Before her D.C. show, Kathy Griffin told WTOP about the people who inspired her to enter comedy and what’s happened in her life in the six years since her last tour.
WTOP’s Jimmy Alexander spoke to comedian Kathy Griffin about her first stand-up tour in six years.
For the first time in six years, Kathy Griffin returned to what she loves most — stand-up comedy.
“I didn’t want to be the pretty girl. I didn’t want to be the dramatic actress,” Griffin told WTOP. “I just always wanted to be the one that made people laugh.”
Before Griffin’s new stand-up tour, “My Life On The PTSD-List,” stops at D.C.’s Warner Theatre on Saturday, she spoke to WTOP about the people that inspired her to go into comedy and what’s happened in her life in the six years since her last tour.
Joan Rivers was a big influence on Griffin; as was another legend of comedy, “Mr. Nice” himself, Don Rickles.
“I would tell my own mom and dad, ‘I guess you guys are technically my parents, but I still feel like I was raised by Joan Rivers and Don Rickles,’” she said.
Griffin said she remembers her whole family loving Rivers throughout her childhood.
The star of “My Life on The PTSD-List” has been through a lot since the infamous picture of her holding a fake severed head appearing to depict President Donald Trump put her on the no-fly list and investigated by the Justice Department.
Kathy Griffin returns to the nation’s capital Saturday at The Warner Theatre. Before the show, WTOP’s Jimmy Alexander asked Griffin who inspired her to go into comedy.
There was divorce, the death of her mother, lung cancer, pill addiction and an attempt on her own life.
“I’m down to half a lung on my left side,” Griffin said. “I’m a one-and-a-half lung wonder.”
“Honey, I was on a three-day 5150 cycle. I’m Britney Spears and Kanye West combined, and I survived that!” she added.
There were complications with the lung surgery that caused her left vocal cord to be paralyzed.
“I now have an implant. I call it my boob job in my vocal cord,” Griffin said.
Asked what kept her going when she was at her lowest, Griffin thought of the tragedies that Rivers and Rickles lived through.
Rivers lost her husband, Edgar Rosenberg, to suicide in 1987, around the same time her talk show was canceled by Fox. Rickles’ son Larry died at the age of 41 in 2011.
Griffin pointed out that Rivers performed in a play and Rickles also got back on the stage.
“He got back to his work, because his work was his life. And I feel the same way,” Griffin said.
She has advice for people that find themselves in their down-and-out moment: “Something can be funny at some point about it, and I learned that from the greats who came before me.”
Few comedians have had the success that Griffin has achieved. She was only the third woman to win a Grammy for Best Comedy Album (2014), behind Lily Tomlin and Whoopi Goldberg.
Griffin said she keeps two Emmys and her Grammy on a credenza by her front door.
“If I could, I would actually hang them from a string above the front door so that when you came in, it would actually hit you in the face,” she joked.
Griffin performs at the Warner Theatre on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 8 p.m.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
