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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > June > 11 > Entry
TV ‘roaster’ flings a few local zingers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greg Giraldo — a New York observational stand-up comic best known for being a resident “roaster” on Comedy Central’s annual roasts of big celebs such as William Shatner and Alpharetta’s Jeff Foxworthy — admits to being a bit burnt out from being on the road so much.
“Lately, it’s been particularly dark,” Giraldo told Buzz after his late show Saturday night at the Funny Farm in Roswell.
Rodney Ho / AJC
Giraldo, even in his fatigued state, has a knack for being mean in a funny way, as opposed to just being mean. And he threw in a few local jokes, including Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochee” (“It’s definitely hotter here than a hoochie-coochie.”), Whitney Houston’s drug problems (“Who cares about athletes and steroids? Just entertain us! Nobody is taking away Whitney Houston’s gold records because of crack cocaine!”) and even an oldie-but-goody about how hostage Ashley Smith calmed courthouse shooting suspect Brian Nichols with pancakes. (“There’s a lesson there, ladies. Learn your way around the kitchen!”)
When he noted that Rolling Stone recently called George W. Bush “the worst president ever,” the crowd reaction was modest.
“Most crowds cheer that line,” Giraldo said. “Look, I don’t think he’s the worst president ever. Maybe the worst American president. … The president of the Selena fan club? Now she was the worst president! She shot Selena! That’s not president-type behavior. That’s more like vice president-type behavior.”
Check Giraldo out in August at the next Comedy Central roast, featuring Flavor Flav. “That one,” he cracked, “will get good and racist early!”
DROPPED DIGITS
The Top 10 song by one-hit-wonder band Tommy Tutone, “867-5309/Jenny,” may be a musty quarter-century old this spring, but the infamous phone number is still considered numero non grata locally. The 678 version is disconnected, 404 bounces into a generic voice mail, and 770 rings endlessly.
Five years ago, for the song’s 20th anniversary, Buzz got ahold of Tucker resident Angela Morton, a mortgage banker who took the 404 version partly as an homage to a cousin named Jenny who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York City.
At the time, Morton enjoyed the spotlight of having the number, generating business from random callers who would check it out. She’d even pretend to be Jenny. But Morton said that, as cellphone minutes became cheaper and cellphones ubiquitous, crank calls escalated in 2003 and 2004. People even began text-messaging her incessantly. Her monthly phone bills grew from $130 to an unwieldy $400 a month.
“After 8:30 p.m., my phone would go nuclear,” Morton said recently. “I’d get calls from all over the country because the song would be playing in some bar.”
In 2004, she reluctantly gave up 404-867-5309. A few months ago, she tried the number again and a poor schlub answered. “He said he got assigned the number, didn’t ask for it,” she said. “He’d had it for eight months and was about to get rid of it. ‘It’s driving me crazy!’ he said.”
ON MY iPOD
Sara Blakely
Atlanta owner of Spanx, judge on ABC’s “American Inventor”
Blakely hates to fly, and she plays a good-luck song every time she’s on a plane: “What It Is” by Mark Knopfler. “I have to fly at least three times a week,” she said. “If I don’t play that song, I freak out.”
PARIS UPDATE
Yes, we’re sick of Paris Hilton, too, so we’ll keep this ultra-brief: She said she won’t appeal her jail sentence. “While I greatly appreciate the sheriff’s concern for my health and welfare, I intend to serve my time at L.A. County Jail,” she (or her publicist) wrote in a release. Over the weekend, Hilton was at a maximum-security detention center, where she was believed to be undergoing medical and psychiatric evaluations to determine the best jail to keep her in as she serves the rest of her sentence.
RANDOM BITS
Wes Sarginson supposedly has “retired” from WXIA-TV, but you may have seen him covering for his replacement, Ted Hall, whose father died of a heart attack in Minnesota last week. Hall wrote in an e-mail to Buzz that he will be out again later this week for the service… . Jennifer Bowman and Tracy Haskins, Realtors for Decatur’s Success Realty, made their TV debut Sunday night on HGTV’s “My First Place,” a show featuring new home buyers… . Busta Rhymes popped in for Verge Lounge’s first-anniversary party Friday night, said publicist Tiffany Patterson… . At last week’s bris, former 99X radio host Jimmy Baron and wife Lisa officially named their son Micah Alexander Baron. And Baron has already bestowed on Micah a Gmail account. Spammers, get ready, get set … .
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actor Gene Wilder is 74. Actor Hugh Laurie (above) is 48. Atlanta rock musician Tai Anderson (Third Day) is 31. Actor Joshua Jackson (“Dawson’s Creek”) is 29. Actor Shia LaBeouf (“Holes,” “Transformers”) is 21.
Contributing: news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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