Lisa Lampanelli

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lisa Lampanelli
Birth name Lisa Lampugnale
Born July 19, 1961 (1961-07-19) (age 46)
Trumbull, Connecticut, USA
Medium stand-up, television, film
Nationality American
Years active 1990–present[1]
Genres Improvisational comedy, Black comedy, Observational comedy, Insult comedy
Subject(s) race relations, human sexuality, everyday life
Influences Don Rickles[2]
Website InsultComic.com

Lisa Lampanelli (born Lisa Lampugnale; July 19, 1961), often called the Queen of Mean, is a Grammy-nominated American stand-up comedian and "insult comic". She is noted for her extremely racy, raunchy, style of comedy, which frequently includes 'taboo' subjects such as racism.

Contents

[edit] Journalism career

Lampanelli was born in Trumbull, Connecticut and graduated from St. Joseph High School in Trumbull, CT. Lampanelli graduated from Syracuse University in 1983 with a degree in journalism and went through a graduate program at Harvard in 1986.[3] She worked as a copy editor at Popular Mechanics and an assistant at Rolling Stone.[4] She was also a fact checker and the first chief of research for Spy magazine; a book about Spy describes her then as "your average decked-out-heavy-metal-head-next-door."[5] Speaking later to Maxim Magazine Online, Lampanelli remarked, "I was a real journalist for Rolling Stone, Spy, Hit Parader. I interviewed those fuckin' hair bands: Cinderella, Slaughter. They were dumb as a post."[6]

[edit] Comedy career

Lampanelli began her stand-up career in New York in the early 1990s.[7] She made her break at the 2002 New York Friars' Club roast of Chevy Chase, and went on to participate in the roasts of Pamela Anderson, Jeff Foxworthy, Flavor Flav, and William Shatner. Lampanelli released a comedy special on DVD entitled Take it Like A Man, appeared in the 2006 motion picture Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, and had a cameo appearance in the VH1 sitcom So NoTORIous. She also landed a deal with Fox for a sitcom pilot with the tentative title Big Loud Lisa, which was considered a candidate for the network's 2006-07 television season.

Lampanelli is frequently on the dais for The Howard Stern Show roasts, including appearances at the roasts for Gary Dell'Abate, Artie Lange, Andy Dick, KKK member Daniel Carver, Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, William Shatner, and most recently in Comedy Central's Roast of Flavor Flav on August 12th, 2007.

Lampanelli taped her most recent stand-up special Dirty Girl in the fall of 2006, which aired on Comedy Central on January 28, 2007. Her "Dirty Girl" CD and "Dirty Girl .. No Protection" DVD were released by Warner Bros./Jack Records on January 30, 2007.

She was also featured in the movie Delta Farce starring Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy, and D.J. Qualls, which was released early in 2007.

Racial / ethnic humor is a large part of her comedy routine. In particular, she makes frequent references to her real-life relationships with black men.[7] In an interview with AskMen.com, she explained:[8]

"...my problem is, I can't get a good-looking white guy anymore, I just don't have the looks to get that. I can get hot blacks, but also blacks are now starting to get uppity and go for the skinny white ones and the Asians, which is very offensive to me that they don't stick with their roots — the chubby white girl!"

[edit] Nominations

  • Grammys 2008 Best Comedy Album - "Dirty Girl"

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.bergenrecord.com/print.php?qstr=ZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY0NTEzNDkmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3
  2. ^ Reno/Tahoe - Look out: Here comes Lisa Lampanelli - sacbee.com
  3. ^ Lampanelli is building career on celebrity roasts. Evansville Courier & Press (2006-12-22).
  4. ^ Interview with Lisa Lampanelli. The Onion's The A.V. Club (2006-12-21).
  5. ^ Andersen, Kurt; Graydon Carter, George Kalogerakis [2006]. Spy: The Funny Years. New York: Miramax Books, 28. ISBN 1401352391. 
  6. ^ Dobrow, Larry. ""Whoa Lampanelli"", Maxim Magazine Online, January 2007. Retrieved on 2007-01-24. 
  7. ^ a b Interview on Radar online[dead link – history], 2005-11-07
  8. ^ Interview. AskMen.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.

[edit] External links

[edit] Interviews