Comedian Kathy Griffin captivated Queens College on April 9 with hilarious stories about awkward celebrity encounters, Church of Scientology theories and personal stories on Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.
Griffin is on an 80-city tour called the “Like a Boss Tour.” The well-attended event took place at the Colden Auditorium.
Before the show started, the speakers played songs such as Cher’s “Woman’s World” and Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head,” which audience members lip-synced and danced to.
“I’ve seen her before, she’s very funny. She doesn’t do jokes really, she’s more of a storyteller and she’s a great storyteller,” Emil Layacan, an audience member who works in sales, said.
As soon as the show started, there was a short video that highlighted Griffin’s many accomplishments in her career. She is a two-time Emmy winner and won a Grammy award for Best Comedy Album titled “Kathy Griffin: Calm Down Gurrl.” She was also inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records for writing and starring in 20 televised stand-up specials.
After she was introduced, Griffin ran onto the stage screaming and sticking up both her middle fingers as the audience applauded. She jumped, skipped and hopped all around the stage, her silky red hair flailing in all directions.
“Queens, I have arrived! I’ve been around Queens all my life,” Griffin said.
Griffin highlighted veterans and members of the LGBT community that were in the audience. She openly supported both groups for many years.
“I’m a gay man, and so I love and support you,” she said.
Griffin is known for not having a filter and, during the event, she proved that this is true, even at a college.
“I am bringing the f—kin’ heat tonight,” she said. “We’re at a college, and there’s this new thing happening called trigger warnings. So if anyone is fearful they will be triggered by any of my foul, filthy language, get the f—k out.”
Griffin said, regardless of her location, she does not tell boring jokes about airline food, but instead gives the audience the real deal.
“The world is so f—g nuts, and they think I’m going to hold back? I’m a 55-year-old chick who still tells d—k jokes. This is no Deepak Chopra [event],” she said.
Her main plan? Using a microphone and a few bottles of water to make fun of people.
She said she would talk about an encounter with actor Sean Penn, update the audience on her 95-year-old, alcoholic mother’s opinion of Caitlyn Jenner and make fun of Trump.
“Look if you want to vote for Trump, go on. Just let me make fun of that crazy Oompa Loompa,” she said.
She talked about “The People vs. O.J. Simpson,” a TV show, and how she thought that the actors look nothing like the people they were playing. She thought it was ridiculous actor John Travolta portrayed defense lawyer Robert Shapiro.
“Travolta looks like he got his eyebrows from a drag shop in Chelsea,” she said.
Griffin also brushed up on strange celebrity tweets, mainly those from actress Kirstie Alley, who recently endorsed Trump and is a Scientologist.
“Kirstie clearly does not know that endorsing Donald Trump on Twitter means you’ll receive hate,” Griffin said. “So then she starts randomly tweeting things that are lovely and positive that has nothing to do with the wall of s—t that’s falling on her.”
She also read some of her texts from artist Cher, whom she idolizes, and CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who was her co-host for CNN’s New Year’s Eve Special.
She ended the show by reading billboards from the Southern United States, verbatim. Most of them concern Jesus Christ and conservative views.
“One said ‘if you’re too busy to pray, you’re too busy,’” Griffin said.
