Kathy Griffin’s comeback wins the night at Carnegie Hall, despite Trumpian turbulence outside

Ramping up to a nail-biting election, a slew of people with steadfast political beliefs and questionable moral values descended on New York City from far and wide. The former president’s supporters parked their souped-up pickup trucks covered in tacky decals and flags outside Carnegie Hall, blasting Kid Rock music and holding styrofoam busts poorly made up to look like Griffin. Like Griffin’s Emmy-winning Bravo show “My Life on the D-List,” the new standup tour deftly balances outrageous stories about Griffin’s celebrity run-ins with thoughtful ruminations on life, death and moving forward in the public eye. “The worst part of trying to take your own life is waking up and finding out you weren’t successful,” Griffin told her Carnegie Hall audience, who responded with equal parts shock and laughter. She tells tales of the trials that came with being Kim Kardashian’s neighbor, expressing surprise that Kardashian would ever want to associate with her after Griffin spent years calling Kardashian “a dirty whore.” Even if this tour is a victory lap of sorts, Griffin isn’t one to rest on her laurels Griffin mines the polarity between her envelope-pushing persona and the buttoned-up glamour of A-List celebrity with aplomb to reveal that even the biggest stars are as absurd as the rest of us.