One can't help but wonder at what point Kathy Griffin's fame will disqualify her from her own trademark "D list." No doubt the Emmy win was a step in that direction, as was selling out Massey Hall when she made her first-ever stop here on Friday — bringing her fans to their feet just by walking on stage and up to the mic.
One fellow even wormed past the front-row guards to present her with a hand-made T-shirt. It read: "I love Jesus for Cathy and cock."
So surely she must rank as a C+ celebrity by now. On par with a not-too stale American Idol winner, or Janeane Garofalo circa 1998?
And yet she makes a living out of being a no-name, mouthing off with disarming charm about Hollywood and her higher-ups on the fame spectrum, from Heidi Klum ("nazi") and Allie Lohan ("wigga") to Pam Anderson ("PETA nazi") and Oprah Winfrey (just plain "full of shit"). She's a one-woman Mystery Science Theater 3000 aimed at Entertainment Tonight.
True to form, Griffin was conversational and always seemingly off the cuff, with no elaborate antics except for her high-speed delivery and love of being wildly libelous — such as her jaw-dropping bit about who Miley Cyrus is sleeping with that, out of respect for EYE WEEKLY's legal bills, I won't repeat here, even though the crowd roared with appreciative shock.
Griffin's braying, flat-note impersonation of Winfrey, heard on her recent CD For Your Consideration, was also a hit as she took the Big O to task for her hypocritical hectoring on weight loss and guilt by association with Tom Cruise.
Though even if Griffin is becoming too famous for her own underachieving shtick, the gods of comedy apparently want to keep her humble, seeing as her spotlight blew out halfway through the show.
"Go get a lesbian to fix it," she told one of her people, before getting back to business, making light of Hollywood from the dark.