Editor's note: This story contains language and videos that may not be appropriate for some audiences.
The legendary comedian Bobcat Goldthwait is back with a new stand-up comedy album, "Soldier for Christ."
You probably remember Bobcat as the loud, raspy-voiced character Zed in the "Police Academy" movies. But don’t ask him to "do the voice." He doesn’t do it anymore.
He’ll explain why later in this article. But in the meantime, we recommend that you keep reading. After all, we went to the time and trouble of writing this detailed digital article as a companion piece to the audio interview. It's the least you can do.
Goldthwait moved from L.A. to the Midwest a few years ago. He says that he’s considered thin there.
He’s ssssooo thin that he calls himself "the Daniel Craig of DuPage County, Illinois." This leads us here at Wisconsin Public Radio's "BETA" to wonder if that means Daniel Craig is "the Bobcat Goldthwait of Cobble Hill, Brooklyn."
We should have asked him.
Goldthwait describes "Soldier of Christ" as being kind of like jazz.
"There are a lot of bits on there that are really stream of consciousness stories I've never told before," Goldthwait said. "I would go to this club here in Chicago (the Lincoln Lodge) and I would go on stage and do these long sets, and that's what this is. That's what the 'Soldier of Christ' is from."
One day, Goldthwait was late arriving for a gig, and his "stream of consciousness" transformed into a mighty river of consciousness when he saw something on the side of the highway.
"I was sitting in traffic and I look over, and it's a graveyard, a cemetery. And a mylar SpongeBob (SquarePants) balloon catches my eye. And, you know, Tom Kenny's been my best friend since I was 6 years old. He's the voice of SpongeBob," Goldthwait said.
"First of all, it's weird because I slowed down and tried to get a picture of it, so that makes me a ghoul. But I wanted to show him. But I was also thinking about how horrible that would be. Like if you're there visiting a deceased relative and then you look over and you see something sad, or then your grandma. You see a SpongeBob balloon in a cemetery. It's like, dude, you ruined it for the whole cemetery."
Goldthwait opens for Nirvana: 'Here we are now, introduce us'
During the autumn of 1993, Goldthwait opened for Nirvana.
He said about every third show would go OK. If the crowd was enjoying his jokes, he would perform longer.
"Kurt was a fan of my stand-up, which is always weird for people to find out," Goldthwait said. "It's like finding out that Jimi Hendrix slugged Buddy Hackett or something. But he (Cobain) liked my stand-up."
Goldthwait was actually on the road with Nirvana when they did their "MTV Unplugged" show.
"And it's kind of funny because after they did the show they did that cover of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" I remember the hairs going up on my arms when Kurt sang that. And so they walk offstage, and I was standing there and clearly the producers and MTV would have been happy if they did more. And I said, 'Oh, don't go out there. You're not going to top that.' So they didn't go out. So I'm the guy that ruined it for some people," he said.
Early in his career, Goldthwait spoke in a loud, raspy voice. Why?
"Because I was nervous, and I was making fun of stand-up comedy, and I liked to hide up there," he said. "I didn't like people actually knowing me or anything about me. And my heroes were Andy Kaufman and Brother Theodore."
But then Goldthwait said he became the thing he was making fun of.
"But I just made a decision. I was in Nashville one night and I was like, 'I can't do this anymore,' you know?" he said. "And I went out as me, and people were like going, 'Do the voice.' But I kind of stuck to my guns because I just couldn't do it anymore. I was no longer scared, and I was no longer making fun of comedy."