By Nathan Taylor – Collegiate Staff
More than 1,600 people filled DeVos Hall March 14 to see comedian Kathy Griffin perform her “Like a Boss” tour stop in Grand Rapids for this year’s Laughfest.
The award-winning comedian received a standing ovation from an energetic crowd as she took the stage.
“Wow this hall is nice,” Griffin said. “You all must have went to college. I haven’t done my job until a DeVos protest.”
Griffin, who kept the crowd laughing, has been known to make fun of celebrities in her act and then see them in person and be confronted. Her run-ins always seem to be with the Kardashians, who Griffin claims hate her. “But, then invite me to parties by them like the, ‘Girls Night in,’” Griffin said.
“I don’t believe in a foundation, that’s some shady stuff,” she said. “I believe in donating to the charities. I like giving it to them personally … But, when I donated to the Joan Rivers’ God’s Love We Deliver charity. I had to make check out to the Donald J. Trump Foundation.”
The crowd sighed.
“Now celebrities call me when they need a host for a charity function,” Griffin said. “It’s like ‘Gilligan’s Island.’”
“Larry King invited myself as a guest, I was seated next to Donald Trump,” Griffin continued. “Right away he wants you to call him ‘The Donald.’ Alright, you can call me ‘The Kathy.’ When I first met him I thought he was an eccentric realtor. I’m just going to sit next to ‘The Donald.’”
Griffin reenacted the conversation between her and Trump.
“So you’re a female comedian, huh?”
“I go, yes I’m a female comedian. Next you’re going to want a vote. He then said to me, ‘how much do you make?’”
“How much do you make? He said, ‘a billion dollars.’”
“Me too,” Griffin replied. “He’s a tool.”
Griffin said she loves Michigan, calling it a “smart state” several times. Griffin’s done over 80 cities this year on tour, so many that she said Chris Rock asked her if she owed child support.
Anna Weir, 37, of Grand Rapids attended her first LaughFest show Monday evening.
“I like the Trump comments, it was fun,” Weir said.
Griffin also commented on Governor Rick Snyder and the Flint water crisis.
“Anybody will be better than Rick Snyder,” Griffin said. “The world is watching you, Flint, everybody has sympathy for you. They have to recall that governor.”
