He is known for his black comedy stand-up act, delivered through an energetic stage persona with an unusual raspy and high-pitched voice.

Goldthwait has written and directed a number of films and television series, most notably the black comedies Shakes the Clown (1991), in which he also starred, Sleeping Dogs Lie (2006), World's Greatest Dad (2009), God Bless America (2011), and the horror film Willow Creek (2013); episodes of Chappelle's Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!

[3] At an early age, Goldthwait decided on a career as a comedian, inspired by enjoying making his friends laugh.

During his time at St. Matthew's Grammar School, Goldthwait would host performances for his friends regularly, among them being future voice actor Tom Kenny.

[6] In their mid-teens, they saw an ad for an open-mic night in Skaneateles that featured comedian Barry Crimmins with the moniker "Bear Cat".

[7][8] Early in his career, Goldthwait also co-wrote with Martin Olson, who is listed as writer on his first two comedy specials Share the Warmth and Don't Watch This Show.

In the 1990s, Goldthwait and Robin Williams appeared on the same bill together, but not as a comedy team, using the names Jack Cheese and Marty Fromage.

When Williams made a cameo as Mime Jerry in Goldthwait's Shakes the Clown, he was billed as Marty Fromage.

(2009)[4]During the fall of 1993, Goldthwait performed stand-up material as an opening act for Nirvana on what would be their final North American tour.

He had been selected for the slot due to frontman Kurt Cobain being a fan of his comedy, and the two developed a friendship over the course of the tour.

At midnight on New Year's Eve 1993, Goldthwait rappelled nude from a catwalk of the stage at the Oakland Coliseum as Kurt Cobain led a countdown.

[11] In 1985, Goldthwait appeared in Twisted Sister's official video to "Leader of the Pack" and "Be Chrool to Your Scuel" from Come Out and Play.

In 1993, Goldthwait appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, where he tossed furniture and ran around the set, then into the audience.

In April 1994, as a guest on one of the last episodes of The Arsenio Hall Show, Goldthwait became demonstrably upset that the program was being canceled.

He stood on the set's couch, spray-painted "Paramount Sucks" on a glass wall, and threw video equipment around the studio.

Goldthwait appeared in September 2010 on an episode of LA Ink, where shop owner Kat Von D gave him a tattoo of a potato, impaled on a fork, on his upper right arm.

Goldthwait chose the design to remind himself of where he came from and to tell close friends and family that he had not lost his sense of humor.

[11] While there, ratings for the show increased to over 2 million viewers per night, and jumped 50% with teens; however, in May 2006 Goldthwait left to pursue his film career.

Different communities of clowns, mimes and other performers are depicted as clannish, rivalrous subcultures obsessed with precedence and status.

The web site for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival described it as a "lusciously perverse, and refreshingly original comedy that tackles love, loss, and our curious quest for infamy".

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave World's Greatest Dad 3 out of 4 stars, but commented that the material could have been even darker in its satire, and he questioned whether it was the director's intention.

[16][17] In 2015, Goldthwait premiered Call Me Lucky, his documentary on the life and work of comedian/activist Barry Crimmins, at the Sundance Film Festival.

[18] In August 2019, Goldthwait and fellow comedian Dana Gould set out to film their two-person stand-up show, but the project was postponed when the pair were in an auto accident on the way to the first performance.

In June 2015, Bobcat Goldthwait was named "Filmmaker on the Edge" at the 17th Annual Provincetown International Film Festival.