Despite a multifaceted comedy career that spans nearly 30 years, Gilbert Gottfried is currently riding a resurgence in fame from his memorable and exceedingly, well, specific performance in the 2005 documentary The Aristocrats.

Gilbert Gottfried in The Aristocrats.

But in front of a sparse crowd in San Francisco last night, Gottfried displayed as diverse a comedic talent as there is, working his way through a wide array of styles before concluding with jokes from his latest DVD release, Dirty Jokes.

The DVD's title, coupled with Gottfried's unbelievably vulgar turn in The Aristocrats, proved a bit misleading, as the veteran comic's routine was tame by those standards.

The 45-minute set was most notable for its diversity, as Gottfried showed that he can do all kinds of humor, from prop comedy and impressions of the likes of Yosemite Sam, Andrew Dice Clay, and Bob Dylan to his lengthy diatribe about his disdain for the gathered audience.

"Look, I don't want to be here any more than you do," Gottfried said as he arrived onstage, rubbing his face and head to indicate his discomfort. It really doesn't make it any easier to get through this to have you all staring at me."

Gilbert Gottfried's Dirty Jokes DVD.

"You're a dynamite crowd, really," he continued, dripping with sarcasm. "You're like battery acid. You're like a big rusty crowbar embedded in my eye socket and a midget is using it as a diving board. And Gary Coleman walks by and starts jumping on it, and along comes Hervez Villachaiez (from Fantasy Island) and then the crazy squeaky-voiced woman from Poltergeist. She's wearing a skirt. But you shouldn't ever look up a midget's skirt--take my word for it."

And on he went, running through tirades about the Amish, Charles Manson, a handful of celebrities, his Jewish background, and holding a bar mitzvah for a microphone. It was short, and by no means in front of a packed house, but it served as a brief window into one of the better comedic minds of his generation.