‘Suddenly’ Free

Comedian Kathy Griffin recently ended her run on the NBC sitcom “Suddenly Susan.” After failing to find a home in mainstream comedy clubs, Griffin became one of the first emerging stars of the L.A. alternative comedy scene, where she could indulge in biting, gossipy monologues. She performs four shows at the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center’s Village Auditorium starting Saturday.

Question: Your act is often grounded in the cult of celebrity. Who will be the targets this time?

Answer: I have an insatiable appetite for Darva [Conger] and Rick [Rockwell, who married on the Fox special “Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?”]. I cannot get enough. I didn’t tape it because I knew they’d rerun it. But I watched it twice the night it aired. . . . When I found out Rick Rockwell was a comic, I thought that was so genius, because she looks like every waitress at the Improv. . . . She’s pretty in that way comics love--she’s too skinny, she’s got a fake tan and the cheesy blond hair. He picked the skinniest blond out of all 50.

Q: The title of your stand-up show is “We Have a Lot to Cover.” What’s that refer to?

A: They made me come up with the title. I wouldn’t have titled it, because I don’t want to pass this off as some extremely rehearsed one-person show. It’s not. I haven’t done any stand-up for probably three months. There’s a lot of stuff I haven’t talked about yet. . . . I’m honestly just doing the shows in the venues that’ll be fun. I knew the Village would be fun, and let’s face it, gay audiences are the best. I’m thinking of doing a gay cruise.

Q: At this year’s U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colo., Jerry Lewis made a few headlines with his remark that women don’t make good comedians. Were you offended?

A: I think that whole thing is so funny. That stuff never offends me. Andrew Dice Clay never offended me; Howard Stern never offends me. . . . Who cares what [Lewis] says about women? There’s nothing he can do to ever hurt women in comedy, or the National Organization for Women. He’s actually a comic who’s still trying to make a buck, which I admire. He’s an old guy, and he’s not hurting anyone. If this were [rap impresario] Russell Simmons or the head of HBO saying there weren’t any good female comedians, then it would be a big deal. But he’s Jerry Lewis, he’s like 100 years old. . . . It’s like when people give Joan Rivers [expletive] about doing her stuff on the E! channel. I think it’s a shame that more people know her from E! than from her act. She was a pioneer. She and Phyllis Diller, for decades, were the only women doing comedy. I just say hats off to her. It may not be something I can do, but I have a lot of respect for people who are working.

Q: Actually, it seems as though female comedians do better in alternative clubs like Largo than in the mainstream clubs.

A: Those places completely saved my life when I was bombing at every single [mainstream] club. I have a lot of respect for club comics; I think it’s really great that Rita Rudner can go out and kill.

Q: But you never found the same audience.

A: Every [expletive] time I bombed in a club, I always walked out of there going, “Oh, that sucked.” That’s why I would literally produce my shows.

Q: “Suddenly Susan” is going off the air at a time when sitcoms are in the doldrums. Do you agree?

A: Believe me, I’m directly suffering from it. This is the worst year to be a single woman trying to get a part on TV. This is not the era of “Cybill” and “Murphy Brown,” where they’re trying to build a show around women. . . . I don’t blame viewers for turning away from situation comedies, because I just don’t think there are very many good sitcoms on right now. I would never defend “Suddenly Susan.” Even though it’s my field, I’m also right now choosing to watch “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and “The West Wing.” There are a few good sitcoms. I’m a big fan of “Just Shoot Me,” because I think David Spade and Wendie Malick are really funny. . . . But don’t tell me game shows are ruining situations comedies. I think situation comedies are doing a good job of ruining themselves.

BE THERE

Kathy Griffin, Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center’s Village Auditorium, 1125 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles, 8 p.m. Saturday and April 14,8 and 10 p.m. on April 15. Tickets are $20; call (323) 860-7300.