Comedian Lisa Lampanelli Dishes On Weight Loss, Trump

For an insult comic who has been dubbed Comedy’s Queen of Mean Lisa Lampanelli is surprisingly….well….nice.

A native of Trumbull, Lampanelli (born Lampugnale) is known as an equal opportunity offender who indiscriminately discriminates against everyone regardless of race, religion or background. And Lampanelli might just be able to get away with saying whatever she wants because audiences sense her underlining friendliness.

“Even as a kid I could get away with saying stuff to my mom that nobody else could. I just had the attitude that I’m clearly joking, so I guess it was okay,” she says. “I think for it to work you have to be likable. I think it’s the likability plus the lack of prejudice that makes me and Don Rickles and Howard Stern and people like that allowed to do what we do.”

She adds, ” If I’m calling a person a racial, slur, or fat, or ugly, or bald, or old, or something, they can tell by my attitude that it’s all inclusive and I’m making fun of all our faults, we’re all kind of on the same page. It’s never really mean-spirited, unless somebody heckles me — then all bets are off.”

Lampanelli will let the insults fly when she performs at the MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods on Saturday, Dec. 15, at 8 p.m. Speaking by phone from her recently purchased house in Fairfield, right on the shore of Long Island Sound, Lampanelli says fans that come to her show will “catch me in a rare good mood.” She adds, “I come to Foxwoods every year, and every year I have all new material and I do an extra-long show.”

Earlier this year Lampanelli starred on “Celebrity Apprentice” and she says that a lot of the behind-the-scenes craziness of that show has become fodder for her act.

“NBC made us sign confidentiality agreements, but you can’t fire me twice NBC, so let’s go!”

Born in 1961, Lampanelli grew up in Trumbull. After college she moved to New York City to pursue a career in journalism. When she was about 30 she made her first foray into stand-up comedy.

“Comedy was always in the back of mind, and it kept haunting me,” she says. While working as a researcher for “Rolling Stone Magazine” she told a co-worker that she wanted to give stand-up comedy a try. He said “never do stand-up it’s the most self-centered art form there is and it’s all about you.” Lampanelli recalls thinking “that sounds exactly right for me, because it is all about me all the time.”

She performed at a comedy open mic and fell in love with stand-up. She’d go on to star on her own Comedy Central Specials and has become a regular insult-slinger on celebrity roasts over the past decade; she’s taken part in televised roasts of Denis Leary, Pamela Anderson, Flavor Flav, William Shatner and Donald Trump.

She bought her house in Fairfield in May with her husband of two years, Jimmy Cannizzaro. The couple now splits their time between that house, New York City and a house in upstate New York. The deck of the Fairfield house endured some mild wind damage during Hurricane Sandy, but Lampanelli is not one of the storm’s biggest victims.

“I joked about it on Letterman. I said the deck on my third house got dented. Our deck and the whole surrounding area was hit but geez, there was no inside damage, it was a hysterically small amount of damage to our house so we are the luckiest people alive.”

After battling her weight for decades Lampanelli recently lost close 100 hundred pounds. Her secret — modern medical science.

“Jimmy and I have been struggling with our weight independently for years. I definitely tried everything on the planet, every exercise program, every diet. We decided that we’re not going to live much longer if we don’t get this under control. So we got gastric bypass surgery,” she says. “Unfortunately it doesn’t get you out of dieting and exercise. You have to exercise every day and you can’t eat more than about a cup and a half of food a day. Basically it’s a manmade way of forcing you into good habits. I lost 93 or so pounds and Jimmy lost 80. It’s been great.”

Lampanelli taped an episode of “The Simpsons” that will air at some point next year. Also, she’ll be co-starring with Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy in the animated show “Bounty Hunters” which will air on the Country Music Television channel in 2013.

“I’m a battle axe and-a-half on that show,” she says. “Picture Mrs. Dog the Bounty Hunter, but more heinous, that’s me.”

Lampanelli adds that she loves working on animated shows.

“Oh my God it’s the easiest thing ever; you don’t have to go in for hair and make-up. You can dress like crap, you just go in there looking like hell, like you’re a victim of Hurricane Sandy, and do your thing and leave.”

Though she loves having a place in Connecticut, Lampanelli says that her Fairfield house has been bad for business.

“It’s actually the worst thing I’ve ever done for my career because I totally just want to sit in my house all day and look at the water so I’m sure my manager wants to kill me, but it’s the best thing I ever did for my life because it’s the first time in my whole life of 51 years that I’ve ever relaxed,” she says. “I didn’t realize what relaxing felt like before, it’s really good. All these lazy people — I can see why they’re lazy now.”

LISA LAMPANELLI will perform on Saturday, Dec. 15, at 8 p.m., at the MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods at 39 Norwich Road, North Stonington. Tickets are $40 to $60. Information: 800-200-2882 and mgmgrand@foxwoods.com.