Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait is back—and he wants to scare you

Bobcat Goldthwait is best known for three things: his role as Zed in the Police Academy franchise, his unhinged talk-show appearances during the early ’90s and that voice. But he’s also a director of some daring, who’s lent his talents to television (Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Chappelle’s Show, The Man Show) and movies (the darkly quirky Shakes the Clown, Windy City Heat and God Bless America). His latest effort is the suspense-horror–found-footage film Willow Creek, about a couple’s search for Bigfoot; Kimmel has dubbed it "Scary and the Hendersons."

"I’m not even a fan of them," Goldthwait says of found-footage movies. "I always try to figure out, Who’s the ghoul that found this footage and said, 'I’m sorry your family got raped and killed, but if I recut this, I think it would be a tremendous picture'?" Now Goldthwait walks among the ghouls. Already into his next film—Call Me Lucky, a documentary about comedian Barry Crimmins—he’s returning to his stand-up roots for two nights this week at Gotham Comedy Club. "My life is really strange,” he says. “I’ll leave Sundance, where I have a movie playing, to go play an Indian casino. It helps with my perspective on my overall importance as a filmmaker."

He also recently produced Morgan Murphy’s Netflix special, Irish Goodbye; directed Patton Oswalt’s Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time for Comedy Central; and is helming season two of IFC’s Maron, which premieres Thursday 8.

"I like working with comics because we speak shorthand," says Goldthwait. "I try to act as a buffer. All the dumb questions come to me, hopefully, so they can just concentrate on performing and doing a good job."

Bobcat Goldthwait headlines Gotham Comedy Club Fri 9 and Sat 10. Willow Creek opens at IFC Center June 6.