The Only Project That Gilbert Gottfried Was Ever Credited For Directing
Gilbert Gottfried started his career in the entertainment world as a stand-up comedian. Soon after honing his craft on the stand-up circuit, he was recruited for "Saturday Night Live" in 1980, which led to an explosion of work in TV and movies. He's fondly remembered for his role as Iago, the loud-mouthed parrot in desperate need of anger management therapy in the Disney classic "Aladdin." He also had memorable supporting roles in the "Problem Child" franchise, "Beverly Hills Cop II," and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," among many others.
Usually, actors who spend a lot of time in front of the camera eventually develop a desire to get a feel for what it's like on the other side. Strangely, that never really happened to Gottfried; the majority of his career was spent either on the stand-up stage, in front of the camera, or behind a voice actor's microphone. But he did lend his directing talents to an episode of a hilarious podcast with one of his comedy compatriots almost a decade ago.
Gottfried co-directed an episode of Dan Harmon's Harmontown
"Harmontown" was a podcast by Dan Harmon and dozens of his comedy friends — but it was also so much more. It was almost pure improv, meaning that the actors and comedians weren't working with any script. Eventually, it evolved into a traveling comedy show where Harmon and friends would shoot a new episode every week in a different city and venue. There was even a 2014 documentary of the same name that debuted at the SXSW Film Festival that year.
In Episode 121, "LIVE from 92y in NYC," Gilbert Gottfried acted as the comptroller who warmed up the crowd. But behind the scenes, he was doing much more than that — enough to get the official IMDb credit for directing the October 2014 episode. He's also credited as starring in the episode, and uncredited as a co-writer, most likely due to the show's scriptless, improvisational nature.
Fan reaction to the "Harmontown" episode was mixed, as a number of users discussed "LIVE from 92y in NYC" on Reddit. Those who liked the episode brought up noteworthy moments such as Gottfried and Harmon's Vincent Price impersonations. Those who didn't were mostly critical of Gottfried's signature voice, though one Redditor, u/c0lm4h, observed that the comedian sounded disinterested during his guest appearance.