PHOTOS
Randy Shemanski
Comedian Lisa Lampanelli has left audiences around the country with their jaws hanging thanks to her foul-mouthed willingness to say just about anything. The insult comic is a regular on Comedy Central and the Tonight Show and litters her act with jokes about ethnic and racial stereotypes, four-letter words, and sexually-explicit stories.
Lampanelli, who is 47, didn't get into stand-up until she was 30, but quickly became a hit after working the club scene in New York City. The native of Trumbull, Conn., has had two one-hour specials on Comedy Central - Take It Like a Man and Dirty Girl.
She has also taken part in celebrity roasts, including Chevy Chase, Pam Anderson, and William Shatner, as well as a part in the recent Owen Wilson movie Drillbit Taylor.
Lampanelli took time to do a rather raunchy interview with e.c./d.c. recently to give us a preview of what to expect on Friday. A quick warning - if you're offended by colorful language, this interview and Lampanelli's show probably aren't for you.
Is there anything that's off limits? Are you ever worried about offending somebody?
What do you think?
Probably not.
Very good. ... There's no line. Who's going to draw that arbitrary line? The FCC? They have to be able to do it with radio. Every radio station is different. Every TV station is different. There are rules for NBC that there aren't for CBS. It's all bullshit. We don't have any lines. That's why we do this and really do give a (expletive) less who we offend or who we hurt. It's not meant in a bad spirit. ... If you do everything the right way so that you can insult people without hurting their feelings, you can get people to love you.
What's with the outfits you wear on stage? You could pass for Barbara Billingsley on Leave It To Beaver.
It is an ironic statement on the whole. If you dress tough and look tough and stage and come out tough, it's just a little too much. This way it's kind of funny.
How did you get into comedy?
I said, "Let me see. I'm a reporter at Rolling Stone and a research editor at Spy. Let me try to earn more than $12,000 a year." Thank God it worked. So what you do is say, Hmm, I can say (expletive) and call you (expletive) without you getting mad at me - let me see if I can find out how to make a living that way. And ta da! You have the finished product.
Is the show scripted or do you get up there and talk about whatever comes to mind?
Nothing ever starts scripted. In other words, there's never a time when I go "Hmm, let me sit down at this computer, this magical box, and right some words." No. You always start out with whatever emotion that day, something that happened to you, something that pissed you off, something that made you laugh, whatever. And eventually, because you tape record it, listen to it, punch it up, it's a polished bit that you use over and over. Nothing starts from sitting at a typewriter. It starts from improv that night.
Did you ever think you'd be as successful as you are?
I am quite fabulous, as you pointed out. I never dreamed I would own two houses and two slammin' Toyota Camrys. I don't like to brag, but I have two (expletive) Camrys, dude. In my wildest dreams, I never thought I would reach these heights. The success? I mean really, I didn't care. I would've done this for free.