Laugh your head off
ALBANY — Kathy Griffin is bringing her comeback tour to a close in Albany, ending a run that has marked her return to the stage after more than six years away.
Griffin, who will perform at The Egg on Saturday, March 29, described the city with admiration and humor. “It snows in August. I know it well,” she joked in a phone interview. “It’s down-to-earth but smart people. I know every market, and for God’s sake, be on time. I don’t have an opening act. I start right on time.”
Her tour, “My Life on the PTSD List,” started as a 40-city engagement before expanding to 75, with stops at Carnegie Hall, the Wiltern in Los Angeles, and Boston Symphony Hall. The demand for tickets underscores the significance of her return after a career hiatus shaped by controversy, personal struggles, and health challenges.
The tour’s name, a nod to her Emmy-winning reality series “My Life on the D-List,” reflects a turbulent period in Griffin’s life. She has endured a highly publicized scandal, a federal investigation that placed her on a no-fly list, an addiction to prescription pills that led to a suicide attempt, divorce, the death of her mother, and a lung cancer diagnosis despite never having smoked. The latter resulted in the removal of half her left lung and a permanent change to her voice.
Still, Griffin is unwavering. “I have no regrets,” she said of the 2017 controversy surrounding a photo of her holding a fake severed head resembling Donald Trump, which led to widespread backlash and industry blacklisting. “The biggest protest I had was in Huntington, Long Island, which cracked me up because I just think of New York as being overall more blue than red, but I forgot the boroughs have gone MAGA.”
The fallout was swift, with Griffin being placed on the no-fly list, investigated by the Department of Justice, and effectively shut out of the industry for years. “They tried to charge me with conspiracy to assassinate the President of the United States, which holds a lifetime sentence,” she said, reflecting on the severity of the response. The backlash also impacted her financially, forcing her to seek alternative ways to connect with her audience while being unable to work.
Now cancer-free, Griffin maintains a rigorous schedule to sustain her performance stamina. “I do a two-hour walk every day. It’s how I write,” she said. “It helps me think straight.” She also underwent a vocal cord implant surgery, a procedure recommended by singer Sia, which helped her regain a stronger voice after three years of struggling with vocal weakness. “For three years after my lobectomy, I had a voice like Minnie Mouse. And that messed with my head.”
She is candid about her battle with addiction, revealing that at one point she was placed on a 5150 psychiatric hold for three days after a suicide attempt. “I touch on all of it in the show,” she said. “It’s been quite a journey, but I’m so incredibly grateful for this tour.”
While her show briefly addresses the fallout from her past controversies, Griffin maintains that politics are not the central focus of her act. “I talk about my trials and tribulations, but I also talk about going on vacation with Sia, my divorce, leaning on friends like Sharon Stone and Jane Fonda. I pepper the show with more serious parts than I’ve ever done, but there’s still plenty of good old Kathy Griffin celebrity gossip.”
Griffin’s return has also sparked new projects, including a recently launched YouTube series, Kathy Griffin Talk Your Head Off, and a Patreon for exclusive content. “At 64, I feel like I just discovered YouTube,” she said, laughing. “Apparently, people watch it.”
As she prepares to take the stage for the last show of her tour, Griffin remains as candid as ever about her connection with audiences. “Every show is unique because every audience is different,” she said. “I’ve played Albany before, several times. The audiences are very down-to-earth, very smart, and there’s a lot of civic pride. I can’t shock Albany. What are you, nuts? It’s Albany.”
Kathy Griffin performs at The Egg on Saturday, March 29. Doors open at 7 p.m. The show begins at 8 p.m.
