Griffin’s humor lights up Morrison Center with laughter

At some point during a typical introduction, comedienne Kathy Griffin usually asks the question, “where my gays at?”

Appropriately, Boise’s gays were in full force Thursday to see their favorite funny girl’s first visit to Boise at the Morrison Center.

MCT - Kathy Griffin struts her stuff on the red carpet.

Known for her foul mouth and merciless tirades about celebrities, Griffin’s particular brand of comedy leads people to either love her or hate her. She’s been banned from countless talk and award shows for her unfiltered and often obscene mouth, and was fired from the red carpet by E! for allegedly claiming on air that child-star Dakota Fanning had checked herself into rehab for drug and alcohol abuse – yet has garnered multiple Emmys for her popular Bravo reality show, “My Life on the D-List.”

Griffin began her show with a short video montage of pictures from her past and clips from her multitude of television appearances – including her famous slip on CNN’s New Years special last year with Anderson Cooper (YouTube it!) and her equally famous “Suck it, Jesus” Emmy acceptance speech. She greeted the crowd in sweat pants and a Bronco t-shirt because her luggage had been delayed – she had some choice words for United Airlines during the show.

She started her shtick with Boise-specific banter – receiving a roar of applause when she shouted “Go Broncos,” after which, in true Kathy Griffin form, she wished us the “best hockey season ever.” She commented on how crazy we Boiseans are for having live fishing bait in vending machines at Albertsons and how disgusting she finds local eatery Donnie Mac’s.

No current celebrity topic went untouched by Griffin. She discussed everything from Sarah Palin, John and Kate Gosselin, “Carrie (expletive) Prejean” and her eight sex-tapes. Griffin even talked about Andre Agassi’s recent tell-all of meth abuse and hair extensions. As always, Griffin made incredibly delightful jokes about Oprah, exclaiming “I just love how big fat Oprah is back!”

Another common theme of Griffin’s show is discussion of her mother, Maggie Griffin, and her affinity for boxed wine and cognac. Griffin’s mother has accumulated somewhat of a celebrity status herself, due to her role on “D-List.”

She ended her show abruptly in a way that only Kathy Griffin would, with a wonderfully tasteless joke about Barbara Walters and the female anatomy, after which she proceeded to wish the audience a good night while prancing and posing like a drag queen.

Griffin can soon be seen on the sixth season of her show “My Life on the D-List.” She has also recently released a holiday-themed comedy album called “Suckin’ It for the Holidays” and will appear as a guest star on “Law & Order: SVU,” where she’ll play a lesbian gay-rights activist who, as Griffin hopes, will make out with “Law & Order” star Mariska Hargitay.

Overall, the reception from the crows seemed quite positive.

Student Victoria Pollard said, “It was delightfully obscene. I especially loved her description of Renee Zellweger as a sweaty, puffy, coke addict.”

Griffin’s routine is laden with foul language and impropriety, which is why her fans love her. This is probably why a few people got up in the middle of the show and vacated the venue – people who probably knew Kathy Griffin was a comedian and a show sounded like a nice way to spend a Thursday evening, but didn’t know what they were getting into.

Surprisingly, the house was almost full, which inspires some intense and refreshing confidence for Idaho’s sense of humor. Truth be told, society need more foul-mouthed spit-fires like Kathy Griffin. She gives hope to negative and cynical folks that there is, indeed, a place for them in this world. Her candor and vulgarity are truly inspiring.

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Posted by Mike Johnson on Nov 29 2009. Filed under Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.