I don't know of too many comedians who have one signature joke or punch line — though Gallagher and the watermelon/sledgehammer routine comes close.

However, no matter how riotously funny he's always been on a variety of topics, Gilbert Gottfried is fairly or not associated with 9/11 and a reportedly adlibbed line he made two weeks after the tragedy at a roast in New York City of Hugh Hefner. Gottfried said, "I have to leave early tonight, I have a flight to California. I can't get a direct flight — they said I have to stop at the Empire State Building first."

As one of those folks who has always dealt with dark situations through, well, dark humor, I found Gottfried's joke hilarious. Probably a lot of people did but I'd bet a lot more didn't.

Well, you either like tragedy jokes and/or non-PC stuff in general, or you don't. If it's your thing, Gottfried is one of the best ever. Fortunately — jokes-wise — there have been many more disaster since 9/11, so Gottfried has plenty of inspiration (he was also fired as an Afflack spokesman for his Japanese tsunami riffs). See and laugh with him Friday at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook.

Gilbert Gottfried, 8 p.m. Friday, Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, 300 Main St., Old Saybrook; $34; 1-877-503-1286.