Brace yourselves, Peoria. Kathy Griffin is coming to town, and she’s got a lot to say! On Sept. 15, Kathy Griffin will take the stage at the Peoria Civic Center, promising hilarious stand-up that pokes fun at all the latest Hollywood news and celebrity screw-ups.
“I’m living the cliché of playing in Peoria,” Griffin said in an exclusive interview with the Scout. “I can’t wait to come. Nothing excites me like hitting the stage.”
An Emmy winner, sitcom, film and Broadway actress, Grammy nominee and New York Times best-selling author, Griffin is one of the hardest working talents in the entertainment industry today. Her perpetual charm and unique humor sets her apart from other stand-up routines, making her a force to be reckoned with.
With all this enormous success, Griffin said her proudest moment is “the fact that I just broke the record for most stand-up specials. We are getting ready to film our 20th special this fall, and I’m going to test out some material in Peoria.”
Kathy has had a long and lucrative career, including guest roles on “ER” and “Seinfeld” and a supporting role on “Suddenly Susan.” After several comedy specials, Kathy hit the big time with her own Bravo reality show, “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List,” for which she was awarded two Emmys for Outstanding Reality Program in the show’s second and third seasons.
Despite her apparent “D-List” actor status, Griffin says it isn’t all that it seems.
“Like anyone else, I have B-list and A-list moments. So I go between A, B, C and D. I can go from having an A-list moment at an award show presentation to still having a fan mistake me for Kathy Lee Gifford.”
The A-list moments must be fun though, since Griffin meets all manner of big Hollywood celebrities.
“Cher was the most fun to be with,” Griffin said. “Most actresses have a specific persona. I’m amused by women with personas who think Twitter is a vehicle for their actual thoughts. With Cher I got to meet the real deal.”
Griffin’s love of celebrity culture shines through in all her comedic work, which shows in all of her stand up specials. Her knowledge of pop culture knows no bounds, and as it turns out, it all comes from a familiar source.
Griffin was a Chicago native, then moved to California to start her stand-up career.
“I get it all from Illinois. In Illinois it’s unacceptable to not know pop culture around the dinner table,” Griffin said.
When asked what advice she would give to aspiring comedians, Kathy responded, “Do what I did and sleep with guys in the middle. You better love it, especially as a female comedian. You have to work harder and jump higher.”
Kathy promises to bring “real, uncensored jokes” with her when she takes the stage in Peoria and to “get ready for a lot of cursing and negativity.” How uncensored? “I just returned from a gay cruise in Greece. The first thing you see is a penis sculpture in ice.”
Tickets are on sale now, available at the Peoria Civic Center Box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com, and 1.800.745.3000. A student discount allows all Bradley students to go online and enter the code STUDENT2013 to get tickets for $25. All others can purchase tickets for $55 or $45, with a limited number of $70 tickets.
