Gilbert Gottfried

by Frank Halperin

"Jersey jokes?! muses Gilbert Gottfried. "The idea of making jokes about New Jersey is redundant.! While he eschews the thought of Garden State material for his performance at Camden County College this weekend, Gottfried, speaking softly and carrying on without any big shtick via telephone from New York, recalls how he has tried everything else. A manic standup deity, he has also taken turns along the way as a veteran character actor (including memorable roles in Beverly Hills Cop II and The Adventures of Ford Fairlane); Hollywood Squares regular; kinetic and ruthlessly hysterical Howard Stern guest; voice-over artist extraordinaire (Aladdin, Thumbelina); gifted mimic; former National Lampoon contributor and unscathed survivor of two infamous late-night TV catastrophes (the Jean Doumanian-produced 1980-81 season of Saturday Night Live and the syndicated 1983 fiasco Thicke of the Night).

"My first time on stage was at the Bitter End when I was 16,! Gottfried says. "It was ŒHootenanny Night.¹ I don¹t even remember if I got any laughs.! So began the long salad-days¹ journey into nightclubs, like the hallowed Improv and Catch a Rising Star, where he shared the mike with fellow upstarts Richard Belzer, Larry Miller and Jerry Seinfeld. The latter was already ripe for a precise impression -- even if the spectators weren¹t. "I started doing Seinfeld when we were both working the clubs and he wasn¹t a household name yet. The customers would be confused, they didn¹t get it, but the bartenders and wait staff would be laughing like crazy.! It¹s reassuring to see that Gottfried is still crazy after all these years, a powder keg of spontaneous hilarity. Those who plan to attend his South Jersey gig, please take note: It¹s his birthday (he arrived in Brooklyn in 1955), so be sure to wish him a happy one in the midst of your applause.

Gilbert Gottfried, Fri., Feb. 28, 8 p.m., $20-$25, Dennis Flyer Memorial Theatre, Camden County College, Blackwood, N.J., 856-216-2170, www.ccparks.com.