Comedian Kathy Griffin brings her PTSD one-woman show to Provincetown Aug. 24

Interviewing comedian Kathy Griffin is what I imagine it feels like to be a cat chasing the little red dot of a laser pointer.

She is clearly holding the pointer.

Griffin, a two-time Emmy- and Grammy Award-winning comedian, is doing two shows at Provincetown Town Hall, at 5 and 8 p.m. Aug. 24. The 8 p.m. is sold-out but the added show has tickets, from $75 to $175, at pilgrimhouseptown.com/.

I have questions for the veteran comic, but she exuberantly explodes through the telephone ― one thought leaping to the next and I am mostly holding on and taking names.

She started out with politics, saying, “Last night, I do this call, ‘Comics for Kamala.’ I look around the (Zoom) room and say I'm donating $20,000 for the campaign and I am committing my good friend, Ben Stiller, to do the same. He didn't respond, I don't even know if he knows, but Lisa Ann Walter from ‘Abbott Elementary’ matched the pledge. She said, ‘I can afford $20,000. I’m a series regular.’ I knew her from the folding chairs days when you’d see all the same people going to auditions, waiting on the chairs to be called.”

A bestselling author, Griffin holds a Guinness World Record for "the most televised standup shows by a comedian," 20 of them. If it feels like you've seen ― and heard ― Griffin everywhere, it's because you have. She starred on NBC's "Suddenly Susan" and guest starred on "Seinfeld," "Law & Order: SVU," "Glee," "You" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Griffin also voiced characters in "Shrek Forever After," "The Simpsons," "American Dad," "Futurama" and "Dilbert."

The Provincetown shows are part of a 40-city national tour, including a stop at Carnegie Hall, for “My Life On The PTSD List.”

“‘I’m still proudly on the D List but now I’m on the PTSD List,” she quipped.

It is Griffin’s first tour in six years. She doesn’t want to talk about the 2017 photo of her holding a depiction of then- President Donald Trump’s bloodied head that she says put her on the PTSD list and the No-Fly List as the Department of Justice considered whether the stunt rose to the level of being a conspiracy to assassinate Trump.

She apologized, but, Griffin said, she lost 75% of her friends and had endorsements and talk show appearances canceled, including the CNN New Year's Eve special she coproduced and cohosted for 10 years with Anderson Cooper.

“Because of the Trump thing, the industry is still squeamish,” she said. “But generally, I think male (TV) executives don’t like me. They think I’m not saleable and I’m not funny. Misogyny and sexism in comedy is rampant."

Kathy Griffin goes from 'D-List' to 'PTSD-List'

While she won’t discuss the Trump photo, Griffin’s new show does address other heavy topics: her cancer, suicide attempt, addiction battle, her mother’s death and her divorce.

“Connection is something I have always had. I’m open and honest about my experiences. I want to do a show where the audience thinks I'm their buddy,” Griffin said.

The best audience response?

“The gay gasp ― that intake of breath when they say ‘Oh, no she didn't just say that,” the comic said. “Sometimes as the words are going out of my mouth, I realize I’m going too far.”

Griffin said she would never skip Provincetown on tour because, “Gays, gays, gays … When I started, the  audience that got me and gave me the most encouragement were the LGBTQIA+ audiences.

“I would drag my parents to gay open mic nights. I got to work out my unique style, which is more storytelling and not one-line jokes.”

“The greatest compliment I ever got? Chris Rock said the one thing to change comedy the most in 20 years were  my celebrity stories.”

Griffin said with her move to Malibu “there’s a whole new slew of celebrities I can torture.”

Griffin: 'Comedians that don't write their own sh-t are not comedians'

Whether jabbing at politicians or throwing her celebrity friends under the Mercedes, Griffin insists she crafts every catty comment herself.

“I think comedians that don’t write their own sh-t are not comedians. Ellen you heard me,” she shouts, taking a jab at former talk show host  Ellen DeGeneres, with whom she has a long-running feud.

Griffin said she scans the headlines before every show, a habit formed growing up.

“I live for breaking news. I grew up in a family where you had to come to the dinner table prepared. The expected dinner conversation would be news of the day.”

Griffin said she hasn’t launched a full-out laughfest about Trump vs Kamala Harris yet because she’s looking for material not yet chewed over by other comics.

"I have a standup comedy disorder. I love standup like it was a person. Loved it more than a boyfriend. But I’m 63, single and sexy … I want a boyfriend. Start asking around,” she ordered.

Asked for a peek at what to expect at the Aug. 24 shows, Griffin said, “One story that all audiences enjoy is that I was invited to party at Paris Hilton’s house and I don’t want to say I got kicked out but I knew it was time to leave because I had bothered so many people …”

Griffin stops abruptly, chides me for trying to get free details without seeing the show and careens off to a radio interview. Thank goodness, this cat was exhausted from 40 minutes of chasing that elusive laser pointer.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Kathy Griffin is headed to Provincetown for two comedy shows Aug. 24