Interview with comedian Lisa Lampanelli

David Medsker: Did you start off like that? Before you were Queen of Mean, were you Princess of Propriety?

Lisa Lampanelli: Aw, I like when you use big words. What a turn on. I was never nice, but I was always likable. I started out like a normal comic, writing out five minutes of material about what was going on in my life. And eventually I started listening to tapes of my shows, and I was like, Wow, the funniest stuff, and the stuff I’m laughing at, is when I’m fucking with the audience. So I thought, Okay, I’m going to do more of this. About seven years ago, I guess I started committing hard to it, and saying (to myself), the more that other people aren’t going to say about these issues, the more I’m going to say. I’m not going to be that typical chick comic who talks about PMS, and dating, and-

DM: And thank God for that.

LL: Well, I had someone come up to me after a show and say, “You don’t make fun of men enough.” I said, “I’ll leave that to every other woman comic in the world, you twat.” I mean, come on, man! Why do I have to do that? I just went through the breakup of this relationship. I would never get up there and start man-bashing like that. Too many people do it already.

Interview with comedian Lisa Lampanelli / by David Medsker / 10/05/05 / bullz-eye.com