D-list comic does it her way

October 20, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Kathy Griffin knows what it’s like to be an underdog. It’s for this reason the popular touring comedienne, who starred in her own Bravo reality show, “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List,” is happy to return to Cleveland for a Sunday show at the State Theatre.

“First of all, Cleveland is a fantastic comedy city because people there are smart and they’re also upset about living in Cleveland,” said Griffin, calling from Los Angeles. “They’re angry and discontented.”

Actually, over the past two decades, Griffin has used those same emotions to get ahead in the cutthroat comedy world. A two-time Emmy winner, New York Times best-selling author and two-time Grammy nominee, Griffin caught her first break in the mid-’90s with guest-starring roles on “ER” and “Seinfeld.” The latter show is where she created recurring character Sally Weaver. She also landed a role on “Suddenly Susan.”

From there, she started garnering attention as a stand-up comic, which led to appearing on “Late Night with David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Howard Stern” and “The View,” as well as getting television guest roles on “Privileged,” “Days of Our Lives,” “Defenders,” “Law and Order SUV,” “Ugly Betty” and “Glee.” Her film credits include “It’s Pat,” “Four Rooms” and “Hall Pass.” Not only has she supplied voices for characters on “The Simpsons,” “Crank Yankers” and “American Dad,” but she was in Eminem’s video “The Real Slim Shady.”

Today, Griffin is focusing on her live show, which includes the mind-boggling decision to shoot four Bravo comedy specials in one year.

Mind you, most comedians go years between their television specials. Now, she’ll be honing new material for her upcoming fourth special at her Rock Hall City gig. This begs the question: Why is she putting such pressure on herself?

“I have [expletive] to prove as a woman, as somebody who has been told for years that what I do isn’t real stand-up because it’s story-oriented, because I don’t do an act I work on and take on the road every two years as a monologue and never change,” Griffin said.

“I’m an ever-changing [expletive], so I am all about turnaround and trying new stuff. What I love about touring is I don’t quite know what I’m going to say. I’m not going to talk about the differences between New York and LA or do jokes about the airlines and the peanuts they give you.

“It’s going to be up-to-the-minute Kardashians. It’s going to be my personal run-in with Michele Bachmann. It’s going to be this celebrity who confronted me personally three weeks ago. The celebrity and political landscape is giving me so much political material I can’t even come up with it.”

It appears Griffin also is gaining an audience outside of her die-hard gay following.

“I have a ton of straight guys now that openly say my wife or girlfriend dragged me to your show, and I didn’t think chicks are funny, but I think you’re funny,” Griffin said.

“I think it is a hilarious thing to say. While it’s a compliment, it’s also very sexist. But I’ll take it.”