The Nikki Glaser Podcast - #394 Getting On The PTSD List w/ Kathy Griffin!

Episode Date: November 23, 2023

It feels great to welcome Kathy Griffin back to the stage after a 6-year hiatus. Nikki brings her mom, Julie, along for the celebration. Kathy gets vulnerable about touring after the 'photo' and surviving cancer. Nikki and Kathy have a lot in common; they don't enjoy crowd work, share a similar writing process, and love to roast celebrities on stage. In fact, Kathy shares some experiences of run-ins with some ill-mannered stars! In the Final Thought, Kathy encourages Nikki to go on some gay cruises. Subscribe to Big Money Players Diamond on Apple Podcasts to get this episode ad-free, and get exclusive bonus content: https://apple.co/nikkiglaserpodcast  . Watch this episode on our Youtube Channel: The Nikki Glaser Podcast Follow the pod on Instagram for bonus content: @NikkiGlaserPod Leave us your voicemail: Click Here To Record Nikki's Tour Dates: nikkiglaser.com/tour Brian’s Animations: youtube.com/@BrianFrange More Nikki: IG More Brian: IG More producer Noa: IG    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jon Stewart is back in the host chair at The Daily Show, which means he's also back in our ears on The Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Join late-night legend Jon Stewart and the best news team for today's biggest headlines, exclusive extended interviews, and more. Now this is a second term we can all get behind. Listen to The Daily Show Ears Edition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Nikki Glaser Podcast. The Nikki Glaser Podcast. Hello, here I am. It's Nikki Glaser. Welcome to the Nikki Glaser Podcast. I am here in St. Louis, joined by my mom in studio. Hi, Mom.

Hi, Nikki. I'm so excited. I'm so glad to have you back in here. I know. I'm excited you're. Louis joined by my mom in studio. Hi, mom. Hi, Nikki. I'm so glad to have you back in here. I know. I'm excited you're here for a special reason today. I sure am. Brian is also here with us from New York. Hello. Hi, Brian. He's in New York right now for the holiday, but we have a very special guest on the show today, which I'm sure you already know from the

description on the podcast. It's one of my favorite comedians of all time and my mom's favorite comedian. You're our favorite. I don't want to say she's my favorite. I want to say you're my favorite. No, it's okay.

No, you know, Kathy Griffin is just such an inspiration. I would not be who I am without Kathy Griffin. My mom would not be who she is without Kathy Griffin. My mom would not be who she is without Kathy Griffin. That's probably true too. So inspiring to us.

We've watched her along just for so many years now. She is embarking on her first tour of America in six years. It's called My Life on the PTSD List. It is a 40 city tour. I am definitely traveling to Kansas City to go see it because it's the closest that it's getting to me. Nice. I was sad that I couldn't go see you in Vegas I thought oh my gosh is this just a one off thing

I'm so glad you're back on tour welcome to the show Kathy I'm sorry to keep talking please I'm just so blessed to meet you today oh my god you're so sweet well I love you you know that and Julie I'm your favorite just say it okay you're so sweet. Well, I love you. You know that. And Julie, I'm your favorite. Just say it.

I'm your, I'm totally your favorite. Okay, you're my favorite. Thank you. Definitely. You always have been, but Nikki came into the scene and it was like, what do I do? No, Julie, I prefer you to Nikki.

Like, nothing about that. No, Kathy, whenever my mom laughs at your material, because we'll watch your stuff together, she always goes, I'm sorry. She's just so funny. She always has to say, I'm sorry. And I go, why are you apologizing? And it's always because she thinks I'm getting offended on some level.

And I go, I'm not. She is the queen. No, my mom did the same thing. When I was in the Groundlings, the improv group back in the day, I was in the Groundlings with Lisa Kudrow, who, of course, went on to be in Friends. And my mom would come to the show. And afterwards, she would go, oh, Kathleen, that Lisa Kudrow. She just has the it factor.

I'd be like, what about my sketch? And she'd go, well, you should keep working. But Lisa has everything. It's a path. So I'm used to it. that's what moms do at your job yeah i mean don't you think that's a reason why you are the way you are though is because of that um just were you always seeking her validation were you always trying to get your mom's approval is that yeah look at me look at me i mean it'siful. I was the youngest of five and, you know, a wonderfully dysfunctional family.

And my parents enjoyed the drink. And so I was just dancing around trying to get their attention. But it was hard to get their attention away from like the highball mix. Do you guys remember the mixes where you would put powder in a drink and stir it which i could do when i was like seven like wow you can make my parents like a highball or an old it was powder and then we had hamburger helper which was more powder i was right there that was the day that's what they ate yeah i mean find that your parents did your parents watch a lot of tv so was that a way for you to go like okay they'll pay attention to me if i get on that is that a part of it we're totally starstruck so i'm chico and believe it or not until the john hughes movies

started filming in chicago you know like the breakfast club and stuff yeah there daily who was the mayor when i was a kid i would would not, oh, sorry, the dog's here. He would not allow filming in Chicago. So my parents were very starstruck and we saw every movie and there was one theater in our town called the Lake Theater in Oak Park, Illinois. And we would go to every Friday,

no matter what the movie was. And I remember one time, the movie for a week was the documentary Pumping Iron with Arnold Schwarzenegger and we still went we were like yep we're going because it's a movie every Friday they were super star struck

and so when I started to become like when I started to get like TV gigs or little arts and movies I took my parents to every gig I had. And it is to this day, the joy of my career. Like I had a little part on ER and I would even two lines.

Somehow I would talk the producers into letting my parents come to the set with their folding chairs. And I have pictures of my parents with George Clooney from ER. And it was like the episode that Quentin Tarantino directed. So there's a picture of my parents with Quentin Tarantino. Wow. Honestly, like it was a blast to bring them because they, and by the way, they didn't bother anybody. And by the end of the day, they would be the darlings of the set. It was honestly like it was a blast to bring them because they were,

and by the way, they didn't bother anybody. And by the end of the day, they would be the darlings of the set and people would see the way it is for me. Great. Kathy. I really took a page from that book of yours of, of bringing my parents to everything that I can involving them in every way.

They've been on pretty much every shoot that I can get them on. I've incorporated them into every kind of TV show and i bring my dad on stage with me i just love them so much and i think i do know that they appreciate and value show business so much that it is something that's it's it's nice to be able to i mean it's a it's a way to get their attention i i do think that was a thing that i i was like oh my parents really like TV people I mean I think it's probably one of the reasons I got into this I'm going to take a little dark turn here I really fear

losing my parents because I was even crying to it about my therapist yesterday I was like I don't know that I will have any reason to keep doing this if I'm not because they're the first ones who text me when I'm on TV they watch everything I do they are you know they

maybe don't say every all the right things but they're so supportive they you know and maybe sometimes I get a text and I'm like oh I don't even care that they watch that but they're always but I do care it means so much to me that they're always watching and I fear that if when they're gone mentally

physically whatever that that i will have no what's what's making me do this because i really think it's to make them proud back you'll bring them back i learned this from the great don rickles the my dear departed friend the one and only don rickles and he would his mom came to every show and he would talk to her and she sat like i can't remember she sat in the front or the back, but then she passed away. And there was a certain period of time when he kind of didn't do anything. And then he would talk about her in a way that was very, you know, poetic. mom and i act because the people that come to my shows knew my mom and my dad and they say tip it which is something my mom would say because my mom had enjoyed a box of wine and when the plastic

bag inside the box was getting low you gotta tip it you tip the box and then you use the spigot to get the very last drops. I know this. We broke and live in our car and eat dawn food. All that stuff you can still talk about, but I do love talking about your dead mother when she's in the room. Now, Julie, I don't want to burst into tears on my therapist, but Julie, what celebrities have stuck out with you that you've met? Oh, with

Nikki? Blake Shelton. I've met so many. Dave Matthews, Blake Shelton. Wait, tell me about Blake Shelton. Well, Nikki was doing a game show with him. Barmageddon. It's out now. My episode will be in January.

Oh, good. Yeah. Good to know. Anyway, we got to, and Nikki's like, do you want to go? Because Taylor Swift is playing in Nashville also, and you can go with me to that. And I'm like, I'm so in. She took me on tour with her to go see Taylor, like four different shows. How's that?

Different cities. Nikki's so generous with me, Kathy. It's unbelievable. Anyway, Blake spent 15 minutes with me just sitting next to me. Julia's Mr. Shelton, but go ahead. Well, honestly, he didn't

cringe when I said Blake, but he's such a nice guy. He's just like I really didn't even know who he was, to be honest. I know who he was to be honest. Like, I know who he is, but I didn't know how cool he was to be honest. Did he just chime the pants off you?

Yeah, he did. Yeah. He was just really, he's like, he's talking about how he met Gwen. Like he was letting us in on all this kind of like insider info. Yeah.

And he had his own green room, but he didn't even use it. He just hung out in ours. And then I thought he was just being nice to me and just like, you know, saying hi to my mom and me and sitting down for a second when we first got there.

Yeah. But then I got called to set and he just stayed with my mom. He just stayed behind and sat with her for 15 minutes. Yeah. And it wasn't even like, oh, I'm just going to be a real gentleman now.

It was just like he was genuinely interested in her and her story. That stuff really stands out to you. How does Gwen Stefani feel about your whore mother trying to take place? I don't know. I said don't tell Gwen. Your mother's a harlot.

I said don't tell Gwen. It was so funny because I was shooting a show this summer and there were some of the same crew from that show. And they kept coming up to me and going, when's your mom coming to set again? We love your mom. I just texted a guy about your mom.

Like people just loved you because you were throwing back a couple. You got into the wine on that shoot and you were just being funny and hilarious. And you were filming me. She was in the crowd shot, which is supposed to be like a drunk honky tonk bar of like cool, you know, millennials, Gen Z.

And my mom's just holding up her phone, filming me as I'm doing some of these like competitions. Sorry, I didn't know about that. Like we had to cut around your mom filming you the whole time, but it was, she's just like a blast everywhere she goes. And she just told me a story. And yet, if Julie ever embarrassed you,

come on, be honest. Oh, I mean, yeah. Surely. Yeah, for sure. everywhere she goes and she just told me a story ever embarrassed you come on be honest oh i mean yeah surely yeah for sure but but that was like in high school you know when i was like trying to be cool i think i heard you say it too about your parents is that my my dad is the one who's like intentionally funny and like has the jokes and then my mom is the one that's just born funny and doesn't really know why she's funny and like she makes everyone laugh mom you are the one I feel like I'm listening to like a couples counseling session

like I do on these podcasts you can tell her Nikki you can tell her thank you yeah I mean I've told you this before you're the funniest person I know but you don't even I've tried to actually imbue some of your characteristics of the way you talk and just the things you say. Well, you do a good job.

Well, I know I do. You know, you do. You know I do. But you just, you are just funny the way you are. And so it's, and that to me, I don't know about you, Kathy, but I feel like I've always tried to be funny or it's been like, you know, I think I have some of that natural ability, but it's more for me. I think I'm, I'm more of like my dad's version but as I get older I'm trying to relax and be like oh wait

there is a natural funny part of me that I've been kind of almost fighting by trying so hard no I love that though I love both of those kinds of people I was so lucky to have those like archetypes of people with my parents because my dad honestly he could have been a comic like he was really funny I mean it's the kind of humor that i have which you know sometimes it served me well and sometimes it hasn't but like i remember when i was a little kid we had this like really close family friend he was almost like an uncle and he redid their rec room remember rec rooms julie of course then sort of but we call it a rec room right he so So Mr. Gillian was his name.

So Mr. Gillian finishes the rec room, and he did it all himself. And it's Sunday, and we'd gone to church. And I remember my dad's holding my hand. I'm a little kid. And my dad walks in, and he goes, what a shitbox. What a fucking idiot. What a idiot. And my mother was appalled.

Of course. Gillian laughed because he knew my dad was kidding. But I want to capture that quality of like being able to be not mean. Like we're talking about Rickles. Like, believe it or not, Rickles was wounded when people thought he was mean and i i never understood how you could think rickles or joe rivers were mean because they were so clearly they like letting you in on the joke but their world was this no bs world and yet my dad did kind of need my mom to be a legit person that was legit appalled at everything he said, even though she was giggling too. Right.

I love that balance of my mom was a character. She didn't know why she was funny. My dad could tell a joke on cue. So trying to, and you have that, Nikki, where you can marry those two things, but you can be funny on cue like that. It's, you know, when I let go, you know, I think when I'm trying,

when I'm obsessed about what I'm going to say and trying to be the funniest i'm i'm somewhere in between you know when i go on talk shows i want prepared material i want to know exactly the beats i'm gonna hit i want to make sure i have funny jokes and then there's there is a part though of of letting go i you know i didn't come up doing improv or sketch. So I, I don't have that. I've always just done standup. So it's always been like, I know what I'm going to say when I'm good up there. I don't really do crowd work. I'm, I'm kind of nervous about letting myself just go and letting the funny find itself. But as I get older, I think I'm, I'm just learning to like myself more and just trust that whatever I am is, is unique and it's, it's fine. And

that's what makes me special, but it takes so many years to fucking start. But you have a point of view and that's what makes you successful because comics that just try to write material or almost recite material, it has to come from your point of view. What is the shit you think is funny? Sorry. I don't know if I'm allowed to curse on here. Yeah,

please. Okay. Um, the shit you think is funny, but by the way, can we talk about crowd work okay yes nikki i i don't do this trend like if this is the new trend i'm sorry like i look i get crowd work and i admire people and i do have any me too and that's great but i actually feel philosophically that if you buy a ticket to, you know, Kathy Griffith, My Life on the PTSD Tour, you can just relax. Like I, you know what I mean? Like I want the audience to know I'm going to do all the work.

There's two hours where you just have to sit in your seat. Also, you play theaters like I do. That's a very different animal you can't do crowd work with someone in row one because then the thousand people behind them or more if you're lucky 2,500 people or whatever they can't hear that person they have no you know sebastian maniscalco because he relies on a part of his set to do crowd work he will have a camera filming that person and then it shows up on the screen so he's he's orchestrated in a way that it can make sense for the whole the whole theater but you're absolutely right it's i i i know that when i go to shows or when i was a person that was before i

did stand up i was terrified of being singled out or being called on and i think that most people have that there are some people that you know are dying to be roasted or or you know be involved in the show but those people i'm not really interested in entertaining i just i that's not i actually give a speech before my show that says like if you have seen my roast before and you're here thinking that's what's going to happen tonight it's not if you're a girl who was brought by one of those guys like i can't wait for her to tear us to shreds right i'm not going to talk about you can get up to go to the bathroom and i'm not going to be the one to go like look at this lady going to take a shit like I tell them please go to the bathroom like I want you to have no anxiety just laugh if you have a weird laugh let it go like loudly I'm not going to address it I'm not

going to you can just relax because I I just know that's the kind of experience I want um and I like that you say that because um yeah it's it's it's become this trend and i i agree with you i think it is a a talent in its own right right right it has to be in clubs or like like yeah you've got to have like a jumbotron and stuff and and look that's what i do when i was in the groundlings and that's great and when you go to the groundlings which is a comedy troupe in LA or Second City in Chicago the whole audience knows when they enter they are going to be asked to make suggestions but you know what's funny Nikki is I also have people that think I'm a roaster but I'm not really a classic roaster and you and i have both done roasts yeah and it's honestly it's not my comfort

zone and i'll be sort of roasty type of zingers in my stuff but it's not the comedy central roast of charlie sheen roast of david yeah that's like a assignment and i feel like what you and i do is this is our terrain to have however much time to do, you know. But to let it fly, let the stuff that we think is funny out there and that's relatable. I say a thing because I tend to go really long. On my last tour, which was over five years ago, I did some shows that were over three hours because I actually did every show like it was my last show and then on my last show it fucking was my last show yeah and then the phone didn't ring nikki for five years i did the most successful tour of my career i got like freaking singapore and the sydney opera house

and carnegie hall and radio city and i thought okay now i'm over the trump photo people are okay and they weren't and five long years i've been not fair dang and trying to get i bitched talk shows and game shows and scripted shows and unscripted shows and it's just been like this toxicity all from that trunk photo and it's crazy because i feel like this tour came together i'm not kidding three weeks ago i think we got a call from an agent like six weeks ago and then a agent and a manager and then they routed this tour and so i got 40 cities and it's just mind-blowing because it's awesome it's almost like america has finally forgiven me which is a very odd thing to like go through you know it it's gotta be because you must have just thought this is never gonna lift they're They're never going to forgive me.

First of all, they don't even care to listen to what was really going on with that photo and why it happened. All they want to know is they think that I was actually making a threat against his life. They don't have any interest in hearing me explain myself. Yeah, I was on the fly list. I couldn't do it. I know.

And you were under investigation for months. Yes. You were, I mean, I can't believe it. I know. And you were you were under investigation for months. Yeah, you were. I mean, I can't I can't believe what you went through. Being canceled in that vicious of a way is is something that so few people understand. And I've researched it a bit like I just it's people really people wanted people want you to die. People just people want you to lose everything people really uh it must have felt so horrible especially kathy as you know someone who people don't understand that comedians are desperate for love you know and acceptance that's why we're doing this and and even if you're a comedian that says crazy things or controversial things

like you said about rickles you know quote mean things, at the core of it is this desperate need of acceptance and love. And so for the opposite of that to happen, I don't know. I can't imagine what you went through. I'm so glad that it's feeling like it's finally lifted and I can't wait to see how well this tour does. It feels like a mandatory minimum sentence.

You got five years for a photo when there's other people who did much worse things and got one year and you know you know like when people talk about being canceled first of all let's be honest a lot of the people that were canceled were dudes that were like whipping their dicks out and robbing them against girls and yes somebody on the set who's like a holocaust denier like i took a photo that was you're're in the same boat. A protest photo in my opinion. Some people thought it was a joke.

You can interpret it however you want. But to be investigated by two agencies within the Department of Justice and have the White House like serious about charging me the conspiracy to assassinate the President of the United States. Oh my God. It was just so intense.

Insane. It's ridiculous. It was just so intense. Insane. It's ridiculous. It's no wonder you have PTSD. And people just can't get over it. It was the craziest thing. I did the Stephen Colbert show one time, and I'm a giant fan of his. I love the Colbert report in particular.

Yeah. And I went on, and he was so tough on me that the minute the interview was over, I went in the wings, and I freaking burst into tears. It was so embarrassing. And the producer came over to me, and he said, I'll never forget, he goes, he just couldn't get beyond the picture. Oh, God. Give me a break. Because it was brutal.

And he goes, I'm going to give you a beautiful edit. And it was one of those shows where they did a Thursday show that would run Friday. And it came out fine. But people that came at me, it wasn't just the right wing. It was left, right, and center. You know what? Can't anyone just understand that sometimes you make a fucking mistake? Yes!

We've all been caught up in a moment i mean people can't relate to photo shoots and the ideas that get thrown out and the things that you do like i've i've had water dumped on me with like a white t-shirt with my nipples hanging out like i've i've done like kind of partially nude photographs when i didn't even want to right because a guy in my kitchen was like I have a cool idea it's it can't anyone grasp that oh I do sometimes and that and you and you know it boils down to you pressing post on your Instagram your life was over you just hit a button you get your phone with your thumb and your life was fucking over yeah that's insane that thing Nikki I was doing it because I was in between well in between in between gigs, I was out of work. And one of the things that I do, and you're like this as a self-starter, is I thought, you know what?

I'll do, I had the, of course, the photographer had no fallout, you know, typical. But I had worked with him before, and I foolishly trusted him. But, you know, I thought, why don't i take a bunch of wacky pictures and i took one where like i was spoofing kim kardashian like i took like five wacky pictures that day and that trump picture took 10 minutes it was the last one of the day and i had a halloween mask and you know of trump and whatever but i really thought this picture will live on my instagram for a day or maybe it would be on a gay blog and that'll be yeah like i didn't know that you weren't trying to fire up anyone you weren't trying to make it it was we gotta go to break but i i let's just talk about

all this when we get back i really want to talk about the name of your tour why you chose that name and like what what what you've gone through. And you've been through so much more than just this in the past six years. We'll be back with more Kathy Griffin after this. Okay. Jon Stewart is back in the host chair at The Daily Show, which means he's also back in our ears on The Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. The Daily Show podcast has everything you need to stay on top of today's news and pop culture.

You get hilarious satirical takes on entertainment, politics, sports, and more from John and the team of correspondents and contributors. The podcast also has content you can't get anywhere else, like extended interviews and a roundup of the weekly headlines. Listen to The Daily Show, ears edition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We're back. Kathy Griffin is here. She is back on tour, 40-city tour.

And I like that you said that I watched an Instagram Live of yours recently. These are secondary cities, so these aren't the big cities. These are like you took, your agent made a plan for you. Fury Town, New York, Omaha, Red Bank, New Jersey,

Napa, California. Yes. This go around, I'm not doing LA, New York, Minneapolis, Chicago. I have to... You're taking the temperature. Yeah, but I also have to earn my way back like my dream is to play Carnegie Hall again you played it five times already five times just me no open

or nothing and you've never met anyone who loves standing on that stage more than I do I am I know. I'm sorry. You know, all the, I, you know, I have to earn my way back to Carnegie. I hope to play the Chicago theater again. I hope to play the Kodak in LA, but I don't know you guys. I'm scared. I,

I know it's, it's a hundred percent going to happen. This is your redemption. People, whether or not people have forgiven you, everyone who has a head on their shoulders and has been a fan of yours in the past is back on board.

Is always a fan. Yes. I can't imagine. I was clamoring for you to come back on. And I want to ask your advice. So, okay. So, Julie, you're a super fan of mine. Obviously, you know I'm a humble legend.

All right. That's what I love about you. I'm just humble legend all right that's what i love about you that's i'm just humble the thing that i think really just hurts but i want to have figure out a way to work around it is what hurts the most is all the people that think about that train photo but they forgot they did like kathy griffin my life on the g list they did like my specials they did like you know whatever and i felt like that photo took away my entire body unfair i i just can't even believe how unfair i'm the same person exactly but and i i guarantee you anyone who's seen you in concert and anyone who knows you all your fans will be there they're coming back

all right these are other people that canceled you yeah the and the people that aren't going to come back have a brain disorder i mean that's what they have a mental illness which we all know about and it's like anything to do with that guy they can't open their heart to any kind of reasoning or uh just they they can't use simple logic but i really do think that the pressure you'll get from this and the stories that will come out of it the the different appearances you'll make you're gonna start being in their face again a lot more and people are just gonna fall in love with you all over again because you're so fucking funny i'm so excited to hear this material you are you're just one of the most prolific you are probably the most prolific

comedian we have you know i always say i'm so grateful that i'm a swifty because she is just so prolific and she's constantly putting out stuff and you know if you're a fan of rihanna you've been waiting for an album for like two decades right and it sucks but you know when you're a fan of kathy griffin i was looking at your special spread of like 20 specials that you've put out yeah you would shoot sometimes three specials in a year like it would be like you know 13 months and there would be three specials um i i'm sure you've been over this before how do you generate material what what what is your writing process i just saw an instagram of you actually just typing away of like how are you getting ready for tour and it's just you feverishly typing is is that your process uh in front of a laptop not really in fact i'm just old school

bullet points like yeah same it's so ridiculous i still bring a notebook on stage with me i don't really look at it but it's like a security blanket too yeah it's like bullets and then i'm off and running and i'm lucky if i get to all of them at the end of the two hours but you remember all of the punchlines just because you just I have the same thing like once you say something that's funny and gets a laugh yeah it just imprints in your head yeah and it's there yeah so remember I'm from the groundlings like I was an actress first and I went about it as my mom would say ass backwards where I was like on a sitcom and then I did my first special. I didn't do my first special until I was

36. So I wasn't even on CD until I was 36. You look so fucking good too. It's insane. I love the improvisational nature. And oh, you want to eat some dish? I'm going to try to please.

I'm kind of bitter because I've never been on that show with Jerry Seinfeld comedians in cars yeah because I wait Jerry doesn't think I'm like a real comic because I improvise everything and no but you don't but Kathy you don't like you're not you're not filming specials improvising I bet you anything I can watch your specials I know that maybe you got to the jokes by improvising but when you tape a special maybe one or two or three lines is improvised that night yeah but you have memorized the material like anyone else does you're just not there with a notebook writing out jokes long form that doesn't that's interesting i do feel like there is a there is a difference

between the way the comics that sit with a laptop and memorize their jokes and write them out and then recite them over and over. Look at comics like us who have just kind of worked it out on stage. But there's no difference. You've memorized and come up with material just like they have. There's also room for everybody. And so I can't even imagine having feelings about a comic the way people like turned on me. Like, it's so shocking to me to this day that people have these such strong feelings because I think if there's a comic I don't particularly like, I just maybe don't like them. But I know I know on a mission to ruin them, you know.

And well, that's not the people that loved you, Kathy. These are people who love somebody else and he's despicable. I know. But sorry, they will stand behind him. It doesn't matter what you did. If you said something bad against him, they're going to dislike you.

But there's something that i i'm sorry something resonates with me with what you're saying kathy is like and it it pains me to hear it from you because you're just someone who i uh look at as like so strong and just like the funniest person alive and to hear this like why are they still mad at me why don't they they like me people who don't like you don't fucking get it like i if someone is not a fan of yours i'm just like i don't i don't want to be on your list of favorite comedians i don't want to have anything to do with you because if you get if you understand good comedy which i so i have bad self-esteem in almost every part of my life but i i know what's funny and who's the funniest if you don't think think Kathy Griffin is funny, you're not smart.

Yeah, exactly. You don't have a good barometer of stand-up comedy, and I don't respect your opinion. It's just the way it is, but I do, I think it's so interesting. Who cares about those people? But here's the thing that is, I think people wonder about people like me

and people like you, Kathy, that say things on stage that we know are gonna are controversial. The same thing as your dad saying, well, this place looks like shit. What a shitbox. Yes. We say things like that and then they go, well, then why do you get upset when people don't like you?

Clearly, you're saying things that are going to alienate people. I struggle with that. Again, I was talking to my therapist about it yesterday. I'm shooting a special December 16th and I'm struggling with, thank you. I'm struggling with, you know, making material that's going to make me super likable

and relatable and it's going to bring everyone in and it's not going to alienate anyone. And then at the same time, I want, I know, but don't you struggle with those two as well? Like I want everyone to like me, but also I want to be myself and have my opinions and have my point of view. How do you square those two?

Because at the end of the day, you still have to be the business woman who's selling tickets. And so what I'm trying to work on is I kind of let go of the notion of trying to broaden my fan base because we've all become so siloed that I'm never,

like, it does make me sad, but I'm never going to get those Trumpers back. And there are certain regions. I mean, Nikki, I used to play everywhere. I played every Southern market you can imagine. I played the Riverboat casinos. I played the performing arts centers. And look, let's face it,

some of those markets they may never forgive me i mean when when you're talking deep deep deep trunk country you know what did you do i don't really know what you did i think i can go there see although i am going to lexington kentucky and i'm selling pretty well there which is shocking yeah i can also try to be the beacon of like for the gays and the ladies and the people like yeah they just don't want they're just not down with that and that's what i would want like if i lived in trump country and i couldn't help but i had to live there i would absolutely go see a comic yeah i mean the town that was just gonna have an opposing view and

by the way let me just say, believe it or not, in my new show, I actually don't mention Trump once. And it's not like I'm scared or anything. He just kind of doesn't come up. And I really love talking about all this PTSD stuff. And I think it's relatable. But like you said, yes, I'm mindful of, the ptsd stuff is funny but what i'm finding really rewarding is people relate to it with everything we've been through with covid which by the way not our most shining moment we didn't exactly deal well with covid lost our freaking minds but we haven't recovered and recovered and you know i had lung cancer so my voice is like a little bit more high pitched and so i talked about that and i say the audience, clap if you've been affected in any way by cancer. Well, almost everyone claps. And I go, clap if you've been affected, you know, in any way by losing a friend, somebody in your Facebook group, a coworker, to MAGA or QAnon. Almost everybody claps. So then I'm like, okay, I can

talk about this stuff. You know, I don't know. It's super, super personal. I didn't think I'd ever be talking. I didn't think I could have PTSD. I thought it was- Yeah. Tell me about that because I've heard you speak on it, but how did it show up for you? And what did you think it was at first? How did you get diagnosed? What are your symptoms? Well, I was, okay, so after I got cancer, I had my surgery and they took half of my left lung out. And so I have one and a half lungs, Nikki. Oh my God.

What are you feeling from that? Is it just, is it hard to breathe? Is that what affected your voice? Yes. So during the surgery, I was injured and my left vocal cord is permanently paralyzed from the tube so what's weird is that when i had cancer i had no symptoms and now that i'm cancer free i sound like i'm sick and i oh my god and so and it's just an injury from the surgery yes

right and so um you know i i have to say right up top, like why my voice is more high pitched. And then I go into like making fun of the audience for having two lungs and how I'm bitter. Your lungs community and how I can see their ribcage is expanding and it makes me bitter. You know how it is. You try to throw in anything and try to make it yeah and the ptsd for me was for about 10 months this is the darkest period of my whole life for 10 months after my cancer surgery and i just wasn't getting better i could not stop vomiting and let me tell you that lays you out like you can't do anything you're dehydrated all the time i was going to the emergency room for um iv infusions constantly um and then i was i had shrinks and my oncologist every doctor said you have ptsd and i just wrote it off i was like i'm from chicago we don't get ptsd i just thought that that's it's for people

who come back from war like that's what you what you just assumed. Right, right, right. But I think, honestly, the combination of, like, the Trump scandal, all the threats against me, the whole, like, people confronting me in the street, which happened a lot. It still happens to this day. Oh, God. Showing up at the house, Trump people and stuff. And not having really a place to go although i will say the fbi was very helpful and i kind of credit them for saving my life because they would come to my house when there was what's called a credible threat sometimes like they came to my house multiple times to say hey there's a person who's very serious about attacking you and i just got used to it in fact i did a movie which nobody

distributed but i'm proud of it called kathy griffin to hell the story and it's a concert movie with some documentary footage and the day of filming the comedy special part the fbi unannounced came over and they were like there's a threat you know somebody's going to try to kill you do you have a show coming up? And I said, yes, tonight. You know, so that's just a mindfuck. And then I think, you know, getting cancer and then having it alter my voice. I felt like I lost my voice as an artist during the Trump thing. And then I literally lost my voice.

So now I'm just trying to get out there and tell people like i sound a little mini mouse but i'm i'm okay i'm not in pain and then i talk about all the crazy ass shit i do to just try to stay normal like kundalini yoga which i don't even know what that is but i would and i yell shit and i fucking have oils that I'm afraid of because I'm afraid of the essential oil people because they're mid-scheme and I'm afraid of them don't tell them I said that

it's just all this stuff that I never thought oh and then get this I became addicted to prescription pills during the Trump thing and I tried to kill myself and then I even talked about with the pills you tried to kill yourself with the pills thing i tried to kill myself and then i even talked about with the pills you tried to kill yourself with the pills i took like a hundred benzos you guys the worst part about trying to kill yourself is when you fucking wake up i was like

oh oh you can't even do that right my first words were you are fucking kidding me like those are my wait did you write a note like what was what was what led to that moment you write a note? Like what was, what was, what led to that moment? You wrote a note? I was so messed up on pills. I'm so, but I was so messed up on pills that I was convinced my husband's life would be better. Like, I felt like I've had a good run. I've accomplished a lot of cool shit. It's time for me to go. But it's because my mind was so messed up yeah else so i even make fun of aa in my act because nothing is more fun than an aa meeting when someone goes up drunk oh

but i fucking love it yes all of it and like i said i hope it's relatable and like you said she has i want people to laugh and i want to make people laugh and I want to take them out of whatever they're going through for a couple of hours. It's like pretty simple. Yeah. And it's you're just trying. I mean, at least I feel when the stuff I talk about, I'm just trying to I'm not trying to offend anyone, really. That's and I think it gets misconstrued as that so often. But I'm just

i don't like things not being talked about that are like open secrets yes and and i think that the only way you know it's an a a term but if it's mentionable it's manageable and so when i have an entire bit about molestation or or rape or um you know i have tons of different things that people will go you can't you can't touch that don't your things that people will go, you can't, you can't touch that. Don't your suicide. Um, and people say, you can't say that. And I always go, well, you know, there's always an excuse for like doing like a, you know, a bit you're like, well, I can talk about this because my brother is this. And I'm like, well, I can talk about suicide because I am going to do it someday. You know, like I always, I'm a future victim of it.

So I think I can but I think you know you gotta talk about these things because they if we don't talk about them then the people keep struggling with them alone and it might make some people feel awkward what the hell are we doing I just I'm not interested in talking

about things that are not I want to talk about things that are on the surface that everyone I want to talk about porn it's so weird porn no one talks about porn yet everyone's kind of you're not everyone but many people are watching it and it's it gets built you know they have more you know views on youtube than david went after dentists like yeah it's everyone's watching it but no one's talking about these are the things that interest me and and i think it sometimes just gets seen the wrong way of like oh you love saying the thing that's gonna upset everyone it's like that's the last thing i want is someone to be upset i just think it's interesting to talk about things that no one else is and i gotta just credit you for your bravery of um i

have like a bit i'm working on about a celebrity that i'm just like, man, if this person's like camp comes after me, like I, I could lose, you know, people don't know this about the business, but the fan armies, oh my God, the fan armies, fan armies, but also like their publicist, their publicist can say, well, you know what? She said this about her on a show. So we're never going to do Jimmy Kimmel. If you let that girl do Jimmy Kimmel because of what she said. So they can start kind of blacklisting you from things if they're, they're famous enough but also their fan armies what um do you hold back ever with the celebrity stuff has it has there ever been a bit that you did say that you go oh man i really regret doing that have you uh you know i'm sure you get asked this

all the time but the run-ins you have the book i have the book on my shelf the a to z celebrity encounters which is incredible and has informed so much of how I look at certain celebrities now. Oh, I thank you for that so much. People in my book aren't even talking to me now. Like I look at that book and I'm like, I wrote a freaking love letter for this person. They should send me some goddamn flowers. But no, I love celebrity remnants because, look, we all see celebrities and we're all interested in people that are in the forefront, whether it's a political figure or a Kardashian. And I love lifting that veil because the veil is there.

And now you've got celebrities that are like influencers and that's a whole other game. And I get such a kick out of running into these people because there's like the legit people with talent that I'm just fascinated by and there are the people that are famous for being famous but yes I have you know I've been blacklisted by everybody I've had everybody pissed off at me I've been confronted by everybody and I just have to laugh because like I have like Demi Lovato's fans come after me those are some pissed off cutters let me tell you and i was tweeting one night and i had done like a double in seattle and it was just you know you can't sleep so i was like okay i go on twitter this

is like before twitter was x and i'm like okay i'll take questions. And somebody wrote, who's like the biggest douchebag celebrity you've ever met? And I wrote Debbie Lovato. Because three, but I said Debbie. I go to bed. It's so much better than writing Debbie. My phone is like blown up. And you know that feeling if you look at your phone and there's way too many texts? Yeah.

Way. Oh, and you know someone's died or. And you get that feeling that's right you're like who died um okay so the i call them the debbie army the debbie army was livid and then debbie herself posted a picture that she took what that i didn't know she took rhyme in the background and it was at i heard radio and i was introducing somebody and then i went to watch rihanna and demi lovato took a picture of like herself going like like but with me in the background like pointing to me like yeah so when she wound up then the army it was on so it was go time and i'm sitting there like i'm in my 50s kids i don't know i don't we don't

i didn't have a fan or i liked carly simon i don't even know what you're talking yeah yeah no as a swifty i understand the ire that can come out of those kinds of communities and and i don't take part in and that kind of um uh that that part of the fan base, but you're walking a minefield now, and it's only increased with social media, so when you first started talking about, you know, Barbra Streisand with the, did you know that bitch painted my wife white?

Yeah. That story and stuff, like, there wasn't these, like, social media, like, storms that could start happening,

and turn everyone against you. I want to go to break, but then I want to come back, and I want to hear your justification for that answer of Debbie Lovato when we get back. Okay. Jon Stewart is back in the host chair

at The Daily Show, which means he's also back in our ears on The Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. The Daily Show podcast has everything you need to stay on top of today's news and pop culture. You get hilarious satirical takes on entertainment, politics, sports, and more from Jon Thank you. daily show ears edition on the iHeartRadio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts

um we're back with Kathy Griffin okay why when asked about the most unpleasant encounter you had with a celebrity did you say Debbie Lovato all right I just get a kick out of Debbie because first of all she was livid that I called her Debbie instead of him and I just think that's funny. I've been called Kathy Lee Griffin. I've been called Kathy Griffiths. I've been called Kathy Lee my career. I don't give a...

That is not my problem in life. But she just seems to lack a sense of humor about herself. And that is my favorite kind of celebrity. I'm sorry about... Most of them right so i don't make fun of like somebody who's really funny on a sitcom or somebody who's like on snl because they're a funny person but i really get a kick out of especially young celebrities that are wildly famous incredibly rich beyond privileged beautiful lauded and yet every time i would run into debbie

she just was like a sour puss well after this whole thing happened we were both at the tonight show i was the first guest she was the singer right whoa after this happened yes oh my god what did you think when you realized she was gonna be where you did you try to get rebooked i would be so scared i was terrified of her army and so i saw her in the hall and i said right during the hall you were by me and i was like okay so if you remember on the tonight show jay leno would walk you over and you would watch the band so yes standing feet away from her kind of dancing a little and she had a new hit single i don't remember what it was like yeah the summer or whatever and so afterwards jay says let's walk over he doesn't know anything about me and debbie so i walk over and i just turned her and i said

congratulations on your new single and she just gave me like the stink eye. And I just, I was like, Debbie, now you're in my hat more. Like, Debbie, you just walked right into my hat. All you had to do was giggle or say, hey, that whole thing was silly. Or, hey, we're both professionals. But I can't help it. I still get a kick out of the youngs. And often it's the youngs that are living in the dream but they're feeling joke i made yes yes the this the lack of sense of humor about themselves that's and that's what i

that's who i feel i'm kind of going after j-lo in my next set um just for just some hypocrisy i see happening which i think you know you see it everywhere with every celebrity, but I'm just, you know, my goal is, if I get a send in fame, is to dispel all the bullshit that I grew up like, worshipping celebrities about, like, I think

that's the new job of the celebrity, is to, like, stop of course we're on a pedestal for our talent, sure, put us up there, but all the other bullshit, the beauty, the, the,

the, the lighting, the everything that makes us look so unattainable and makes you at home feel like shit. Like I'm tired of it. And I want more, I just want more transparency from celebrities. I guess I,

I, I, I, I don't, I, but you know, my, my boyfriend who's producing my special is kind of like, are you ready to like go after her so hard? And I'm't, but you know, my boyfriend who's producing my special is kind of like,

are you ready to like go after her so hard? And I'm like, you know what I'll do is I'll amp up how I actually feel, which is she's so stunning. I'll just compliment the fuck out of her in a very genuine way. But I have to actually say the truth of how I feel too. Like I can't, I gotta balance it out somehow. Like that's how I'm feeling like I because you know people could go after me about things and I'd feel like sad if someone spent a lot of time in their comedy special like taking something down that I was kind of shitty about and um you know and I'm willing to forgive her too or like you know but it also makes a difference if it's true and let me tell you something yeah she's rough man she's fucking rough trade and I've heard some

stories I've heard some stories. I've done everything from, I hosted the Billboard Awards one year when she was singing, and I'm saying that in air quotes. And I saw her like one time, I got to go to a Kardashian Christmas party, which that alone was a dream. And of course they have like a photo booth

with like perfect lighting and everybody looks 12 years old. And so he was with A rod at the time and so i go jl take come on let's take one picture together where you're like give me the stink eye because i've given you shit on stage and i go see if a rod will do it with me and she goes it's alex his name alex. Oh, my God. What? I was just like, I came up to her and I said, give me the stink eye in the picture. Like, I'm handing it to her on a silver platter to go, I'm willing to be the jester and you're beautiful, successful, gazillionaire J-Lo. And I'm actually saying, give it to me. Like, I think that's a funny picture for both of us

but all she kept saying was it's Alex Alex and so I photobombed a picture of them together and she legit was pissed oh I'm sure but I'm just like what what and two seconds

later they got to take a picture. But I couldn't figure out why she was such like a malcontent. But I am fascinated by that. That's the fascination. Why are you such a bitch? Like, why are these people so, why do they treat people horribly? How can the world go more your freaking way? I know.

And yet you're, because i guess it just seems to happen with with fame with people and i know you've you've encountered this countless times more way more than i have of just people who are the most famous had had the most gifted uh just genetics and then you know just just handed to them on silver platter their whole life and yet they're so they're so mean people you know you hear stories about people working to them on silver platter their whole life and yet they're so they're so mean people you know you hear stories about people working with them on set and how they're just a nightmare to work with and it's like why and how is this person still working when they're such a cunt like yet you get canceled for a picture but then a person who treats everyone and doesn't let them look at

them on set right is mean to everyone holds up production four hours because you know their their tea was cold or whatever. Their eyelash extensions weren't the right ones or whatever and holds up a million dollar production. They get to keep working? Why? Why? Why can't they just figure out that all they

have to do is laugh at themselves? That's all they have to do. Like Brooke Shields, I was on a show with her for four years. And I always say she changed my life because i went from not working to being on an nbc sitcom back in the day when it was like must see tv so she doesn't care for me because i put a story about her in one of my specials even though she came to see me lying one time and i told the story and she was like oh that was really funny don't forget to put this part in what wait which story was it it was about her wedding I yes I remember okay yes mom who was

a famous alcoholic but I guess one great with her mom because I I you know how to be around I talked to a drunk like no yeah I can see the fun part and her her mom was, you know, I'm not saying she was the best mom, but she was smart and clever and whatever. And so it makes me sad because I have such warm feelings for Brooke Shields. And we worked together every day for four years. And she's Brooke Shields, like the most beautiful, celebrated. She did did drama she did broadway yeah and we were like close and i just would go that's her choice i you know did you apologize i mean was there a interaction between you two where you said i she kind of she kind of like okayed the story right what pissed her off is bro is howard stern mentioned that one time when i was on howard and she has an issue with howard even though i kept saying brooke if you go on howard stern one time oh my god she will kick your ass he will fucking love with you and then you'll become a regular yes so but i think she maybe has that like pretty girl thing where she kind of just didn't want to get there.

Yeah. I just I don't know. I. That's a bummer. I know. You seem like a really good friend. Yeah. And so I it makes me sad when people don't take the joke, but also carry it on for like years and years.

Yeah. Well, final thought. I mean, there are some people we can talk about the people that have been Unpleasant but some people have been Extremely kind to you Even throughout Your cancellation And I heard you mention Kimmel

Never blacklisted you Seth Meyers Stern Howard yeah I mean Jimmy Kimmel had me on because my voice used to be even more High pitched I had like five surgeries on it. God. I went on there when I was literally talking like this. Oh, yeah.

And he had me on. And when I got kicked off Twitter personally by Elon Musk, because Elon. Oh, yeah, that's right. Because what I did was I changed my username. It's hilarious what you did. And the night before the midterms i was tweeting you know i've talked to the mothers of my children and i am now pro-choice vote blue no matter who and so people thought it was really elon and he got mad and he had a fit and he kicked me off and then jimmy called and he said we wrote a sketch where you're playing elon musk and amazing

so yeah once i get the joke i'm so freaking grateful like you have no idea it just means the world when people just roll with it and the can i ask you going back to your voice thing so you come out of you came out of lung cancer surgery yeah just thinking okay i just went through all that and then you talk for the first time and you just go what the fuck like what was that they didn't intend to damage your vocal cord that was a thing that happened right in fact the guy the surgeon was like well i know what you do for a living and we need you to be out there doing your comedy and we'll be careful and it just happened and it's permanent and so yeah i've had to live with that and i i just asked the audience to kind of go with it but i can't really do impressions the same and you know it's weird

because as a comic so much of what we do you have to really project like i don't want to say i'm a yelling comic but i yelling and cursing is my love language that's who i'm telling you what you did wrong is how i said i love you and so um i did my first double though because i was afraid my voice couldn't do it oh i was gonna say jesus double on a gay cruise nikki nikki have you done a gay cruise yet no and i'm honestly i'm trying to pivot to like what get more gay gay like i'm trying to just pivot to gay audiences I'm like I want your audiences. This is a bucket list

you have not lived until you've done a gay cruise look those boys are serious Julie I know you think you've done partying in your lifetime but you don't drink Kathy I don't know if I can keep up with the drinking and the part

how do you keep up with it all? because you can't drink kathy like i don't know if i can keep up with the drinking and the part the like how do you keep up with it all on those things because you can't escape it's everywhere no i know but it's a comic i get to observe and be sober and watch these boys and like they have parties and they're all theme parties like one is called guns and hoses yeah and it's for policemen and firefighters even though nobody really is a cop or firefighter. Breaking Bad theme parties because they love Walter White and Jesse Pinkman because some teens gays enjoy meth. And I know that's shocking. And they just lose their minds for like seven days.

And I usually am on the cruise for like two days but i want to do a double so at least i was like all right and now i have to use the like madonna headset mic great but i love it it's much that's so you though man because you should have been using those for years you're so physical and like i want to see you walk around like i love you with a mic and i love your mic work honestly like i've kind of i i've definitely even watching myself sometimes i'm like oh you've definitely learned some things from kathy but that seems to be like that would have freed you up that's that's a nice uh little thing that happened out of this voice thing no i love it i love it and the first time i had it was at the

mirage casino casinos they're almost like tv studios they have everything yeah i'm gonna buy one now and take it town to town yes i don't expect these theaters to like have it but i don't even remember the name of it but it's really helpful and i yeah for the first time i have the freedom of my hands and i love that i'm pretty physical like i make fun of all the exercises i do for ptsd and get down on all fours and i do this thing do Do you know what this is, cat-cow? No. Brian, you know about it? Yeah, it's like a yoga move.

Tell them what it is. Kind of just arch your back. You're on all fours like a dog, and you arch your stomach forward, and then you arch your back. And then when you go, when you tip your head up, you moo like a cow now julie i don't

know what the hell this does to make me feel better but all it works i've stopped vomiting and then oh my god various time of my freaking life so if i have to meow and moo i'll do i'll do whatever it takes i'll get spayed i'll do whatever it takes and I'll get spayed. I'll do whatever it takes. You're hilarious. So I get to get down on all fours and do my meow moo. Well, your voice really does. It's improved so much. I had vocal cord surgery a year ago because I had nodules. And I don't know.

Did you go to Dr. Zytel's? No, I usually go to Dr. Sugarman. Okay. I think we've worked with... Do you work with Amy Chapman on voice stuff? Yes, she's fantastic. She worked with me on you work with Amy Chapman on voice stuff? She's fantastic. She, she worked with me on the mass singer and she told,

she told me that she loves you so much. And I was so excited to have the same voice teachers. Yeah. She does. She like literally massages. Oh, it's the best. She does a larynx massage.

It's so good. But yeah, you sound amazing, Kathy. I think, um, and I'm kind of self-conscious about it. It's no,

it's, it really, it's, it doesn't sound like you're in pain as long as you establish that up front yeah for people that might worry about it yeah yeah there there's it honestly it's it's it's not it's not it's it's not even noticeable okay really forget about it at first you go oh she sounds different but it's no it's nothing to be a-conscious about. I hope you accept that. If you hadn't mentioned it, I would not have even thought twice about it. I'm so excited

to see you on tour, though. I'm really gonna make an effort to drive across Missouri. I'm in St. Louis to come see you in Kansas City. I cannot wait to see you. I can't wait for this tour. Everyone has to go and buy tickets to this. Kathy is just one of the most original, most inspirational, most funniest people ever.

Her live shows are insane. They're sometimes three hours long. It's an experience, man. So you got to go see her on the, my life on the PTSD tour. And you can get those tickets at kathygriffin.com. And they're available right now. Go check all the tour dates.

There's 40 of them. Read her books, watch her special. She's 40 of them. Read her books. Watch her specials. She has 20 of them. Immerse yourself in all things, Kathy, if you haven't already. She's one of my favorites and always will be. I'm so honored that you did the podcast.

Thank you so much, Kathy. I just love you so much. You call me anytime. You know where to find me. Thank you, Kathy. That means the world. Julie, I love you. I miss you.

Oh, God. I love you too, Kathy. All right. Maybe I'll come with Nikki to come see you. We're going to Oh, God. I love you too, Kathy. All right. Maybe I'll come with Nikki to come see you. We're going to go. For sure. Nikki, Julie, you just get. All right.

All right. All right. I love it. You have a special relationship. I love you. I appreciate it. Bye, Kathy. Thank you so much.

Bye. Jon Stewart is back in the host chair at The Daily Show, which means he's also back in our ears on The Daily Show, ears edition podcast. Join late night legend John Stewart and the best news team for today's biggest headlines, exclusive extended interviews, and more. Now this is a second term we can all get behind. Listen to The Daily Show, ears edition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.