By RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com, originally filed Thursday, March 5, 2015
Gilbert Gottfried is known as the stand-up comic with a signature shrieking voice, an always piqued expression on his face and a delightfully improvisational air. He was most recently seen on TV on the most recent season of NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice."
What is forgotten by even the most dedicated "Saturday Night Live" viewers is the fact the now 60-year-old New Yorker spent a season as a performer on the show 35 years ago.
"It was the misbegotten season right after [creator] Lorne Michaels left," said Gottfried, who is coming to the Atlanta Improv for the first time March 12 through 14 for five shows. "People were saying, 'How dare they continue without the original cast?' It was like replacing the Beatles with four schmoes. I was lost. It was like a lost weekend. I remember it like a blur. We were attacked before we even got on air."
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Rolling Stone magazine recently ranked all 141 cast members of the show over 40 years. Gottfried came in 137th, ahead of only Victoria Jackson, Jim Breuer, the Muppets and Robert Downey Jr. As the magazine writer noted, "He wasn't really Gilbert Gottfried yet - he was just a morose-looking hippie kid with a 'fro that seemed to wilt by the minute. The best you can say for his SNL gig is it helped turn him into the bitter madman we know and love today."
"At least what they wrote about me was nice," Gottfried mused. "It was a nice gimmick to do those rankings. I don't think they sat around watching every clip over 40 years and deciding, 'That was terrible! Drop that guy to 107!' "
He doesn't sound nearly as grating while talking in his off-air voice as he does while on air. He said his vocal style during his act has evolved gradually over time, that he can't say it was a deliberate decision. "It's like asking someone how they developed their walk or how they hold a cup of coffee," he said. "I never thought about it consciously. I've done lots of damage to my employment prospects by not thinking consciously."
Indeed, Gottfried admits he likes to fly by the seat of his pants and as a result, sometimes stumbles.
For 11 years, Columbus-based insurance company AFLAC used Gottfried's voice as their mascot duck. Then in 2011, he tweeted a tasteless joke about the Japanese tsunami. AFLAC, which books a lot of business in that country, fired him.
"They get loads of free publicity," Gottfried noted. "Then they hire a guy to imitate me for less money. And thus bringing closure to a horrible tragedy."
The whole online Twitter-verse hate-filled reaction, he said, "made me sentimental for old-fashioned lynch mobs. At least they get their hands dirty."
Plus, he heard comics making jokes about tsunamis a year later with no ramifications: "So after a year, tsunami jokes are no longer crimes against humanity."
He hasn't entirely become Madison Avenue Kryptonite. He did a regional Super Bowl commercial for the EAT24 app that aired last month featuring him and Snoop Dogg.
For a long time, he avoided reality shows despite being asked constantly to do so. Then he just gave in. He did VH1's short-run "Celebrity Paranormal Project," ("It was like a bad 'SNL' sketch," he said.), Food Network's "Rachel vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook Off" (eliminated first) and "Celebrity Wife Swap" (with Alan Thicke) before he jumped on board with Donald Trump, which aired a few weeks ago.
And while he enjoyed his brief three-episode stint on "Celebrity Apprentice," he readily admitted he wasn't gunning for victory the way Leeza Gibbons, Geraldo Rivera and Ian Ziering were. "I didn't want to win. What I found funny is how serious these people get about it, how emotional they get. I'm thinking, 'No matter how many cupcakes you sell or funny hats you make, Donald Trump isn't really going to hire you!"
If you can't get enough of his voice, you can now hear him on demand, courtesy of a new podcast he started last year where he interviews actors from old TV and movies and comedy friends. Among those who have been grilled by Gottfried include "The Partridge Family" star Danny Bonaduce, "The Monkees" singer Mickey Dolenz and "Happy Days" legend Henry Winkler.
"I'm surprised how many people listen to it," Gottfried said. "I have people send me notes saying, 'I have no idea who you're talking to or what you're talking about so I kept looking it up.' So for many, it's like a fun homework assignment!"
He said he's enjoyed being the one asking the questions instead of the other way around. "I used to have the luxury of saying, 'This guy talking to me is an idiot!' Now I'm the idiot!"
And if you want to get turned on, just listen to Gottfried read "50 Shades of Grey."
Comedy preview
Gilbert Gottfried
8 p.m., 10 p.m. Friday March 13 $25
8 p.m., 10 p.m. Saturday March 14, $25
Atlanta Improv
56 E. Andrews Dr. NW,
Atlanta
678-244-3612
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