Kathy Griffin, who is in Atlanta this weekend, can’t get a streaming comedy special

“I’m making fun of my own post-traumatic stress disorder,” she said. “I kind of think all of us on our team had post-traumatic stress disorder. The other team is completely satisfied. They dance a jig.”

One topic Griffin won’t spend much time on is Trump himself. “I’ve already done a whole tour about it,” she said. “Even if he does something particularly crazy that day, I might acknowledge it for 90 seconds, but I move on, baby!”

And while most comics are on stage for 60 to 75 minutes, Griffin typically hits the two-hour mark and has even approached the three-hour mark in the past. “I try to do every show like it’s my last,” she said.

Her show will feature her patented celebrity encounter stories, whether it’s vacationing in Mexico with Sia or attending Paris Hilton’s birthday party. She will tell a story about a visit with Jane Fonda, another entertainer who faced the wrath of conservatives in 1972 when she visited North Vietnam during the war.

“I give them the stunning glow of Kathy Griffin,” she said. “I want to provide a service and give people some crazy stories to laugh about.”

Griffin is aiming to sell out the theater, which seats about 840 people. She knows she no longer draws as many people as she did 14 years ago when she performed at the larger Fox Theater. Without a new special on a streaming service, it’s harder to drive sales, she said. “I’ll keep working on it,” she said. “I’m going to do more social media. I’m doing Instagram Live. I will do whatever it takes.”

She said she has been sober from her pill addiction since 2020, but in 2021 she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She lost half a lung but survived. Unfortunately, the surgeon paralyzed her left vocal cord and she had to have another operation this year to get her voice back to something like what it once was.

“I sound like myself again,” she said. “Screaming and cursing are my love languages. I tend to yell at the audience even though I love them.”

The work keeps her depression at bay, she said. “I haven’t lost my hustle,” Griffin said. “I love the stage. It’s the only time I’m completely relaxed. This sounds cheesy, but it gives me anxiety attacks. I can’t stop vomiting. I was at a restaurant recently and had to go to a corner. I had sweats. I was hoping no one would recognize me. I had to get it together and go home.”

She said the late Joan Rivers told her to keep working and to never leave a blank page on the calendar. “I’m cut from the same cloth,” Griffin said.

Griffin has no plans to leave the country like Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, despite rumors to the contrary. “I’m not moving,” she said. “I own a house in Malibu that I love. I have four dogs. I will continue touring after the inauguration.”

And financially she is doing well, even though she has hardly worked for more than six years.

“I’m good at saving money,” she said. “I have no debt. My house is paid off. I work with celebrity financial advisor Suze Orman. She never leads me astray.”

WHEN YOU GO

“Kathy Griffin: Living on the PTSD List”

Friday, December 6th, 8 p.m. $75.50-$97.50. Buckhead Theater, 3110 Roswell Road NE, Atlanta. livenation.com.