Kathy Griffin to sign new book, ‘Celebrity Run-Ins,’ on Long Island

Comedian Kathy Griffin has just published her anecdote-filled new book, “Kathy Griffin’s Celebrity Run-Ins” (Flatiron Books, 298 pp., $26.99). You can have your own celebrity run-in — with Griffin — when she signs copies of the book at Barnes & Noble in Carle Place on Saturday at noon.

Griffin, 56, won two Emmy Awards for her reality-TV show “My Life on the D-List” and is one of only three women to win solo Grammy Awards for comedy. The new book chronicles an A-Z index of close encounters with stars from Woody Allen to Warren Zevon, and demonstrates, as she writes, that “two famous people who’ve never met . . . can oftentimes jump right into a familiar-sounding rapport.” So while all celebrities don’t actually know each other, it seems they sort of do.

Griffin, who grew up in the Chicago suburbs of Oak Park and Forest Park, got her start with the L.A. improv troupe The Groundlings. After small movie roles and many episodic TV spots, she co-starred on the 1996-2000 Brooke Shields sitcom “Suddenly Susan” and has worked nonstop since, including on two HBO and 18 Bravo comedy specials. She plays the NYCB Theatre at Westbury on April 8. She spoke with Newsday by telephone.

One celebrity run-in we don’t get in your book is with Quentin Tarantino, who even before “Suddenly Susan” gave you a small role, credited as yourself, no less, in “Pulp Fiction.”

Well, I’ve been trying to sleep my way to the middle for my whole career. Quentin and I did go out a couple of times and we did actually cuddle. I know that’s not very Tarantino-esque, and I actually asked him one time, “Do you mind if I say that to people?” People think [sex involves] a lot of wild, crazy zipper-masks with him . . . but we just cuddled.

Ironically, even though we all know his complex side, he was so happy for me when I got the role on “Suddenly Susan” because he knew that my dream was to play the sidekick on a sitcom. I remember seeing him on the street carrying groceries and him saying, “You did it! You’re playing the sidekick on a sitcom!” and me saying, “You did it! You won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival!”

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The book doesn’t mention, but I’m wondering if are there any puppet celebrities you’ve encountered, like ALF. Surely you’ve met Kermit the Frog.

I actually made out with [the Muppet] Animal in “Muppets From Space” [1999]. Not only was I around Kermit, but I cheated on him by making out with Animal. Love is love, OK? Love is where you find it. Now, what can I look forward to when I’m at the Country Glen Center?

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Um, well . . . Carle Place is a very nice community.

I want your readers to know I did some research on the surrounding stores, and that they can go to Just Falafel after they get the book. Or to Bagel Boss. Destination Maternity — a lot of moms need to laugh, right? Guitar Center, for the straight guys who are dragged to the signing by their wives. Or there’s a Super Cuts, so if you want to trim your bangs.