Anger Management

When Bobcat Goldthwait started doing standup in the 1980s, he was on the alternative side of comedy before it was alternative. The way he sees it, he’s like Iggy Pop, who was punk before there was such a thing. Goldthwait has also acted in quite a few films in addition...

By Jon Solomon

February 26, 2009

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When Bobcat Goldthwait started doing standup in the 1980s, he was on the alternative side of comedy before it was alternative. The way he sees it, he’s like Iggy Pop, who was punk before there was such a thing. Goldthwait has also acted in quite a few films in addition to writing and directing them; some of his most notable credits include the 1991 cult favorite Shakes the Clown, as well as Sleeping Dogs Lie and, most recently, World’s Greatest Dad, which stars Robin Williams in what Variety says may be Williams’s best dramatic role to date.

In between, Goldthwait has directed Jimmy Kimmel Live and Chappelle's Show and says he’d be open to doing it again. “At this point, it’s just going to be people who are fun to be with and I respect them,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be these movies that I write, although I hope I can keep doing that, too.” While he still makes time for standup,

Goldthwait sometimes finds it tough to resurrect his old self. “Sometimes I question how good Pete Townshend feels when he’s playing ‘My Generation,’” he says. “I kind of feel the same way, like sometimes I’m there going, ‘Well this is a persona I came up with twenty years ago. I don’t know how angry I really am anymore.’”

Goldthwait performs tonight and tomorrow at the Comedy Works, 1226 15th Street; for tickets, $28, visit www.comedyworks.com or call 303-595-3637.
March 12-14, 2009

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