mister Gillian finishes the wreck
Speaker 1: room and he did it all himself. And it's Sunday
Speaker 1: and we'd gone to church, and I remember my dad's
Speaker 1: holding my hand. I'm a little kid, and my dad
Speaker 1: walks in he goes, what a ship box funniest? And
Speaker 1: my mother was appalled of Gillian laughed because he knew
Speaker 1: my dad was kidding. But I captured that quality of
Speaker 1: like being able to be not mean, like we're talking
Speaker 1: about Wrickles, like believe it. Rickles was wounded when he
Speaker 1: when people thought he was mean. And I never understood
Speaker 1: how you could think Wrickles or Joel Rivers were mean
Speaker 1: because they were so clearly nay, I'm like letting you
Speaker 1: in on the joke, but their world was this no
Speaker 1: Bs world. And yet my dad did kind of need
Speaker 1: my mom to be a legit person that was legit
Speaker 1: appalled and everything you said, Yeah, no, she was giggling too, right.
Speaker 1: I love that, like balance of my mom was a character.
Speaker 1: She didn't know why she was funny. My dad could
Speaker 1: like tell a joke, I'm cue so China and you
Speaker 1: had that Nikki where you can marry those two things,
Speaker 1: but you can be funny. I'm que like that.
Speaker 2: It's you know, when I let go. You know, I
Speaker 2: think when I'm trying, when I'm obsessed about what I'm
Speaker 2: going to say and trying to be the funniest, I'm
Speaker 2: I'm somewhere in between.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 2: When I go on talk shows, I want prepared material.
Speaker 2: I want to know exactly the beats I'm gonna hit.
Speaker 2: I want to make sure I have funny jokes. And
Speaker 2: then there's there is a part though, of letting go.
Speaker 2: You know, I didn't come up doing improv or sketch,
Speaker 2: so I don't have that. I've always just done stand ups,
Speaker 2: so it's always been like, I know what I'm gonna
Speaker 2: say when I'm good up there. I don't really do
Speaker 2: crowd work. I'm kind of nervous about letting myself just
Speaker 2: go and letting the funny find itself. But as I
Speaker 2: get older, I think I'm I'm just learning to like
Speaker 2: myself more and just trust that whatever I am is
Speaker 2: unique and it's fine and that's what makes me special.
Speaker 2: But it takes so many years to fucking start.
Speaker 1: Would you like the great of you? And that's what
Speaker 1: makes you successful? Because a mix that just try to
Speaker 1: write material are almost recite material. It has to come
Speaker 1: from me, your point of view. What is the shit
Speaker 1: you think it's funny? Sorry, I don't know if I'm
Speaker 1: law to curse on here? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Please?
Speaker 1: Okay the shit you think is funny? But by the way,
Speaker 1: can we talk about crowd work? Okay? Yes, Nikki, I
Speaker 1: don't do this trend? Like if this is the new trend,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. Like I look, I get crowd work, and
Speaker 1: I admire people and I do have me too, and
Speaker 1: that's great. But I actually feel philosophically that if you
Speaker 1: buy a ticket to you know, for my life on
Speaker 1: the PTSD tour, you can just relax, like I you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, Like I want the audience to
Speaker 1: know I'm gonna do all the work this past two
Speaker 1: hours where you just have to sit in your seat Also,
Speaker 1: you play theaters like I do, that's a very different animal.
Speaker 1: You can't do crowd work with someone in row one
Speaker 1: because then the thousand people behind them or more if
Speaker 1: you're lucky, twenty five hundred people or whatever, they can't
Speaker 1: hear that person.
Speaker 2: They have no you know, Sebastian Manscalko, because he relies
Speaker 2: on a part of his set to do CrowdWork. He
Speaker 2: will have a camera filming that person and then it
Speaker 2: shows up on the screen, so he's he's orchestrated in
Speaker 2: a way that it can make sense for the whole theater.
Speaker 2: But you're absolutely right. It's I know that when I
Speaker 2: go to shows, or when I was a person that
Speaker 2: was before I did stand up, I was terrified of
Speaker 2: being singled out or being called on, and I think
Speaker 2: that most people have that. There are some people that
Speaker 2: you know are dying to be roasted or you know,
Speaker 2: be involved in the show, but those people are not
Speaker 2: really interested in entertaining. I just that's not I actually
Speaker 2: give a speech before my show that says like, if
Speaker 2: you have seen my roast before and you're here thinking
Speaker 2: that's what's gonna happen tonight, it's not. If you're a
Speaker 2: girl who is brought by one of those guys, like
Speaker 2: I can't wait for her to tear us to stress.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna talk about you can get up to
Speaker 2: go to the bathroom, and I'm not gonna be the
Speaker 2: one to go, like, look at this lady going to
Speaker 2: take a shit, Like I tell them, please go to
Speaker 2: the bathroom, Like I want you to have no anxiety.
Speaker 4: Just laugh.
Speaker 2: If you have a weird laugh, let it go like loudly,
Speaker 2: and I'm not gonna address it. I'm not gonna you
Speaker 2: can just relax because I I just know that's the
Speaker 2: kind of experience I want. And I like that you
Speaker 2: say that, because yeah, it's it's it's become this trend.
Speaker 2: And I agree with you. I think it is a
Speaker 2: talent in its own rife, right, but it's really not right.
Speaker 1: It has to be in clubs are like like, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's got to have like a JumboTron and stuff. And
Speaker 1: look that's what I do when I was in the Groundlings,
Speaker 1: And that's great. And when you go to the Groundlings,
Speaker 1: which is a comedy troupe in La or Second City
Speaker 1: in Chicago, the whole audience knows when they enter they
Speaker 1: are going to be asked to make suggestions. But you
Speaker 1: know what's funny, Nicky, is I also have people that
Speaker 1: think I'm a roaster, but I'm not really a classic roaster.
Speaker 1: And you and I have both done roasts, yeah, and
Speaker 1: it's honestly, it's not my comfort zone. And I'll either
Speaker 1: sort of roasty type of zingers in my stuff, but
Speaker 1: it's not the Comedy Central roast of Charlie Sheen roast
Speaker 1: of David Fop. That's like a assignment. And I just
Speaker 1: feel like what you and I do is this is
Speaker 1: our time to have however much time to do, you know,
Speaker 1: but to let it fly, let the stuff that we
Speaker 1: think is funny out during this relatable I say a
Speaker 1: thing because I tend to go really long. On my
Speaker 1: last tour, which was over five years ago, I did
Speaker 1: some shows that were over three hours because oh my god,
Speaker 1: I actually did every show like it was my last show.
Speaker 1: And then on my last show, it fucking was my
Speaker 1: last show. Yeah, and then the phone didn't ring, Nikki
Speaker 1: for five years. I did this successful tour of my career.
Speaker 1: I got like freaking Sapore and the Sydney Opera House
Speaker 1: in Carnegie Hall and Radio City and I thought okay,
Speaker 1: now I'm over the Trump photo. People are okay, and
Speaker 1: they weren't. And five long years I've been not fair
Speaker 1: yang and trying to get I've pitched talk shows and
Speaker 1: game shows and scripted shows at unscripted shows, and it's
Speaker 1: just been like this toxicity all from that Trump photo.
Speaker 1: And it's crazy because I feel like this tour came together.
Speaker 1: I'm not kidding. Three weeks ago. I finally got a
Speaker 1: call from an agent, like six weeks ago, and then
Speaker 1: I'm a agent and a manager, and then they routed
Speaker 1: this tour and so I got forty cities and it's
Speaker 1: just mind blowing because it's it's awesome. It's almost like
Speaker 1: America is finally forgiven me, which is a very odd
Speaker 1: thing to like go through.
Speaker 2: You know, it's gotta be because you must have just
Speaker 2: thought this is never gonna lift. They're never gonna forgive me.
Speaker 2: First of all, they don't even they don't even care
Speaker 2: to listen to what was really going on with that
Speaker 2: photo and why it happened. All they want to know
Speaker 2: is is they think that I was actually making a
Speaker 2: threat against his life. They don't have any interest in
Speaker 2: hearing me explain myself and flylist. I couldn't I know,
Speaker 2: and you were, you were under investigation for months, Yeah
Speaker 2: you were. I mean, I can't. I can't believe what
Speaker 2: you went through. Being canceled in that vicious of a
Speaker 2: way is something that so few people understand, and and
Speaker 2: I've I've researched it a bit, like I just it's people. Really,
Speaker 2: people wanted, people want you to die. People just people
Speaker 2: want you to lose everything. People really, it must have
Speaker 2: felt so horrible, especially Kathy as you know, someone who
Speaker 2: people don't understand that comedians are desperate for love, you know,
Speaker 2: and acceptance. That's why we're doing this. And even if
Speaker 2: you're a comedian that says crazy things or controversial things
Speaker 2: like you said about Rickles, you know, quote unquote mean things,
Speaker 2: at the core of it is this, this desperate need
Speaker 2: of acceptance in love, and so for that, for the
Speaker 2: opposite of that to happen, I don't, I don't know.
Speaker 2: I can't imagine what you went through. I'm so glad
Speaker 2: that it's feeling like it's finally lifted, and I can't
Speaker 2: wait to see how well this tour does.
Speaker 5: Like a mandatory minimum sentence, you got five years for
Speaker 5: a photo when there's other people we did much worse
Speaker 5: things and got one year.
Speaker 1: And you know, like when people talk about being canceled,
Speaker 1: first of all, let's be honest, A lot of the
Speaker 1: people that were canceled were dudes. They were like whipping
Speaker 1: their dicks out and robbing them against girls. And yes,
Speaker 1: somebody on a set who's like a hot cost denier.
Speaker 1: Like I took a photo that was you're in the
Speaker 1: same boat, a protest photo. In my opinion, some people
Speaker 1: thought it was a joke. You can interpret however you want.
Speaker 1: But to be investigated by two agencies within the Department
Speaker 1: of Justice and have the White House like serious, oh
Speaker 1: oh about charging me the conspiracy assassiny at the President
Speaker 1: of United States.
Speaker 3: Oh my god. It was just so intense, insane and
Speaker 3: it's ridiculous.
Speaker 2: It's no wonder you have on.
Speaker 1: And people just can't get over it, Like it was
Speaker 1: the craziest thing. Like I did the Stephen Colbert Show
Speaker 1: one time, and I'm a giant fan of his. I
Speaker 1: love the Colbert rapport in particular. Yeah, and I went
Speaker 1: on and he was so tough on me. The com
Speaker 1: minute the interview was over, I went in the wings
Speaker 1: and I freaking burst into tears. It was so embarrassing.
Speaker 1: And the producer came over to me and he said,
Speaker 1: I'll never forget. He goes, he just couldn't get beyond
Speaker 1: the picture.
Speaker 3: Oh God, give me a break.
Speaker 1: Because it was brutal, and he goes, I'm gonna give
Speaker 1: you a beautiful edit. And it was one of those
Speaker 1: shows where they did they did a Thursday show, it
Speaker 1: would run Friday and fine. But like, but people that
Speaker 1: came at me, it wasn't just the right wing, it
Speaker 1: was left right and said, you can't.
Speaker 2: You know what, can't anyone just like understand that sometimes
Speaker 2: you make a fucking mistake and that you make you
Speaker 2: just we've all been caught up in a moment. I mean,
Speaker 2: people can't relate to photo shoots and the ideas that
Speaker 2: get thrown out and the things that you do, like
Speaker 2: I've I've had water dumped on me with like a
Speaker 2: white T shirt with my nipples hanging out, Like I've
Speaker 2: done like kind of partially nude photographs when I didn't
Speaker 2: even want to because a guy in my kitchen was like,
Speaker 2: I have a cool idea. It's it can't anyone grasp
Speaker 2: that sometimes and that and you and you know it
Speaker 2: boils down to you pressing post on your Instagram. Your
Speaker 2: life was over. You just hit a button. You'd hit
Speaker 2: your phone with your thumb, and your life was fucking over,
Speaker 2: that's what you're saying.
Speaker 1: Thing. I was doing it because I was in between
Speaker 1: well in between gates. I was out of work, and
Speaker 1: one of the things that I do, and you're like
Speaker 1: this as a self starter, is I thought, you know
Speaker 1: what I'll do. I had the of course, the photographer.
Speaker 1: I had no fallout, you know, typical, but I had
Speaker 1: worked with him before and I foolishly trusted him. But
Speaker 1: you know, I thought, why don't I take a bunch
Speaker 1: of wacky pictures? And I took one where like I
Speaker 1: was spoofing Kim Kardashian, like I took like five wacky
Speaker 1: pictures that day. And that Trump picture took ten minutes.
Speaker 1: It was the last one of the day, and I
Speaker 1: had a Halloween mask and you know, off Trump and whatever.
Speaker 1: But I really thought, this picture will live on my
Speaker 1: Instagram for a day, or maybe it'll be on a
Speaker 1: gay blog and that'll be Yeah.
Speaker 2: Like I didn't well that you weren't trying to fire
Speaker 2: up anyone. You weren't trying to make it. It was
Speaker 2: we got to go to break. But I let's just
Speaker 2: talk about all this when we get back. I really
Speaker 2: want to talk about the name of your tour, why
Speaker 2: you chose that name, and like what what you've You've
Speaker 2: gone through and you've been through so much more than
Speaker 2: just this in the last six years. We'll be back
Speaker 2: with more Kathy Griffin after this. Okay, we're back. Kathy
Speaker 2: Griffin is here. She is back on tour forty city tour.
Speaker 2: And I like that you said that. I watched an
Speaker 2: Instagram live of yours recently. These are secondary cities, so
Speaker 2: these are these aren't the big the big cities. These
Speaker 2: are like you know, you took your agent made a
Speaker 2: plan for you, ry Town.
Speaker 1: New York, oh mah Red Bank, New Jersey, Napa, California,
Speaker 1: like yes, cities, and I sold, I'm this go around.
Speaker 1: I'm not doing like La New York, Minneapolis, Chicago.
Speaker 2: I have to Nikki, I take it the temperature, yeah.
Speaker 1: But I also have to earn my way back, like
Speaker 1: my dream has to play Carnegie Hall again.
Speaker 2: You played it five times, thanks already five times.
Speaker 1: Just me, no open or nothing. And you've never met
Speaker 1: anyone who loves standing on that stage more than I do.
Speaker 1: I am I know, Garland, I'm sorry, you know all
Speaker 1: the I you know. I have to earn my way
Speaker 1: back to Carnegie. I hope to play the Chicago Theater again.
Speaker 1: I hope to play the Kodak in LA. But I
Speaker 1: don't know, you guys, I'm scared.
Speaker 2: I know. It's all It's one hundred going to happen.
Speaker 2: This is your redempt people. Whether or not people have
Speaker 2: forgiven you. Everyone who has a head on their shoulders
Speaker 2: and and and has been a fan of yours in
Speaker 2: the past is back on boards always. Yes, I can't.
Speaker 1: I was for you to come back, and I want
Speaker 1: to ask your advice. So okay, So Julie, you're a
Speaker 1: super fan of buy and obviously you know I'm all
Speaker 1: a humble legend, all right.
Speaker 3: That's what I love about you.
Speaker 1: That's I'm just humble. The thing that I think really
Speaker 1: just hurts, but I want to have figure out a
Speaker 1: way to work around it. Is what hurts the most
Speaker 1: is all the people that think about that Tren photo,
Speaker 1: but they'd forgotten. They did like Kathy griff and my
Speaker 1: life on the g List, They did like my specials
Speaker 1: they did, like, you know whatever, And I still like
Speaker 1: that photo took away my entire body.
Speaker 3: Unfair. I just can't even believe how unfair.
Speaker 1: Oh, I'm the same person exactly.
Speaker 4: But and I guarantee you anyone who's seen you in
Speaker 4: concert and anyone who knows you, all your fans will
Speaker 4: be there.
Speaker 3: They're coming back. These are other people that cancel.
Speaker 2: And the people that aren't gonna come back have a
Speaker 2: brain disorder. I mean that's what they have, a mental illness,
Speaker 2: which we all know about. And it's like anything to
Speaker 2: do with that guy. They can't open their heart to
Speaker 2: any kind of reasoning or just they can't use simple logic.
Speaker 2: But I really do think that the pressure you'll get
Speaker 2: from this and the stories that will come out of it,
Speaker 2: the different appearances you'll make, You're gonna start being in
Speaker 2: their face again a lot more, and people are just
Speaker 2: gonna fall in love with you all over again because
Speaker 2: you're so fucking funny. I'm so excited to hear this material.
Speaker 2: You were even just one of the most prolific. You
Speaker 2: are probably the most prolific comedian we have. You know,
Speaker 2: I always say I'm so grateful that I'm a because
Speaker 2: she is just so prolific and she's constantly putting out stuff.
Speaker 2: And you know, if you're a fan of Rihanna, you've
Speaker 2: been waiting for an album for like two decades and
Speaker 2: it sucks. But you know when you're a fan of
Speaker 2: Kathy Griffin. I was looking at your special spread of
Speaker 2: like twenty specials that you've put out. Yeah, you would
Speaker 2: shoot sometimes three specials in a year, Like it would
Speaker 2: be like, you know, thirteen months and there would be
Speaker 2: three specials. I'm sure you've been over this before. How
Speaker 2: do you generate material? What is your writing process? I
Speaker 2: just saw an instagram of you actually just typing away
Speaker 2: of like how are you getting ready for tour? And
Speaker 2: it's just you feverishly typing. Is that your process in
Speaker 2: front of a laptop?
Speaker 1: Not really? In fact, I'm just old school bullet points,
Speaker 1: like yeah, yeah, same, it's so ridiculous. It still bring
Speaker 1: a notebook on stage with me. I don't really look
Speaker 1: at it, but it's like a security bank too. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's like bullets. And then I'm off and running and
Speaker 1: I'm lucky if I get to all of them at
Speaker 1: the end of the two hours.
Speaker 2: But you remember all of the punchlines just because you
Speaker 2: just I have the same thing. Like once you says
Speaker 2: something that's funny and gets a laugh, Yeah, it just
Speaker 2: imprints in your head. Yeah, and it's there.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Remember I'm from the groundlings, Like I wasn't actings first,
Speaker 1: and I went about it as my mom would say,
Speaker 1: ass backwards, where I was honest InCom and then I
Speaker 1: did my first special. I didn't do my first special
Speaker 1: till I was thirty six, so I will be in
Speaker 1: the CD till I was thirty six. So I'm a lady.
Speaker 2: You look so fucking good too. It's insane.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I're the improvisational nature and oh yeah,
Speaker 1: there's some dish that don't I'm gonna try and please
Speaker 1: we'll let me say. But like, I'm kind of bitter
Speaker 1: because I've never been on that show with Jerry Seinfeld
Speaker 1: Comedians and cars. Yeah, because wait, Jerry doesn't think I'm
Speaker 1: like a real comic because I improvise everything.
Speaker 2: And no, but you don't. But Kathy, you don't, like
Speaker 2: you're not you're not filming specials improvising. I bet you anything.
Speaker 2: I can watch your specials. I know that maybe you
Speaker 2: got to the jokes by improvising. But when you take
Speaker 2: a special maybe one or two or three lines improvise
Speaker 2: that night. Yeah, but you have memorized the material like
Speaker 2: anyone else does. You're just not there with a notebook
Speaker 2: writing out jokes long form. That doesn't that's interesting. I
Speaker 2: do feel like that there is a there is a
Speaker 2: difference between the way the comics that sit at the
Speaker 2: laptop and memorize their jokes and write them out and
Speaker 2: then recite them over and over. Look at comics like
Speaker 2: us who have just kind of worked it out on stage.
Speaker 2: But there's no difference. You're you have memorized to come
Speaker 2: up with material just like they have.
Speaker 1: There's also a room for everybody, And so I like
Speaker 1: one of the I can't even imagine having feelings about
Speaker 1: a comic the way people like turned on me, Like
Speaker 1: it's so shocking to me to this day that people
Speaker 1: have these such strong feelings, because I think, if there's
Speaker 1: a comic I don't particularly like, I just maybe don't
Speaker 1: like them, but I want a mission to ruin that.
Speaker 4: You know, and well, that's not the people that loved you, Kathy.
Speaker 4: These are people who love somebody else. And he's despicable,
Speaker 4: I know.
Speaker 3: But sorry.
Speaker 4: They they will stand behind him. It doesn't matter what
Speaker 4: you did. If you said something bad against him, they're
Speaker 4: gonna dislike you.
Speaker 2: There's something that something resonates with me with what you're saying,
Speaker 2: Kathy is like and it pains me to hear it
Speaker 2: from you, because you're just someone who I look at
Speaker 2: as like so strong and just like the funniest person alive.
Speaker 2: And to hear this, like, why are they still mad
Speaker 2: at me? Why don't they they like me? People who
Speaker 2: don't like you don't fucking get it. Like if someone
Speaker 2: is not a fan of yours, I'm just like I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't want to be on your list of favorite comedians.
Speaker 2: I don't want to have anything to do with you.
Speaker 2: Because if you get, if you understand good comedy, which
Speaker 2: I so. I have bad self esteem in almost every
Speaker 2: part of my life, but I I know what's funny
Speaker 2: and who's the funniest. If you don't think Kathy Griffin
Speaker 2: is funny, you're not smart, you're not good, You're not
Speaker 2: you don't have a good barometer of stand up comedy.
Speaker 2: And I don't respect your opinion. It's just the way
Speaker 2: it is, but I do. I think it's so fair
Speaker 2: to say. But here's the thing that is, don't care
Speaker 2: about people, wonder about people like me and people like you, Kathy,
Speaker 2: that that say things on stage that we know are
Speaker 2: gonna are controversial, The same thing as your dad saying,
Speaker 2: well this place it is like shit, what a ship box. Yes,
Speaker 2: we say things like that and then they go, well,
Speaker 2: then why do you get upset when people don't like you?
Speaker 2: Clearly you're saying things that are going to alienate people.
Speaker 2: I struggle with that again. I was talking to my
Speaker 2: therapists with about it yesterday. I'm shooting a special December sixteenth,
Speaker 2: and I'm struggling with with thank you. I'm struggling with,
Speaker 2: you know, making material that's going to make me super
Speaker 2: likable and relatable and it's going to bring everyone in
Speaker 2: and it's not going to alienate anyone. And then at
Speaker 2: the same time I want to I know, but but
Speaker 2: don't you struggle with those two as well? Like I
Speaker 2: want everyone to like me, but also I want to
Speaker 2: be myself and have my opinions and have my point
Speaker 2: of view. How do you square those two?
Speaker 1: Because at the end of the day, you still have
Speaker 1: to be the businesswoman who's selling tickets, and so what
Speaker 1: I'm trying to work on is I kind of let
Speaker 1: go of the notion of trying to broaden my fan
Speaker 1: base because we've all become so siloed that I'm never like.
Speaker 1: It does make me sad, but I'm never going to
Speaker 1: get those Trumpers back. And there are certain regions. I mean, Nikki,
Speaker 1: I used to play everywhere. I played every southern market
Speaker 1: you can imagine. I played the riverboat casinos, I played
Speaker 1: the performing arts centers, and look, let's face it, some
Speaker 1: of those markets they may never forgive me. I mean,
Speaker 1: when you're talking deep deep, deep trunk country, you know.
Speaker 3: What did you do? I don't really know what you did.
Speaker 1: I think I can't go there, see, although I am
Speaker 1: going to Plexington, Kentucky, and I'm selling pretty well there,
Speaker 1: which is shocking. Yeah, I can also try to be
Speaker 1: the beacon of like for the gays and the ladies
Speaker 1: and the peace. I'm like, just don't want They're just
Speaker 1: not down with that, and that's what I would want.
Speaker 1: Like if I lived in Trump Country and I couldn't help,
Speaker 1: but I had to live there, I would absolutely go
Speaker 1: see a comic. Mean, the town that was just gonna
Speaker 1: have an opposing view. And by the way, let me
Speaker 1: just say believe it or not. In my new show,
Speaker 1: I actually don't mention Trump once, and it's not quite
Speaker 1: scared or anything. He just kind of doesn't come up.
Speaker 1: And I really are talking about all this PTSD stuff,
Speaker 1: and I think it's relatable. But like you said, yes,
Speaker 1: I'm mindful of I think the PTSD stuff is funny.
Speaker 1: But what I'm finding really rewarding is people relate to
Speaker 1: it with everything we've been through with COVID, which, by
Speaker 1: the way, not our most shining moment. We didn't exactly
Speaker 1: deal well with COVID, lost our freaking minds, but we
Speaker 1: haven't recovered and recovered. And you know, I had lung cancer,
Speaker 1: so my voice is like a little bit more high pitched.
Speaker 1: And so I talked about that, and I say to
Speaker 1: the audience, clap if you've been affected in any way
Speaker 1: by cancer, Well almost everyone claps, and I go clap.
Speaker 1: If you've been affected, you know, in any way by
Speaker 1: losing a friend, somebody in your Facebook group, a co worker,
Speaker 1: to maga or QAnon, almost everybody claps. So then I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I can talk about this stuff. You know, I don't know,
Speaker 1: it's super super personal. I didn't think i'd ever be talking.
Speaker 1: I didn't think I could have PTSD.
Speaker 2: I thought, yeah, tell me about that, because I've heard
Speaker 2: you speak on it. But how did it show up
Speaker 2: for you? And and and what did you think it
Speaker 2: was at first? How did you get diagnosed? What's what
Speaker 2: are your symptoms?
Speaker 1: Well? I was okay. So after I got cancer, I
Speaker 1: had my surgery and they took half of my left
Speaker 1: lue out, and so I have.
Speaker 2: One and a half long snikki, Oh my god, I
Speaker 2: have What are you feeling from that? Is it just
Speaker 2: is it hard to bring? Is that what affected your voice?
Speaker 1: Yes, so during the surgery, I was injured and my
Speaker 1: level is permanently paralleled from the two. So what's weird
Speaker 1: is that when I had cancer, I had no symptoms,
Speaker 1: and now that I'm cancer free, I sound like I'm
Speaker 1: sick and I, oh my god, and so and.
Speaker 2: It's just an injury from the surgery. In thought, yes, right.
Speaker 1: And so you know I have to say right up top,
Speaker 1: like why my voice is more high pitched, and then
Speaker 1: I go into like making fun of the audience for
Speaker 1: having two lungs and how I'm bitter de lunged community
Speaker 1: and how I can see their ripe cage is expanding
Speaker 1: and it makes me bitter. So yeah, you know it
Speaker 1: is you tried to throwing anything and try to make it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And the PTSD for me was for about ten months.
Speaker 1: This is the darkest period of my whole life. For
Speaker 1: ten months after my cancer surgery, and I just wasn't
Speaker 1: getting better. I could not stop vomiting. And let me
Speaker 1: tell you, that lays you out, like you can't do anything.
Speaker 1: You're dehydrated all the time. I was going to the
Speaker 1: emergency room for IVY infusions constantly, and then I was
Speaker 1: I had shrinks and my oncologists, every doctor said you
Speaker 1: have PTSD, and I just wrote it off. I was like,
Speaker 1: I'm from Chicago, we don't get PTSD. I just thought
Speaker 1: that that's.
Speaker 2: It's for people who come back from war, Like that's
Speaker 2: what you just assumed.
Speaker 1: Right, right, right. But I think honestly, the combination of
Speaker 1: like the Trump scandal, all the threats against me the whole,
Speaker 1: like people confronting me in the street, which happened a lot,
Speaker 1: it still happened this day, showing up at the house
Speaker 1: Trump people and stuff, and not having really a place
Speaker 1: to go, although I will say the FBI was very
Speaker 1: helpful and I kind of credit them for saving my
Speaker 1: life because they would come to my house when there
Speaker 1: was what's called a credible threat sometimes, like they came
Speaker 1: to my house multiple times to say, day, there's a
Speaker 1: person who's very serious about attacking you. And I just
Speaker 1: got used to it. In fact, I did a movie
Speaker 1: which nobody distributed but I'm proud of it called Kathy
Speaker 1: Griffin to Hell a Story, and it's a concert movie
Speaker 1: with some documentary footage, and the day of filming the
Speaker 1: comedy special part, the FBI unannounced came over and they
Speaker 1: were like, there's a threat. You know, somebody's gonna try
Speaker 1: to kill you. Do you have a show coming up?
Speaker 1: And I said yes, tonight. You know, so that's just
Speaker 1: a mind fuck. And then I think, you know, getting
Speaker 1: cancer and then having it alter my voice. I felt
Speaker 1: like I lost my voice as an artist during the
Speaker 1: Trump thing, and then I literally lost my voice. So
Speaker 1: now I'm just trying to get out there and tell
Speaker 1: people like I sound a little mini mouse, but I'm okay,
Speaker 1: I'm not in pain. And then I talk about all
Speaker 1: the craziest shit I do to just try to stay
Speaker 1: normal like Kundalini yoga, which I don't even know what
Speaker 1: that is, but I would. And I yelled, shit, and
Speaker 1: I fucking have oils that I'm afraid of because I'm
Speaker 1: afraid of the essential oil people because in the mid
Speaker 1: scheme and I'm afraid of them. Don't tell them. I
Speaker 1: said that, it's just all this stuff that I never thought. Oh,
Speaker 1: it didn't get this. I became addicted to prescription pills
Speaker 1: during the Trump myself, and then I even talk up.
Speaker 2: With the pills. You tried to kill yourself with the pills.
Speaker 1: I took like a hundred ben zones. You guys, the
Speaker 1: worst part about trying to kill yourself is when you
Speaker 1: fucking wake up.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh, oh, you can't even do that right.
Speaker 1: My first words were, you are fucking kidding me?
Speaker 2: Like those Remember did you write a note?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 2: Was what was ed to that moment? You wrote a note?
Speaker 1: Because I was so messed up on pills. I'm so oh,
Speaker 1: I'm in. But I was so messed up on pills
Speaker 1: that I was convinced my husband's life would be better.
Speaker 1: Like I felt like I've had a good run. I've
Speaker 1: accomplished a lot of cool shit, it's time for me
Speaker 1: to go. But it's because my mind was so messed
Speaker 1: up with the pills. So I even make fun of
Speaker 1: AA and my act because nothing is more fun than
Speaker 1: an AA meeting when was a drunk. Oh laugh, But
Speaker 1: I fucking love it. Yes, for all of it, And
Speaker 1: like I said, I hope it's relatable, and like you said, yes,
Speaker 1: I want people to laugh, and I want to make
Speaker 1: people laugh and I want to take them out of
Speaker 1: whatever they're going through for a couple of hours. It's
Speaker 1: like pretty simple.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's and it's you're just trying. I mean, at
Speaker 2: least I feel when the stuff I talk about, I'm
Speaker 2: just trying to I'm not trying to offend anyone. Really,
Speaker 2: that's it. And I think it gets misconstrued. Is that
Speaker 2: so often? But I'm just I don't like things not
Speaker 2: being talked about that are like open secrets. Yes, and
Speaker 2: I think that the only way you know, it's an
Speaker 2: AA term, But if it's mentionable, it's manageable. And so
Speaker 2: when I have an entire bit about molestation or rape
Speaker 2: or you know, I have tons of different things that
Speaker 2: people will go you can't you can't touch that, don't
Speaker 2: your suicide. Yeah, And people say you can't say that,
Speaker 2: and I always go, well, you know, there's always an
Speaker 2: excuse for like doing like you know a bit. You're like, well,
Speaker 2: I can talk about this because my brother is this,
Speaker 2: And I'm like, I can talk about suicide because I
Speaker 2: am gonna do it someday, you know, I always I'm
Speaker 2: a future victim of it. So I think I can.
Speaker 2: But I think, you know, you got to talk about
Speaker 2: these things because they if we if we don't talk
Speaker 2: about them, then the people then people keep struggling with
Speaker 2: them alone, and it might make some people feel awkward
Speaker 2: and what the hell are we doing? I just I'm
Speaker 2: not interested in talking about things that are not I
Speaker 2: want to talk about things that are on the surface
Speaker 2: that everyone I want to talk about porn. It's so
Speaker 2: weird porn. No one talks about porn yet everyone's kind
Speaker 2: of you're not everyone, but many people are watching it,
Speaker 2: and it's it gets you know, they have more view
Speaker 2: you views on YouTube. Then David went after dentists like, yeah,
Speaker 2: it's everyone's watching it, but no one's talking about these
Speaker 2: are the things that interest me, and and I think
Speaker 2: it sometimes just gets seen the wrong way of like, oh,
Speaker 2: you love saying the thing that's gonna upset everyone. It's like,
Speaker 2: that's the last thing I want is the one to
Speaker 2: be upset. I just think it's interesting to talk about
Speaker 2: things that no one else is. And I gotta just
Speaker 2: credit you for your bravery of I have like a
Speaker 2: bit I'm working on about a celebrity that I'm just like, man,
Speaker 2: if this person's like camp comes after me, like I
Speaker 2: I could lose. You know, people don't notice about the business,
Speaker 2: but the.
Speaker 1: Fan armies, oh my god, the fan armies.
Speaker 2: Fan armies. But also like they're publicists. Their publicists can say, well,
Speaker 2: you know what she said this about her on a show,
Speaker 2: so we're never gonna do Jimmy Kimmel if you let
Speaker 2: that girl do Jimmy Kimmel because of what she said.
Speaker 2: So they can start kind of blacklisting you from things
Speaker 2: if they're famous enough. But also their fan armies. What
Speaker 2: do you hold back ever with the celebrity stuff? Has it?
Speaker 2: Has there ever been a bit that you did say
Speaker 2: that you go, oh, man, I really regret doing that.
Speaker 2: Have you you know? I'm sure but you get asked
Speaker 2: this all the time. But the run ins you have
Speaker 2: the book I have the book on my shelf, The
Speaker 2: A to Z Celebrity Encounters, which is incredible and has
Speaker 2: informed so much of how I look at certain celebrities. Now, Oh,
Speaker 2: I think so much.
Speaker 1: Book aren't even talking to me now, Like I look
Speaker 1: at that book and I'm like, I wrote a freaking
Speaker 1: love letter for this person. They should send me some
Speaker 1: goddam flowers. But now I love celebrity runnings because look,
Speaker 1: we all see celebrities, and we're all interested in people
Speaker 1: that are in the forefront, whether it's a political figure
Speaker 1: or a Kardashian. And I love lifting that veil because
Speaker 1: the veil is there. And now you've got celebrities that
Speaker 1: are like influencers, and that's a whole other game. And
Speaker 1: I get such a kick out of running into these
Speaker 1: people because there's like the legit people of talent that
Speaker 1: I'm just fascinated by, and they are the people that
Speaker 1: are famous for being famous. But yes, you know, I've
Speaker 1: been blacklisted by everybody. I've had everybody pissed off of me.
Speaker 1: I've been confronted by everybody, and I just have to
Speaker 1: laugh because like I have, like Demi Lovado's fans come
Speaker 1: after me. Those are some pissed off cutters. And I
Speaker 1: was tweeting one night and I had done like a
Speaker 1: double in Seattle, and it was just, you know, you
Speaker 1: can't sleep. So I was like, okay, I go on
Speaker 1: Twitter and this is like before Twitter was X and
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, I'll take questions. And somebody wrote, Who's
Speaker 1: like the biggest douchebag celebrity.
Speaker 3: You've ever met?
Speaker 1: And I wrote Debbie Levada because the tree But Debbie,
Speaker 1: I go to bed.
Speaker 2: It's so much better than writing down.
Speaker 1: My phone is like blown up. And you know what
Speaker 1: my feeling if you look at your phone and there's
Speaker 1: way too many texts?
Speaker 2: Yeah, way, oh and you know someone's died or you
Speaker 2: get that feeling that's right, You're like, who died?
Speaker 1: Okay? So the I call them the Debbie Army. The
Speaker 1: Debbie Army was livid. And then Debbie herself hosted a
Speaker 1: picture that she took what that I didn't know she
Speaker 1: took rhyme in the background and it was at I
Speaker 1: Hurt Radio and I was introducing somebody and then I
Speaker 1: went to watch Rihanna and Demi Levado took a picture
Speaker 1: of like herself going like like but with me in
Speaker 1: the back rolly pointing to me like, eh so when
Speaker 1: she then the army way it was on, say it
Speaker 1: was kill time and I'm sitting there like, I mean,
Speaker 1: my fifties kids. I don't know. I don't, we don't.
Speaker 1: I didn't have a fanner. I liked Carly Simon. I
Speaker 1: don't even know what you're talking.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, No, As a SWIFTYE I understand the iron
Speaker 2: that can come out of those kinds of communities and
Speaker 2: I don't take part in and that kind of uh
Speaker 2: that that part of the fan base. But you're walking
Speaker 2: a minefield now, and it's only increased with social media.
Speaker 2: So when you first started talking about you know, Barbi
Speaker 2: Straisan with the did you know that bitch pint in
Speaker 2: my wife?
Speaker 1: What? Yeah?
Speaker 2: That story and stuff like, there wasn't these like social
Speaker 2: media like storms that could start happening and turn everyone
Speaker 2: against you. I want to go to break, but then
Speaker 2: I want to come back, and I want to hear
Speaker 2: your justification for that answer of Debbie Levado. I want
Speaker 2: to get back. Okay, we're back with Kathy Griffin. Okay, why,
Speaker 2: when asked about the most unpleasant encounter you had with
Speaker 2: a celebrity, did you say, Debbie Levado.
Speaker 1: All right, I just get a kick out of Debbie,
Speaker 1: because first of all, she was livid that I called
Speaker 1: her Debbie and said, and I just think that's funny.
Speaker 1: I've been called Kathy Lee Griffin. I've been called Kathy Griffiths.
Speaker 1: I've been called my career. I don't give it. That
Speaker 1: is not my problem in life. But she just seems
Speaker 1: to lack a sense of humor about herself. And that
Speaker 1: is my favorite kind of celebrity. I'm sorry for most
Speaker 1: of them, right, So I don't make fun of like
Speaker 1: somebody who's a really funny on a sitcom or somebody
Speaker 1: who's like a SNL because they're a funny person. But
Speaker 1: I really get a kick out of, especially young celebrities
Speaker 1: that are wildly famous, incredibly rich, beyond privileged, beautiful, lauded,
Speaker 1: and yet every time I would run into Debbie, she
Speaker 1: just was like a sour puss. Oh after this whole
Speaker 1: thing happened, we were both at the tonight show. I
Speaker 1: was the first guest. She was the singer, right.
Speaker 2: Whoa after this happened, Yes, Oh my god, what did
Speaker 2: you think when you realized she was gonna be the
Speaker 2: did you try to get rebooked. I would be so scared.
Speaker 1: I was terrified of her army. And so I saw
Speaker 1: her in the hall and I said, right her in
Speaker 1: the hall, he buy me. And I was like, okay.
Speaker 1: So if you remember on the tonight show, Jay Leno
Speaker 1: would walk you over and you would watch the band
Speaker 1: Yes standing feet away from her kind of dancing a little.
Speaker 1: And she had a new hit single. I don't remember
Speaker 1: what it was like, yeah, the summer or whatever. And
Speaker 1: so afterwards Jay says, let's walk over. He doesn't know
Speaker 1: anything about me and Debbie. So I walk over. They
Speaker 1: just heard her and I said, congratulations on your new signal,
Speaker 1: and she just gave me like the stink eye, and
Speaker 1: I just I was like Debbie military in.
Speaker 2: My hacked, like like just giving me.
Speaker 1: Yes. Had to do was giggle or say hey, that
Speaker 1: whole thing was silly, or hey, we're both professionals, but
Speaker 1: I can't help. But I still get a kick out
Speaker 1: of the youngs. And often it's the youngs that are
Speaker 1: living in the dream, but they're.
Speaker 2: Feeling yes, yes, the lack of sense of humor about
Speaker 2: themselves that's and that's what I that's who I feel.
Speaker 2: I'm kind of going after j Lo in my next set,
Speaker 2: just for just some hypocrisy I see happening, which I see,
Speaker 2: you know, you see it everywhere with every celebrity. But
Speaker 2: I'm just you know, my goal is I, if I
Speaker 2: get as send in fame, is to dispel all the
Speaker 2: bullshit that I grew up like worshiping celebrities about Like
Speaker 2: I think that's the new job of the celebrity, is
Speaker 2: to like stop. Of course we're on a pedestal for
Speaker 2: our talent, sure, put us up there, but all the
Speaker 2: other bullshit, the beauty, the lighting, the everything that makes
Speaker 2: us look so unattainable and makes you at home feel
Speaker 2: like shit, Like, yeah, I'm tired of it, and I
Speaker 2: want more. I just want more transparency from celebrities. I
Speaker 2: guess I'm I don't. But you know, my boyfriend who's
Speaker 2: producing my special is kind of like, are you ready
Speaker 2: to like go after her so hard? And I'm like,
Speaker 2: you know what I'll do is I'll amp up how
Speaker 2: I actually feel, which is she's so stunning. I'll just
Speaker 2: compliment the fuck out of her in a very genuine way.
Speaker 2: But I have to actually say the truth of how
Speaker 2: I feel, too, Like I can't I gotta balance it
Speaker 2: out somehow. Like that's how I'm feeling like I because
Speaker 2: you know, people could go after me about things and
Speaker 2: I'd feel like sad if someone spend a lot of
Speaker 2: time in their comedy special like taking something down that
Speaker 2: I was kind of shitty about, and you know, and
Speaker 2: I'm willing to forgive her too or like you know,
Speaker 2: but I also makes the difference if it's true.
Speaker 1: And let me tell you something. Yeah, she's rough, man,
Speaker 1: She's fucking rough trade.
Speaker 2: I've heard of some stories.
Speaker 1: I've done everything from I hosted the Billboard Awards one
Speaker 1: year when she was singing and I'm saying that in
Speaker 1: your quotes and I saw her like one time I
Speaker 1: got to go to a Kardashian Christmas party, which that
Speaker 1: alone was a dream. And of course they have like
Speaker 1: a photo booth with like perfect lighting and everybody looks
Speaker 1: twelve years old. And so he was with a Rod
Speaker 1: at the time, and so I go, Jaylo, take come on,
Speaker 1: let's take one picture together where you're like giving me
Speaker 1: the stink guy because I've given you shit on stage.
Speaker 1: And I go, see if a Rod will do it
Speaker 1: with me, and she goes, it's Alex. His name Alex.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I was.
Speaker 1: Like, I came up to her and I said, give
Speaker 1: me the stink guy in the picture, like I'm handing
Speaker 1: it to her on a silver platter to go, I'm
Speaker 1: willing to be the jester and you're beautiful, successful gazillionaire
Speaker 1: j Lo and I'm actually saying give it to me,
Speaker 1: like I yes, that's a funny picture for both all
Speaker 1: of us, right, But all she kept saying was it's Alex.
Speaker 1: Because I photoed bo the picture of them to Core
Speaker 1: and she legit was pissed.
Speaker 2: Oh I'm sure, but I'm just like, what what in
Speaker 2: two seconds.
Speaker 1: Later they got But I just I couldn't figure out
Speaker 1: why she was such like a malcontent. But I am
Speaker 1: fascinated by that.
Speaker 2: Just that's the fascination. Why are you such a bitch?
Speaker 2: Like why are these people so why do they treat
Speaker 2: people horribly? Like I guess I'll go more your freaking way,
Speaker 2: I know, And yet you're because I guess it just
Speaker 2: seems to happen with with fame with people. And I
Speaker 2: know you've you've encountered this countless times, more way more
Speaker 2: than I have. Of just people who are the most famous,
Speaker 2: had the most gifted, uh, just genetics and then you know,
Speaker 2: just just landed to them on silver platter their whole life.
Speaker 2: And yet they're they're so mean people. You know, you
Speaker 2: hear stories about people working with them on set and
Speaker 2: how they're just a nightmare to work with, and it's like,
Speaker 2: why and how is this person still working when there's
Speaker 2: such a count like you get canceled for a picture.
Speaker 2: But then a person who treats everyone and doesn't let
Speaker 2: them look at them on set is mean to everyone,
Speaker 2: holds up production four hours because you know, their their
Speaker 2: tea was cold or whatever, oh their eyelash extensions weren't
Speaker 2: the right ones or whatever, and holds up a million
Speaker 2: dollar production. They get to keep working.
Speaker 1: Why why why can't they just figure out that all
Speaker 1: they have to do is laugh at themselves, That's all
Speaker 1: they have to do. Like why Brookshields. I was going
Speaker 1: to show with her for four years and I always
Speaker 1: say she changed my life because I went from not
Speaker 1: working to being on an NBC sitcom back in the
Speaker 1: day when it was like musty TV. So she doesn't
Speaker 1: care for me because I put a story about her
Speaker 1: in one of my specials, even though she came to
Speaker 1: see me Lie one time and I told the story
Speaker 1: and she was like, oh, that was really funny. Don't
Speaker 1: forget to put this part in what wait? Wait?
Speaker 2: Story was it?
Speaker 1: It was about her wedding?
Speaker 2: Yes, I remember, Okay, yeah, mom who was.
Speaker 1: A famous alcoholic. But I wan great with her mom
Speaker 1: because I I, you know, how to be around. Can
Speaker 1: I talk to a drawn like milk? I can see
Speaker 1: the fun part in her mom was. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: not saying she was the best mom, but she was
Speaker 1: smart and clever and clever. And so it makes me
Speaker 1: sad because I have such warm feelings for Brookshields and
Speaker 1: we worked together every day for four years and she's
Speaker 1: Brooks Shields, like the books, beautiful, celebrated, she did comedy,
Speaker 1: she did drama, she did Broadway, and we were like close,
Speaker 1: and I just go, that's her choice.
Speaker 2: You know, how did you apologize? I mean, was there
Speaker 2: an interaction between you two where you said.
Speaker 1: She kind of she kind of like, okay, the story,
Speaker 1: But what pissed her off is broke is Howard Stern
Speaker 1: mentioned it one time when I was on Howard and
Speaker 1: she has an shoe with Howard. Even though I kept saying,
Speaker 1: brook if you go on Howard Stern one time. Oh
Speaker 1: my god, she will your ass. He will fuck love
Speaker 1: with you and then you'll become a regular. Yeah. So
Speaker 1: but I think she maybe has that like pretty girl
Speaker 1: thing where she kind of just didn't want to get there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just I don't know.
Speaker 2: I that's a bummer. I know you seemed like a
Speaker 2: really good friend.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and so I it makes me sad when people
Speaker 1: don't take the joke but also carry it on for
Speaker 1: like years and years.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, final thought. I mean, there are some people
Speaker 2: we can talk about the people that have been unpleasant,
Speaker 2: but some people have been extremely kind to you, even
Speaker 2: throughout your cancelation. Yeah. And I heard you mentioned Kimmel
Speaker 2: never blacklisted you seth Meyers Stern.
Speaker 1: Howard, Yeah, I mean Jammie Kimmel had me on because
Speaker 1: my voice is to be even more high pitched. I
Speaker 1: had like five surgeries on it. God, I went on
Speaker 1: there when.
Speaker 3: I was literally talking like this.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and he had me on and he when
Speaker 1: I got kicked off Twitter personally but by Elon Musk
Speaker 1: because Eloni, Oh yeah, that's right, because I what I
Speaker 1: did was I changed my username's hilarious you did and
Speaker 1: the night before the midterms, I was tweeting, you know,
Speaker 1: I've talked to the mothers of my children and I
Speaker 1: am now pro choice both no matter who ash heighten
Speaker 1: hers and so people thought it was really Elon and
Speaker 1: he got mad and he had a fit and he
Speaker 1: kicked me off, and then Jimmy called and he said,
Speaker 1: we wrote a sketch where you're playing Elon Musk and amazing.
Speaker 1: So yeah, when does it get the joke? I'm so
Speaker 1: freaking grateful, Like you have no idea. It just means
Speaker 1: the world when people just roll was it?
Speaker 2: And the can I ask you going back to your
Speaker 2: voice thing? So you come out of you came out
Speaker 2: of lung cancer surgery, Yeah, just thinking, okay, I just
Speaker 2: went through all of that and then you talk for
Speaker 2: the first time and you just go, what the fuck?
Speaker 2: Like was that they didn't intend to damage your vocal cord.
Speaker 2: That was a thing that happened right.
Speaker 1: In fact, the guy the surgeon was like, well, I
Speaker 1: know what you do for a living, and we need
Speaker 1: you to be out there doing your comedy and we'll
Speaker 1: be careful. And it just happened and it's permanent. And
Speaker 1: so I've had to live with that and I just
Speaker 1: asked the audience to kind of go with it. But
Speaker 1: I can't really do impressions the same. And you know,
Speaker 1: it's weird because as a comic, so much of what
Speaker 1: we do you have to really project. Like I don't
Speaker 1: want to say I'm a yelling comic, but I'm yelling
Speaker 1: and cursing is my love language. It's you. I'm telling
Speaker 1: you what you did wrong is how I love you.
Speaker 1: And so I did my first double evoke because I
Speaker 1: was afraid my voice couldn't do it.
Speaker 2: Oh, I was gonna say Jesus.
Speaker 1: Double on a gay cruise? NICKI, NICKI, have you done
Speaker 1: a gay cruise yet? No?
Speaker 2: And I'm honestly, I'm trying to pivot to like what
Speaker 2: get more gay gay? Like, I'm trying to just well
Speaker 2: pivot to gay audiences, like I want, I want your audience.
Speaker 1: So this is a bucket list. You have not lived
Speaker 1: until you've done a gay cruise. Let those boys are serious, Julie.
Speaker 1: I know you think you've done partying in your lifetime.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but you don't drink, Kathy, Like, I don't know
Speaker 2: if I can keep up with the drinking and the
Speaker 2: part the like, how do you keep up with it
Speaker 2: all on those because you can't escape. It's everywhere.
Speaker 1: No I know, but it's a comic. I get to
Speaker 1: observe and it's Nober and watch these boys and like
Speaker 1: they have parties and they're all theme parties, like one
Speaker 1: is called guns and Hoses and it's for a policemen
Speaker 1: and firefighters, even though nobody really is a copper firefighter.
Speaker 2: But they.
Speaker 1: Breaking bad theme parties because they love Walter White and
Speaker 1: Jesse Pingman because come to ends gaze and enjoy meth
Speaker 1: and I know that's shockache and they just lose their
Speaker 1: minds for like seven days. And I usually am on
Speaker 1: the cruise for like two days, but I want to
Speaker 1: do a double. So at least I was like, all right,
Speaker 1: and now I have to use the like Madonna had said,
Speaker 1: my great, but I love it.
Speaker 2: It's that's so you, though, man, because you should have
Speaker 2: been using those for years. You're so physical and like
Speaker 2: I want to see you walk around like I love
Speaker 2: you with a mic and I love your mic work, honestly,
Speaker 2: Like I've kind of I've definitely even watching myself. Sometimes
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, you've definitely learned some things from Kathy,
Speaker 2: But that seems to be like that would have freed
Speaker 2: you up. That's that's a nice little thing that happened
Speaker 2: out of this voice thing. No, I love it.
Speaker 1: I love it. And the first time I had it
Speaker 1: was at the Marage, because you know, casinos they're almost
Speaker 1: like TV studios. They have everything. Yeah, I'm gonna buy
Speaker 1: one now and take it down to town. Yes, I
Speaker 1: don't expect these theaters to like have it. But I
Speaker 1: don't even remember the name of it. But it's really helpful.
Speaker 1: And yeah, for the first time, I have the freedom
Speaker 1: of my hands, and I love that. I'm pretty physical,
Speaker 1: Like I make fun of all the exercises I do
Speaker 1: for PTSD and get down on all fours and do
Speaker 1: this thing. Do you know what this is? Cat cow?
Speaker 2: No, Brian, you know about it?
Speaker 5: What kind of is archer back? You're you're on all
Speaker 5: fours like a dog arch, you're back yew and then.
Speaker 1: When you go and when you tip your head up,
Speaker 1: you move like a cow. Now, Julie, I don't know
Speaker 1: what the hell this does to make me feel better.
Speaker 1: Stop wabbiting and curious time of my freaking wife. So
Speaker 1: if I have to meow and moo, I'll do I'll
Speaker 1: do whatever it takes. I'll get spade, I'll take and
Speaker 1: I so I get to get down on all fours
Speaker 1: and do my meal.
Speaker 2: MoU well, your voice really does. It's improved so much.
Speaker 2: I had vocal cord surgery a year ago because I
Speaker 2: had nodules. And I don't know. Did you go to doctors?
Speaker 1: I tells no, I usually know to doctor Sugarman.
Speaker 2: Okay, And I know I think we've worked with Do
Speaker 2: you work with Amy Chapman on.
Speaker 1: Vote is fantastic?
Speaker 2: She worked with me on the Masked Singer and she
Speaker 2: she told me that she loves you so much, and
Speaker 2: I was so excited to have the same voice teachers.
Speaker 1: Yeah, she doesn't. She like literally massages.
Speaker 2: Oh it's the best. She does a larynx massage. That's
Speaker 2: so good. But yeah, you sound amazing, Kathy, I think, and.
Speaker 1: I'm kind of so conscious about it.
Speaker 2: It's no, it's it really it's it doesn't sound like
Speaker 2: you're in pain. As long as you established that up
Speaker 2: front for people that might worry about it. Yeah, there,
Speaker 2: there's it. Honestly, it's it's it's not. It's not it's
Speaker 2: not noticeable. Really, forget about it. It's at first you go, oh,
Speaker 2: she sounds different, but it's no, it's nothing to be
Speaker 2: self conscious about it. I hope you I hope you
Speaker 2: accept that, all right. Yeah.
Speaker 5: If you hadn't mentioned it, I.
Speaker 1: Would not have Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: I'm so excited to see you on tour though. I'm
Speaker 2: really gonna make an effort to drive across Missouri. I'm
Speaker 2: in Saint Louis to come see you in Kansas City.
Speaker 2: I cannot wait to see you. I can't wait for
Speaker 2: this tour. Everyone has to go and buy tickets to this.
Speaker 2: Kathy is just one of the most original, most inspirational,
Speaker 2: most funniest people ever. Her live shows are insane. They're
Speaker 2: sometimes three hours long. It's an experience, man. So you
Speaker 2: got to go see her on My Life on the
Speaker 2: PTSD tour and you can get those tickets at Kathy
Speaker 2: Griffin dot com and they're available right now. Go check
Speaker 2: all the tour dates. There's forty of them. Read her books,
Speaker 2: watch her specials, she has twenty of them. Immerse yourself
Speaker 2: in all Things Kathy if you haven't already. She's one
Speaker 2: of my favorites and always will be. I'm so honored
Speaker 2: that you did the podcast. Thank you so much. Kathy.
Speaker 1: I just love you so much. You call me anytime,
Speaker 1: you know where to find me.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Kathy. That means the world.
Speaker 1: Julie, I love you, I miss you.
Speaker 3: Oh God, I love you too, Kathy. All right, maybe
Speaker 3: I'll come with Nikki.
Speaker 2: You got where you gotta.
Speaker 1: Go, You're sure. Thank you, Julie, you just get all right,
Speaker 1: all right, all right.
Speaker 3: I love it.
Speaker 1: You have a special relationship. I love you. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Bye, Kathy, thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Bye.