Kathy Griffin: Dishing and Swishing

Griffin walks a very thin line between lampooning America's cult of celebrity and acting like the spoiled, whining celebrities she snarks on. She makes no secret of her obsession with appearance and her predilection for celebrity gift bags and other perks, and she has never met a paying gig she didn't like. Her routines are also chock full of incessant name dropping ("My friend Robert Verdi, the designer." "Lance Bass and I are like this."), which sometimes makes her celebrity bashing seem a bit sad and hypocritical.

One of the songs playing on the PA before Griffin came out was a version of Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me." This should be KGriff's theme song. Down deep, she really just wants America to love her as much as they seem to love force-fed, mass-produced "stars" like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. Griffin should relax a little and realize that she is innately better than the manufactured celebrities she compares herself to because her talent is real and her fans love her with a loyalty that People's starlet of the week will never know.

Griffin doesn't offer up timely political humor like Bill Maher, or piss around with artistic wordplay like Dennis Miller, or try to be one of the guys like Lisa Lampanelli. More stand-up gossip than stand-up comic, she's like that friend from high school who could keep you entertained for hours just talking about nothing.

Much like her Seinfeld episode "The Cartoon," Griffin's shtick focuses on one of two things: slights or perceived slights from celebrities higher up in the Hollywood food chain, and the peccadilloes of the celebrities themselves. This approach has landed her on the shit list of more than a few thin-skinned "stars", but KGriff is unrepentant. "If you don't want to end up in my routine," Griffin advises American royalty, "just don't do anything stupid around me."

Based on her routine Friday, it sounds like celebrities just can't control themselves around Kathy, because she had plenty to dish. Starting with an opening localized turn about her dysfunctional relationship with the rude staff at House of Nanking on Kearny, Griffin pinballed schizophrenically from topic to topic, including her interview on the Larry King show ("Larry had no idea who I was."); Larry's interview with Liz Taylor (Kathy: "Being a gay man, I love her"); The Starr Jones demise ("Al [Starr's husband] is so fucking gay, when he walks by you hear snapping -- from a bubble above his head."); her adventures renting Christie Brinkley's Caribbean home ("I went through it like a cat burglar."); fucked up celebrity kid names; the LA uber club scene (specifically the Hyde Lounge); Paris Hilton ("She's a fuckin' freak show."); American Idol ("Clay is an aggressive top." and "Paula Abdul is the new Anna Nicole."); and of course, Oprah ("She thinks she's Jesus. When Oprah gets a paper cut, she thinks it's stigmata.").

In addition to her hilarious stories and juicy celebrity gossip, Griffin laid down a few pretty good impressions, including Larry King, Oprah, and Paris Hilton. She also amused the crowd by calling Andy Dick on her cell phone onstage and letting everybody listen in to the conversation over speaker phone. Dick, unaware he was on speakerphone until the very end of the two-minute call, sounded extremely fucked up. He babbled something about being on vacation in Tahoe before Griffin told him he was on speaker phone, at which point he slurred, "you fucking bitch" in mock umbrage and she had to take him offline.

It was a great show -- almost as good as her performance in Pulp Fiction -- and the crowd loved her. And why not. She is damn funny and her onstage energy is totally contagious. Her well-oiled routine and perfect timing had the audience hanging on her every word, and the hall rocked with nonstop laughter for two solid hours. A very skilled comedian, Kathy Griffin deserves every D-list invitation she gets.