Kathy Griffin Wants to Read Barbra Streisand’s Memoir on Broadway—and She’s Making It a Dealbreaker

Sure, Kathy Griffin is a Grammy and Emmy-winning stand-up comedian and personality. But perhaps her most impressive skill is her ability to rattle off hilarious random anecdotes involving an array of bold-faced names—from Warren Beatty to Sean Penn to Kim Kardashian—during a phone interview while simultaneously walking her dogs. “This is what I do!” she says. “I’m the D-list celebrity who makes fun of A-list celebrities and celebrity behavior.”

No wonder she’s so excited about her latest Broadway chapter: Starting June 18, Griffin is joining the rotating cast of Celebrity Autobiography for a limited, eight-performance run through June 22 at the Shubert Theatre. A comedy favorite since its off-Broadway debut in 2008, it features performers reciting amazingly bizarre-but-true excerpts from memoirs of the well-heeled and famous. (That means you, Gwyneth Paltrow and Arnold Schwarzenegger.) “I think the audience really appreciates that we’re reading these books verbatim,” says Griffin, who previously did the show in Los Angeles. “So they get good laughs and something totally different. It’s a fun night out.”

A few days before flying out from her home in Malibu to New York City, a freewheeling Griffin gave the scoop to Broadway.com.

Because you’ve already performed with the show, do you just get a golden phone call asking you to come to Broadway and play?
I got a call. Not to sound like an asshole, but I've actually been getting lots of offers in the past six months. My tour [“New Face, New Tour”] is going really well, too. So I was like, “Of course!” I said yes without even knowing the details of who else was there. You know, I did have a Broadway show 15 years ago. It was called Kathy Griffin Wants a Tony. I got in trouble with the Tony committee because I didn’t know you’re supposed to have permission to use the word “Tony.” So maybe I’ll win back some Tony members now.

So, who’s going to share the stage with you?
Gayle King is doing the show with me, and I pray to God she reads the book that Oprah wrote. I’m going to win Gayle over. We’re going to be having pillow fights together in lingerie and texting and on the phone with each other 40 or 50 or 70 times a day.

What’s the vibe really like behind the curtain?
There’s a really fun feel in the group. In Los Angeles, I shared the stage with folks who were good and talented—Pamela Adlon and Kristen Johnston and Steven Weber. Some of those folks I’ve known and haven’t seen for a long time, and a couple I met for the first time. And it’s cool because we hung out off-stage. Like, let’s exchange numbers! I’m going to have a lunch party for us!

Do you know yet whose memoir you’re going to read?
I’m demanding to read my hero's memoir, and her name is Miss Barbra F**king Streisand. I actually made it a dealbreaker because her book [My Name Is Barbra] is just so awesome. I find so much humor in the fact that my acquaintance—she would hate it if I said we were friends—maybe doesn’t have the best sense of humor about herself. Like, she’s obsessed about a bad review she got 47 years ago. Even though she’s the queen!

Do you have to get permission before reading it?
They don’t have to clear it. And there are so many books to choose from! I'm telling you, that show has sold books. I can't tell you how many people went to see my shows in L.A. and then they were like, “You’re not going to believe what I bought—the Eddie Fisher book.” Of course you did. Who’s going to resist that book and reading about his affair with Elizabeth Taylor after just hearing that one excerpt? So Barbra Streisand will have to get over herself, because I’m going to sell even more books for her.

And you’re not doing any improv at all, right?
Yeah, you can't. It's a level playing field, and it's the way it should be. You really don’t even need it. I already do a nice, healthy two-and-a-half comedy show where I make fun of myself. So this is really something different for me. I don't need to add stand-up to these books— they stand up on their own.

What’s the real appeal of celebrities reading other celebrities’ memoirs?
We’re in on the joke of making fun of other people—and ourselves. And the way the books are chosen is really smart. I've had people come to the show and then say to me, “Two of the books I wasn't familiar with or knew who the person was.” And I'll be like, “But how funny was that?” So I think the show has a truly broad appeal. And if you do know the celebrity, don’t assume you’ve heard all the juice because sometimes the stuff that is written is just so crazy. You put a lot of crazy together and a lot of funny comes out.

Do you read a lot of them?
I'm a voracious reader. I just read the Lena Dunham book [Famesick], which I thought was amazing. I liked the one from Elizabeth Vargas [Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction]. Liza Minnelli’s book [Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!] is a dream. I’m openly jealous of whoever gets Liza’s book because oh my god, she really went for it. The gold standard for me is Enter Talking from Joan Rivers because she was one of a kind. But I don’t think it would work for the show because it’s a book that doesn’t take itself seriously at all.

You’ve also written two memoirs. Would you...?
The creators have asked me, “Could we ever do yours?” I was like, “Absolutely.” I have two books—one [Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin] went to No. 1 on The New York Times Best Sellers list. I'm sure there are parts of it that are just embarrassing and ridiculous. But my dream before I croak is that I hear that they've selected three pages from one of my books.

What have you missed about performing on Broadway?
The audiences. It usually takes planning to go to a Broadway show, so people are pretty stoked to be there. They know what they’re getting, and they know who’s in the show and they’re probably familiar with at least half the cast every night. They are also so smart, and they get every single reference. When you have people that pay for tickets at a Broadway theater, it's special. When I go to a show, I still get really dressed up, and I plan dinner at Sardi’s. It's a big deal.

Seen any shows recently?
I went to see my good friend Leslie Odom Jr. when he came back to Hamilton. This is just me flexing, but he had me and the great journalist E. Jean Carroll as his guests. After the show, she and I went to Sardi’s, and King George and Thomas Jefferson walked us there. We were laughing all the way. That shit only happens on Broadway.

You noted that your previous show was titled Kathy Griffin Wants a Tony. Do you still?
Oh yeah, nothing has changed. I’ve got the EG—the Emmys and the Grammy—of the EGOT. But just because I can't necessarily sing or act doesn't mean I shouldn't have a Tony. I think I should get some sort of a lifetime achievement for wanting one. Like, is there a category for desire for a Tony? Because that one I could have.

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