Gilbert Gottfried tells jokes.
That’s no surprise, considering Gottfried is an accomplished comedian. But instead of relying entirely on stories with jokes scattered through, or making observations about the minutiae of daily life, part of Gottfried’s act includes straight-up “man walks into a doctor’s office”-type jokes. Dirty, cringe-worthy and, more often than not, hilarious.
“I always think the difference is other comics are funny,” said Gottfried, 57. “I never really gave it much thought one way or the other, the kind of stuff I do.”
| Onstage |
| Gilbert Gottfried |
| Where: DC Improv, 1140 Connecticut Ave. NW |
| When: 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday |
| Info: $25; 202-296-7008; dcimprov.com |
Gottfried performs at the DC Improv from Friday to Sunday.
Sometimes, Gottfried’s humor get him into trouble. Take last year, for example. Gottfried tweeted a number of jokes about the Japanese earthquake and tsunami shortly after those events devastated that country. The backlash was swift, and Aflac, the insurance company that had employed Gottfried as the voice of its mascot duck in television commercials, fired him.
“Thank God that stayed out of the papers,” Gottfried joked. “Thank God the media didn’t notice it.”
Gottfried believes last year’s controversy was an overreaction, and that the media look for a villain before moving on to the next one. The use of social media only amplifies the reaction.
“In order to make it a story, they were saying the insensitive ‘remarks,’ ‘statements’ and ‘comments’ from Gilbert Gottfried, and they never used the term ‘jokes,’ ” Gottfried said. “If you use the term ‘jokes,’ people would go, ‘So what? He’s a comedian. He makes jokes.’ They made it into something serious, and then of course Aflac turns it into a big publicity campaign. Like, find the new voice of the duck. The winner of the new voice is a guy imitating me, but they’re paying him less money. I guess that somehow brings closure to the tragedy in Japan.”
The Japan-jokes incident wasn’t the first time Gottfried got into hot water for referencing a recent tragedy. At a roast of Hugh Hefner a few weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, Gottfried told a joke referring to the tragedy of that day. After the negative reaction from the audience, Gottfried famously won the crowd back by telling the classic “The Aristocrats” joke. He likes to point out the hypocrisy that some jokes are deemed inappropriate, while things like “The Aristocrats” — arguably he filthiest jokes ever told — are fair game.
Next month, Gottfried’s first book, “Rubber Balls and Liquor,” comes out in paperback. He recently sold out shows in Canada and has made a few television appearances, but doesn’t have much else planned.
Not that he isn’t willing to work.
“My artistic integrity is whoever waves a check in my face,” Gottfried joked.
