Talking with Gilbert Gottfried about juggalos and podcasts ahead of his shows at the KC Improv this weekend

There are, most would agree, quite enough comedian-hosted podcasts in the world today. So at first blush, it sounded a bit sad that veteran comic and actor Gilbert Gottfried was promoting one of his own — an old-timer hopping on a trend way, way too late.

But it turns out that “Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast” is not a contrived attempt by an aging Hollywood comedian to reach a digital millennial audience. It’s instead an aging Hollywood comedian talking to other aging Hollywood types, many of them even older than Gottfried is. (He’s 60.) 

What that amounts to is Gottfried listening to war stories from comics, actors, writers, singers, show-runners and other Hollywood players dating back decades. Guests so far have included Henry Winkler, Weird Al Jankovic, Dick Cavett, Micky Dolenz and Adam West.

Gottfried appears at the KC Improv this weekend — two shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. (More info here.) We rang him up for a quick chat last week. (His voice is more relaxed offstage.) 

Hey Gilbert, this is David from The Pitch.

Oh right, this thing.

I’m catching you at a good time?

Oh, it’s never a good time for these things.

Well, let’s just get this over with, then. 

Let’s do it.

You performed at the Gathering of the Juggalos last year? Do you have a following with that crowd? What was that like?

It was very strange. It was one of those things where you think you’re having a weird drug-induced nightmare. I was out there — it was in Illinois, I think — and these guys picked me up from my hotel and they started driving me on a very long drive. Then all of a sudden, it goes off the main street and onto a dirt road. And then it’s total darkness and trees and unpaved roads, and then the next thing you know it looks like Woodstock, except it’s more like Woodstock out of a horror movie. And I went up and they said they had a trailer for me. I was like, OK. And I went and it was just an empty box. I said, ‘Where’s the bathroom?’ And they pointed outside and said, The grass is the bathroom.

Anyway I went on, and all the people in the crowd have weird makeup on, you know the deal. But shockingly I feel like I did very well. I’m still in shock about that. Other people have told me stories where those crowds fling stuff at you. But I felt OK about it. It was one of those gigs where if you weren’t killed in a satanic ritual then you did very well.

Tell me about the podcast. 

Basically the theme is old Hollywood, old TV shows and movies. So we had Larry Storch and Ken Berry from F Troop. Old guys. Larry Storch is like 92, and he’s not even the oldest we’ve had on. We’ve had Boris Karloff’s daughter on. Weird Al, Henry Winkler, Bob Saget. A weird assortment. We had Roger Corman, who did all these sci-fi and motorcycle gang movies for drive-ins. Danny Bonaduce — he had some wild stories. 

I just talk with them and ask them for old Hollywood stories, really. Or else — I was in Problem Child, and all the time people ask me whatever happened to the kid from Problem Child. So I had him on. He works in computers now. And we had Butch Patrick, who played Eddie on The Munsters. We had the guy who played Carlo in The Godfather on — the guy who beats up Talia Shire in the movie. He claims he’s killed three people. No, wait: He claims he’s killed three people that he can talk about. I guess there’s some kind of law where you can legally kill three people I wasn’t aware of. He also said he had sex with Marilyn Monroe. I’m not sure how much of any of that is true, but it makes for good storytelling. 

Do you follow young comics? Anybody you think is good these days?

I’ve become a terrible audience. When I watch another comic, it’s like going to work on my day off. At best, I find myself going, “Oh, that’s clever, that was kind of funny” — but not laughing and enjoying it. 

What’s your act like these days? Similar to what you’ve done in the past?

I hope some of it will at least seem different. The problem with doing an act for a long time, and any dramatic actors and singers will tell you this, is even when it looks like they’re putting their heart and soul into the performance, they’re often thinking about what to have for dinner later. Sometimes I’m up there and there’s a bit I’ve been doing so long, I could simultaneously work out a math problem in my head.