Kathy Griffin: The queen of mean comedy

Kathy Griffin, the redheaded, sharp-tongued comedy phenomenon, will break all local comedy records when she preforms four shows next week at the Paramount, Thursday through Nov. 22. No comedian has ever had that many theater shows in a row here before.

The secret to her success is television. She made her name as a cast member of the "Suddenly Susan" sitcom, and parlayed that into a successful stand-up career, marketing herself as a perennial celebrity outcast on what she calls "the D-List."

Her many TV appearances, on her own comedy specials and in a former reality series about her onstage and offstage life, whet the appetite of her fans, because they know she can be much more explicit, graphic and cruel in person, sometimes even skirting the edge of libel. She can say things onstage that would never be broadcast on TV.

Griffin mostly trades in celebrity gossip, dishing the dirt on movie and TV stars. Her fans love to hear about the foibles of the rich and famous, stripping away the glamour of their lives. Hollywood gives her plenty of fodder, of course. Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie jokes practically write themselves.

In order to appreciate Griffin's humor to the fullest, you must keep up with trash TV, from reality shows to "Entertainment Tonight," "Access Hollywood" and "Extra." Griffin portrays herself as a subversive insider, with plenty of backstage stories and rumors.

She apparently has no real celebrity friends, for obvious reasons. If her reality show is to be believed, she mostly hangs around with gossipy gay guys who feed her material. It turns out that she's one of the celebrity losers she jokes about.

But she's laughing all the way to the bank. There's money to be made being mean.

Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312 or pmacdonald@seattletimes.com