Legendary comic Gilbert Gottfried dies at 67

By John Katsilometes Las Vegas Review-Journal

3 years ago

Comedian Gilbert Gottfried performs at a David Lynch Foundation Benefit for Veterans with PTSD ... — Comedian Gilbert Gottfried performs at a David Lynch Foundation Benefit for Veterans with PTSD on April 30, 2016, in New York. Gottfried’s publicist and longtime friend Glenn Schwartz said Gottfried, an actor and legendary standup comic known for his abrasive voice and crude jokes, died Tuesday, April 12, 2022. He was 67. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)

Gilbert Gottfried performs at the Comedy Central “Roast of Roseanne” in Los Angeles on Aug. 4, 2012. Gottfried’s publicist and longtime friend Glenn Schwartz said Gottfried, an actor and legendary standup comic known for his abrasive voice and crude jokes, died Tuesday, April 12, 2022. He was 67. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP, File)

Comedian Gilbert Gottfried attends the Tribeca Film Festival opening night world premiere of “Love, Gilda,” in New York on April 18, 2018. Gottfried’s publicist and longtime friend Glenn Schwartz said Gottfried, an actor and legendary standup comic known for his abrasive voice and crude jokes, died Tuesday, April 12, 2022. He was 67. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

At least one comic genius in Las Vegas says Gilbert Gottfried’s humor was peerless.

“Gilbert was my friend for 35 years. He was funniest person of our lifetime,” Penn Jillette said Tuesday afternoon. “Being around him when he was improvising was like being around miles Davis, Picasso or Stravinsky. A weird little miracle who will never be replaced. We will miss him so much.

Gottfried, a frequent Las Vegas headliner known for his scratchy voice and raunchy material, died Tuesday morning at age 67. The comic actor died from recurrent ventricular tachycardia due to myotonic dystrophy type II, which affects the heart, his publicist and longtime friend Glenn Schwartz said in a statement.

Gottfried had most recently performed in Las Vegas at the “Dirty Comedy Festival” at The Comedy Works at the Plaza on Oct. 15-16. Over the decades he had also headlined at such clubs as the now-razed Riviera Comedy Club, Shimmer Cabaret at the then-Las Vegas Hilton (now Westgate Cabaret at the Westgate Las Vegas) and Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club at MGM Grand.

“He headlined for me eight-nine years ago, and always crushed,” Garrett said in text Tuesday. “I’ve known him FOREVER. A true icon. The kindest man. He loved comedians, and unlike many, had that amazing laugh that he supported so many of us with.”

Gottfried was featured in Penn & Teller’s 2005 movie, “The Aristocrats,” the famous, improvised joke about a family of acrobats that comics typically turns in to a raunchy escapade. During a roast for Hugh Hefner, Gottfried had famously turned to “The Aristocrats” after he attempted to joke about 9/11 shortly after the tragedy.

In the movie, Penn & Teller used the clip of Gottfried’s legendary recovery at the dais.

During his run in the “Icons of Comedy” series at the Las Vegas Hilton, Gottfried befriended hotel exec Cami Christensen. He commonly ducked into her office with a sandwich, hanging out for hours on end, simply passing the time.

Gottfried once grabbed a sweatshirt, which had been turned in to the lost-and-found office. The item was a double extra-large. Gottfried, who likely was a size small, wore it around the hotel — for two days.

“Although I’m very sad to learn of the passing of this talented soul, It is impossible not to smile when I think of him,” Christensen said in a statement. “His humor and fun antics will long be remembered with laughter and love.”

Carrot Top, legal name of Scott Thompson, said, “Gilbert was a great friend and a very unique comic. He had a delivery was like no one else’s.” Thompson said his appearance on “The Joe Rogan Show” was initiated because of Gottfried’s praising of the prop comic on the show.

Gottfried was a fiercely independent and intentionally bizarre comedian’s comedian, as likely to clear a room with anti-comedy as he was to kill with his jokes.

He first came to national attention with frequent appearances on MTV in its early days and with a brief stint in the cast of “Saturday Night Live” in the 1980s.

Gottfried also did frequent voice work for children’s television and movies, most famously playing the parrot Iago in Disney’s “Aladdin.”

“Gilbert’s brand of humor was brash, shocking and frequently offensive, but the man behind the jokes was anything but,” Gottfried’s friend and podcast co-host Frank Santopadre said in a statement. “Those who loved and him were fortunate enough to share his orbit knew a person who was sweet, sensitive, surprisingly shy and filled with a childlike sense of playfulness and wonder.”

Tip us over

Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns earned a $1,200 tip from a still-unidentified fan on Monday night at the Copa Room at Bootlegger Bistro. This is certainly a record for the shows we have attended over the past 15 years or so. It might be an all-timer.

Opening the Vault

We ran into the Raiding the Rock Vault signage at the Rio on Monday and felt it was to inform guests of the show’s return. But after tweeting, we were informed that piece of promotion has been there since the pandemic shutdown. It’s still there, never removed, with the old Club 172 location specified. So we’re not formally announcing that RV is returning to the hotel in June. We’ll let nature run its course.

Cool Hang Alert

Garrett is hosting at his club on Wednesday, with Ashley and Aaron Fuller’s band in the open lounge at the entrance Thursday through Sunday. Mike Merryfield and Paul Ogata fill out the week’s headliners. The music starts at 6 p.m., comedy at 8 p.m., more show at 9:15 p.m. Get there.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.

— The Associated Press contributed to this story.