Lisa Lampanelli Background Information

This stand-up comedian was born on July 19, 1961. Lisa Lampanelli, with real name Lisa Lampugnale, is often referred to as the Queen of Mean. Her career in comedy covers the genres of improvisational comedy, insult comedy, observational comedy and black comedy. Lampanelli finished college with a journalism degree in Syracuse University in 1983, after which she entered a graduate program at Harvard. Her journalism career included working as a copy editor at Popular Mechanics and as assistant at Rolling Stone. She also worked as fact-checker and later on became chief of research for Spy Magazine.

Her career as a stand-up comedian began in New York during the early 1990s. Her big break came in 2002 at Chevy Chase's New York Friars' Club roast, where she performed in the roasts of Jeff Foxworthy, Pamela Anderson, William Shatner and Flavor Flav. She released a comedy special called Take It Like a Man, which was released on DVD and appeared in Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector. She also appeared in VH1 sitcom So NoTORIous. Later on, she made a contract with Fox for the pilot of a sitcom whose tentative title was Big Loud Lisa.

In 2006, Lampanelli taped a stand-up special, Dirty Girl, which was shown on Comedy Central on January 28, 2007. It came out on CD, along with the Dirty Girl… No Protection DVD, on January 30, 2007 as released by Warner Bros. and Jack Records. Lampanelli also appeared in the 2007 movie Delta Farce. Lampanelli's comedy style contained racial humor. She often mentions her real-life experiences involving black men. Lampanelli received a 2008 Grammy nomination for Dirty Girl. She is considered to be among the most high-profile insult comics. She is best known for her pot shots at celebrities and even at her own sexuality and weight.