Kathy's Family

ENTERTAINMENT
Last updated November 21, 2008 -- 5:33 p.m. PT

Welcome to Griffin's 'family'
Comedian shares a little pre-Thanksgiving dish

By Travis Nichols
Special to the P-I

"I've been dying to talk with you," Kathy Griffin said after bounding on stage Thursday night. The sold-out crowd at the Paramount, here for the first of four shows by the star of "My Life on the D-List," collectively leaned forward with bated breath.

One in the passel of men behind me whispered, "Who do you think she's going to talk about?" and another whispered back, "No idea. I can't wait!"

This is Griffin's particular genius.

Kathy Griffin is Us Weekly come to life with a Chicago accent
and a filthy mouth. (Getty Images)
She's like a drunken aunt at Thanksgiving, willing to dish about the entire family, but in this case, the entire family is made up of TV celebrities: Anderson Cooper, Rosie O'Donnell, Nancy Grace, Larry King, Barbara Walters, Bette Midler, Cher ... the list goes on and on, and Griffin drops all of their names, sounding like a star-struck fan and a cynical insider at the same time. She's Us Weekly come to life with a Chicago accent and a filthy mouth; in other words, your best friend.

She does not have wonderful material, a dynamic stage presence or a back catalog of great recorded comedic moments, so gossiping about her marginal celebrity is what she has to give. And she does it with aplomb. The red-haired raconteuse brings her more famous foils down to earth by salting their language with expletives and revealing them all to be, like us, amused by Griffin's petty grasping. Anderson Cooper sends her text messages, Larry King barks at her obliviously, Cher gives her some body lotion, and so on.

Unfortunately, instead of being revelatory, Griffin's routine is a little like "Hey Paula" or "Flavor of Love," reality shows in which nothing is revealed despite the promise of backstage access. Her thing is to act compulsively truthful about everyone from her own mother ("Franzia to her is what Hennessy is to Snoop Dogg") to Cher ("Cher's real hair is Cher hair!"), but you'd have to be awfully naive to expect that they aren't all in on the joke. Think "Curb Your Enthusiasm" or "Extras," but with a lot more estrogen and a little less funny.

The best parts of the show turn out not to be the fake celebrity insider gossip, but when Griffin talks about her own family and friends. The mother jokes had people rolling in the aisles, and making fun of her tour manager, Tom, for compulsively pulling out his eyelashes? Always a winner.

The two threads combined in Griffin's story of taking her Emmys to her high school reunion. "It was stupid and petty, I know," Griffin laughed, "but it was fun." We all laughed with her. We know how she felt.

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Anderson Cooper's best (woman) friend, and, hopefully forever,
his co-host on New Year's Eve from Times Square!


Paramount Theatre - Seattle
Seattle, WA
November 22, 2008
Saturday 7:00 pm

Paramount Theatre - Seattle
Seattle, WA
November 22, 2008
Saturday 10:00 pm

McCallum Theatre
Palm Desert, CA
December 6, 2008
Saturday 3:00 pm

McCallum Theatre
Palm Desert, CA
December 6, 2008
Saturday 8:00 pm

McCallum Theatre
Palm Desert, CA
December 7, 2008
Sunday 7:00 pm

Kodak Theatre
Hollywood, CA
December 9, 2008
Tuesday 8:00 pm

Kodak Theatre
Hollywood, CA
December 10, 2008
Wednesday 8:00 pm

Kodak Theatre
Hollywood, CA
December 11, 2008
Thursday 8:00 pm

Kodak Theatre
Hollywood, CA
December 12, 2008
Friday 8:00 pm

River Rock Show Theatre
Richmond, BC
January 10, 2009
Saturday 7:00 pm

River Rock Show Theatre
Richmond, BC
January 10, 2009
Saturday 10:00 pm

Madison Square Garden - WaMu Theatre
New York, NY
February 19, 2009
Thursday 8:00 pm

Madison Square Garden - WaMu Theatre
New York, NY
February 20, 2009
Friday 8:00 pm

You can buy tickets for Kathy's shows at:
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