Why does gilbert gottfried squint

AVC: No, it's really not. That's what's funny about The Aristocrats. It's this whole movie about a joke… but the joke kinda sucks. GG: I think a lot has been made about it. Like saying it's some deep, dark secret of show business. To me, it's a dick joke, you know? AVC: The movie makes it seem like it's some kind of secret handshake. GG: Yeah, it's like there's some secret comics society that meets on a mountaintop somewhere.

GG: No, we meet in a cave. Comics aren't in that good of physical condition to climb to a mountaintop. AVC: Some people think that your version of the joke is the best. GG: Well, I'm certainly not gonna argue. If someone says that I'm the best at anything, I always just agree with them. Because of the movie, there's been a lot of press, but it's the kind of compliments that say, "No one in the movie is as hilarious or disgusting as Gilbert Gottfried.

What was that like? GG: It was really weird, because it was right after the original cast was gone and Lorne Michaels was gone. It became a news event. In a way, I felt like we were the sacrificial lambs to make it okay. We were kind of on a suicide mission. There were constantly articles about it saying, "Oh, its just a disaster waiting to happen. All of the sides of the press said that the show sucked.

But I always felt the press never knew what to say, because they were saying, "Well, we don't know who these people are. That was the strangest part. For a year, just preparing, putting the show together, there were constantly articles about it. I have always said that now Saturday Night Live is beyond funny or unfunny—it's just a restaurant in a good location.

AVC: The show has a reputation for reining people in. Did you feel like that was true? GG: What I found odd there was the censorship thing. But I guess that's changed a lot over the years all over.

When I watch the show now, I'm amazed at what they are able to get away with. I remember being on that show where everything was being censored left and right. Stuff that was nowhere near dirty.

Now they are doing everything. I remember when saying "ass" on TV was the worst thing possible. It was like the worst, the most pornographic. I'm starting to sound like Lucille Ball now. AVC: A little. You can say "ass" on TV now. GG: You can say "ass," but you can't say "asshole. But those are the rules of television.

You can be a dirtbag, but not a scumbag. Maybe now you can be. I've certainly been enough times. But I do see them say "dirtbag" a lot. My favorite one that they use when they dub over movies for TV is "Forget you!

AVC: It's great when they do that, because you can clearly see the actor's mouth saying "Fuck. GG: God only knows. The way it sounds, from people who have never even seen me before, because the voice is so different. I have seen that in a lot of movies, where it is so obviously somebody else doing the voice to clean up the words. That always throws you out of the picture. AVC: Does that annoy you? Because your voice is so recognizable…. GG: Oh yeah. Groans and laughs are all the same to him.

Gottfried's comedy has led to trouble that's covered in Neil Berkeley's documentary Gilbert. Then a string of Twitter jokes about Japan's earthquake and tsunami disaster got Gottfried fired from voicing Aflac's duck.

Gottfried chatted with the Times about revisiting those career minefields, his popular podcast and not talking about comedy. It's a funny thing. It just to me always sounds so unfunny. There's nothing worse than talking about comedy. I find it's kind of fun. You don't have to answer to people. I can say what I want even if it's dirty. It's funny with the guests I have they can go one of two ways: Either they're thrilled that they can say anything they want because they've been watching it all these years.

Then there are the other ones who can be in their 90s and still feel they have to protect their image, their career. Protecting your career is a key element of the documentary. Those parts make me cringe because I remember what I was going through at the time. To help keep your account secure, please log-in again. You are no longer onsite at your organization. Please log in. For assistance, contact your corporate administrator. Arrow Created with Sketch.

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