CHICAGO (WLS) — Oak Park native Kathy Griffin is spending New Year’s Eve performing in a major comeback at the Chicago Theatre in the Loop.
The comic has moved past a devastating series of setbacks, but Griffin tells ABC7’s Hosea Sanders she’s back and better than ever with the “My Life on the PTSD-List Tour.”
“I’m coming home. I love Chicago so much,” Griffin said. “It’s such a great city. The people are so fun and funny and smart and aware and get it. And I’m just so lucky to have them in my audience. I have my first New Year’s eve gig since I got fired from CNN for an infamous photo of the previous administration.”
Griffin is performing at an iconic theater right across the street from the studios at ABC7.
“It’s been years since I could even get permission to perform on any stage, anywhere, much less my hometown. So I am so honored just to be back to work,” Griffin said. “I mean, there’s a laundry list. It was the Trump head photo scandal. Then I became addicted to prescription pills. Then I tried to take my life. Then I got sober. Then a year after I was sober, I got diagnosed with lung cancer, even though I’ve never smoked. Then they took out half my left lung. Then during the surgery I was injured and they paralyzed my left vocal cord. So I talked like Minnie Mouse for three years. I actually have been diagnosed with complex PTSD. And here’s a thing. I just got to make fun of it.”
The comedian could almost call this “Kathy’s Victory Tour,” because she is coming back from some difficult challenges.
Some of the jokes will be so inappropriate, they’ll just go, ‘I can’t believe she said that.’
“I know that they say you shouldn’t be identified by your career and all that stuff, but that just doesn’t apply to me,” Griffin said. “I’m sorry. I am never as happy as when I’m standing on stage trying to make people laugh and I love doing it. The one late night host who never ditched me was Jimmy Kimmel. I had about 75% of my friends just dump me. I just turned 64, and to learn like, okay, you can actually get new friends at this age has been one of the benefits and nice things to learn.”
Griffin has a message for Chicago fans in advance of the show.
“Some of the jokes will be so inappropriate, they’ll just go, ‘I can’t believe she said that,'” Griffin said. “And then sometimes it’ll be a giggle, and sometimes it’ll be a belly laughs, but it’s a ride. And so just leave your problems at the door. Let me take care of you for a couple of hours and I promise we’ll have a blast.”
Griffin says she still uses lessons learned about performing at drama class in her Oak Park High School.
You can see her at the Chicago Theatre starting at 8 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. She admits she likes to get the crowd before they’ve had too much to drink!
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