I came upon Lisa Lampanelli quite by accident as I was tv channel-surfing one night at home with my girlfriend. A special on Comedy Central - “Dirty Girl” -- introduced me quite by accident to a female comic with a rapid-fire delivery whose subject matter was, let’s just say, not something you’d want your kids (or even grandparents) to hear. However, she left us in such stitches of laughter, we absolutely decided if she ever came to perform anywhere in our area, we’d definitely be in the audience.
As luck would have it, the Brooklyn, New York comic happened to be performing on my birthday (!) last month at the Auga Caliente Casino/Hotel, in their sparkling, brand-new concert/event venue called “The Show.” The drive on the 1-10 to the beautiful casino in Rancho Mirage from my place in Riverside was literally traffic-free - allowing us to get there early, sock down a drink, and get ready to be “Lampanellie-d!”
After a competent half-hour opening-set by a comic whose name escapes me, Lampanelli - who is best described as a female cross between legendary insult comic Don Rickles and acerbic loud spoken funnyman Andrew Dice Clay, with a healthy dose of TV’s “Archie Bunker” tossed in for good measure - came out onstage to a sexy musical montage with insult guns a-blazing, taking aim at virtually everyone in the crowd: Blacks, Jews, and especially gays (the latter especially notable since not only was there a sizeable portion of gays and lesbians in the crowd due to the casino’s proximity to Palm Springs; they also seem to make up a sizeable portion of the comedian’s fan base. Lampanelli delivered one insult after another, with a delivery as fast and on-the-money as any comic this reviewer has ever bear witness to (and I have seen and heard some of the best, starting with the late, great Rodney Dangerfield). Especially humorous were Lampanelli’s numerous disclosures about her sexual preference for black men because of their endowments - while claiming at the same time that she now had a white boyfriend. Go figure - yet, all part of the way the blonde-haired, slightly stout comic (she alluded to her weight, too - not topic is off-limits to Lampanelli, even herself) kept the capacity crowd on the edge of their seats. Several times during the show she actually ventured into the audience to poke her fun at unsuspecting audience members; as someone easily embarrassed by those sort of things, I was especially glad that the great seats we had luckily positioned us about ten rows back in the center - just out of Lampanelli’s reach.
After the hour-plus show, Lampanelli good-naturedly conducted a Meet-And-Greet with her fans outside the showroom, posing for photos and signing autographs. There is no doubt Lisa Lampanelli is one of the top newest names in comedy today; if you haven’t discovered the “Queen of Mean” as of yet, by all means, do!
