IF YOU GO
Kathy Griffin
When: 7 p.m. Feb. 27
Where: Singletary Center for the Arts, 405 Rose St.
Tickets: $50
Learn more: (859) 257-4929, Singletarytickets.com
Kathy Griffin
When: 7 p.m. Feb. 27
Where: Singletary Center for the Arts, 405 Rose St.
Tickets: $50
Learn more: (859) 257-4929, Singletarytickets.com
CAREER AT A GLANCE
Although Kathy Griffin has become a household name only in the past few years — thanks to her hit, and recently ended, Bravo reality show, My Life on the D-List — she has had a long career. Here are some highlights.
TV
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990): In one of her first TV jobs, Griffin had small part as a reporter writing a profile of Mr. Banks in Will Smith's sitcom.
Kenwood Play That Funky Music commercial (mid-1990s): Griffin caught a lot of attention for droning the words to the 1970s song while dressed in full disco regalia.
ER (1995): Griffin guest-starred as Dolores Minky, a Ranger Scout mother dealing with eight kids with flatulence and diarrhea.Suddenly Susan (1996-2000): In her first regular TV gig, she played restaurant critic Vicki Groener at a San Francisco magazine in Brooke Shields' comedy.
Seinfeld: She guest-starred as Sally Weaver, a comedian who gains success after Jerry says she should quit stand-up, on two episodes, in 1996 and 1998.
Celebrity Mole (2003): In a celebrity version of the short-lived reality show, hosted by Anderson Cooper (before he was Anderson Cooper), Griffin traveled to Hawaii and outwitted the embedded "mole" to win the game.
E!'s red carpet specials (mid-2000s): Griffin was a mainstay of red carpet reporting — until her infamous joke about Dakota Fanning going into rehab. Watch the clip at Spike.com/video/kathy-griffins/2685630.
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (2005-10): Griffin has won two Emmys, and made a cult star of her mother, Maggie ("Tip it!"), with the Bravo reality show about her life on Hollywood's supposed D-list.
The View: Griffin has had a love-hate relationship with the women on the daytime talk show for years, most notably with Elisabeth Hasselback. The feud culminated in June, when Hasselback called out Griffin for poking fun at her co-hosts. Griffin retorted, "Bring it." Watch the clip at Youtube.com/watch?v=qri6V7oKaAY.
SPECIALS
Kathy Griffin: A Hot Cup of Talk (1998): Her first hourlong comedy special on HBO.
Kathy Griffin: Allegedly (2004): Her first DVD special.
Kathy Griffin ... Is Not Nicole Kidman (2005): The first of her many specials on Bravo. Followed by Strong Black Woman (2006); Straight to Hell (2008), an Emmy nominee; She'll Cut a Bitch (2009), also an Emmy-nominee; Balls of Steel (2009); Kathy Griffin Does the Bible Belt (2010); and Whores on Crutches (2010). Coming soon is the first of her four Bravo comedy specials for 2011, 50 and Not Pregnant.
ALBUMS
For Your Consideration (2008): Griffin's blatant bid to be nominated for a Grammy for best comedy album worked swimmingly. It was her first foray into bald-faced campaigning for awards and recognition.
Suckin' It for the Holidays (2010): Her second Grammy nomination.
BOOKS
Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin (2009): In her first and only book so far, Griffin tells her life story and tries to get the attention of book clubs. The book was a New York Times No. 1 best seller.
FILM
Pulp Fiction (1994): Blink and you'll miss her. After Butch (Bruce Willis) hits Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) with a car, Griffin's character comes to check on Marsellus.
STAGE
Kathy Griffin Wants a Tony (2011): In her latest award-fishing attempt, Griffin will star in a one-woman show at Broadway's Belasco Theater from March 11 to 19. (Tickets are on sale through Telecharge.com.) Too bad the category for which she would be most eligible, best special event, no longer exists.
Although Kathy Griffin has become a household name only in the past few years — thanks to her hit, and recently ended, Bravo reality show, My Life on the D-List — she has had a long career. Here are some highlights.
TV
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990): In one of her first TV jobs, Griffin had small part as a reporter writing a profile of Mr. Banks in Will Smith's sitcom.
Kenwood Play That Funky Music commercial (mid-1990s): Griffin caught a lot of attention for droning the words to the 1970s song while dressed in full disco regalia.
ER (1995): Griffin guest-starred as Dolores Minky, a Ranger Scout mother dealing with eight kids with flatulence and diarrhea.Suddenly Susan (1996-2000): In her first regular TV gig, she played restaurant critic Vicki Groener at a San Francisco magazine in Brooke Shields' comedy.
Seinfeld: She guest-starred as Sally Weaver, a comedian who gains success after Jerry says she should quit stand-up, on two episodes, in 1996 and 1998.
Celebrity Mole (2003): In a celebrity version of the short-lived reality show, hosted by Anderson Cooper (before he was Anderson Cooper), Griffin traveled to Hawaii and outwitted the embedded "mole" to win the game.
E!'s red carpet specials (mid-2000s): Griffin was a mainstay of red carpet reporting — until her infamous joke about Dakota Fanning going into rehab. Watch the clip at Spike.com/video/kathy-griffins/2685630.
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (2005-10): Griffin has won two Emmys, and made a cult star of her mother, Maggie ("Tip it!"), with the Bravo reality show about her life on Hollywood's supposed D-list.
The View: Griffin has had a love-hate relationship with the women on the daytime talk show for years, most notably with Elisabeth Hasselback. The feud culminated in June, when Hasselback called out Griffin for poking fun at her co-hosts. Griffin retorted, "Bring it." Watch the clip at Youtube.com/watch?v=qri6V7oKaAY.
SPECIALS
Kathy Griffin: A Hot Cup of Talk (1998): Her first hourlong comedy special on HBO.
Kathy Griffin: Allegedly (2004): Her first DVD special.
Kathy Griffin ... Is Not Nicole Kidman (2005): The first of her many specials on Bravo. Followed by Strong Black Woman (2006); Straight to Hell (2008), an Emmy nominee; She'll Cut a Bitch (2009), also an Emmy-nominee; Balls of Steel (2009); Kathy Griffin Does the Bible Belt (2010); and Whores on Crutches (2010). Coming soon is the first of her four Bravo comedy specials for 2011, 50 and Not Pregnant.
ALBUMS
For Your Consideration (2008): Griffin's blatant bid to be nominated for a Grammy for best comedy album worked swimmingly. It was her first foray into bald-faced campaigning for awards and recognition.
Suckin' It for the Holidays (2010): Her second Grammy nomination.
BOOKS
Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin (2009): In her first and only book so far, Griffin tells her life story and tries to get the attention of book clubs. The book was a New York Times No. 1 best seller.
FILM
Pulp Fiction (1994): Blink and you'll miss her. After Butch (Bruce Willis) hits Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) with a car, Griffin's character comes to check on Marsellus.
STAGE
Kathy Griffin Wants a Tony (2011): In her latest award-fishing attempt, Griffin will star in a one-woman show at Broadway's Belasco Theater from March 11 to 19. (Tickets are on sale through Telecharge.com.) Too bad the category for which she would be most eligible, best special event, no longer exists.
The provocative comedian has laughed her way off the self- proclaimed "D-List" with an Emmy-winning show on Bravo, to the top of the stand-up food chain. Her method? Being "funny first," she says.
Celebs, politicians, reality TV stars, Oprah Winfrey — no one is off limits in Griffin's stand-up act. Filling her act with salty language and juicy insider celebrity stories, Griffin loves churning up the controversy, especially in the red states.
"The Bible Belt audiences are great. ... Even though a lot of my friends told me that the audiences might be too, you know, uptight or might be shocked at the stuff I say, I have found it's the opposite," Griffin said last month. "I've found that the naughty people will make the drive — the open-minded people that want to blow off some steam and maybe want to hear a new twist on a swear word."
Griffin comes to Lexington for the first time Sunday, when she plays the Singletary Center for the Arts.
Griffin announced that Bravo recently aired its final season of her award-winning reality show, My Life on the D-list, but she made a deal to film four comedy specials for the network this year. Stand-up is where Griffin says she's most comfortable.
"I'm not censored, and when you come to the live show, it's really game on, because you can say anything. I'm constantly trying new material and taking the audience's temperature and seeing what they're finding funny and what they're interested in."
That's what keeps her audiences coming back.
"My stuff is so ever-changing with whatever's the water-cooler talk or just what people are reading about in the paper or the magazines or a crazy new TV show, obviously the OWN lineup."
Audiences can expect a few observations about OWN, the recently unveiled Oprah Winfrey Network.
"I could do two hours on that alone — Oprah, she should have just hired me to do the introduction, actually," she said.
Up next for Griffin is her first one-woman show on Broadway in March, Kathy Griffin Wants a Tony.
Then it's more TV. She hopes to produce a partially scripted, partially improvised show akin to HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, and she would "absolutely be open" to the idea of hosting a talk show.
"I really don't care if it's a talk show or a commercial or a play or my own show or somebody else's show," she said. "If I have the opportunity to be funny, then that's the kind of job I like."
More immediately is a reported guest-starring role on Fox's hit comedy Glee. TVLine.com reports that Griffin will play a regionals competition judge who is a Tea Party candidate mom named Tammy Jean. The character is reportedly based on one of Griffin's perennial targets: Sarah Palin.
Speaking of the Tea Party movement, when she talked to The Washington Post recently, Griffin had a request for her audience in Washington, where she is appearing Friday and Saturday.
"I would like to put a shout-out to all Tea Party members to please either protest my show or attend my show. And then it's always good if that one person jumps up from the audience and screams 'You're not an American!' or something and then gets ushered out. That would be fantastic. I hope so."
