Jimmy Kimmel recalls the night Gilbert Gottfried was bombed with a 9/11 prank – and then killed

This week, acclaimed comedian Gilbert Gottfried has passed away at the age of 67. The Brooklyn native is known for his explosive, charismatic voice and fearless brand of comedy, as well as his short run. older brother SNLvoiced the parrot Iago in Aladdinplay the role of a shady adoption agent in I have a problem film, voiced the duck Aflac and performed standing.

Gottfried’s most famous incident occurred during Hugh Hefner’s Friar Club barbecue in New York City on September 29, 2001, just weeks after the 9/11 attacks. At a shoot hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, Gottfried told the 9/11 joke: “I have to catch a flight to California. I can’t get a direct flight. They said they had to stop at the Empire State Building first. ”

He was then showered with boos and screams “too soon!” from the crowd, later recalling that it was “bigger than anyone has ever lost an audience.”

So, to win them back, he told a lengthy rendition of The Aristocrats — an old-fashioned joke common in comic books dating from (supposedly) Vaudeville to Vaudeville, involving a family tries to convince an agent to set the stage for them. that quickly turns into a symphony of taboos that often incorporate everything from incest to bestiality. The crowd ate it all.

On Wednesday night, Kimmel recounted that night on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

“I organized that barbecue,” he told guest Bill Maher. “At the time, it was right after November 11… And no one was obviously joking about that. Gilbert took the stage and said some of the craziest things. “

“I wish he could hear all the things people are saying about him — about how funny it is [he was]. He’s really one of those people who used to be a comedian,” Kimmel continued. “When he told the Nobles joke — he first told a terrible 9/11 joke, and the audience booed him, and it was, ‘Oh no, we’re going to have to save Gilbert, ‘ and then he moved on to the dirtiest joke that wasn’t well received for the first six minutes, and then the last six minutes everyone was crying. (It’s actually nine minutes and fifty seconds long.)