God, I hate Lisa Lampaneli — Page 6

Namo, I use language in an attempt to be precise. I don't think anybody here is in the least impressed, no more so than when I use the same vocabulary in everyday speech. (But is that REALLY your primary complaint against me, that my discourse is too elevated for the BWW crowd?! 'Cause I can't imagine such a claim is appreciated by our colleagues on this board.)

If I misuse a word or words (entirely possible), please feel free to correct me.

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I know you were making a joke and it was funny, SNAFU, but I did NOT mean to say that calling one's words "satire" was a defense to all kinds of speech. But satire does serve a purpose in deflating speech, ideas and actions that threaten us.

There's a great song from WWII, sung by Yiddish vaudeville entertainers and entitled "We'll Hang Our Laundry on the Siegfried Line". Perhaps you know it. For those who don't, the Siegfried Line referred to Germany's miles of concrete bunkers defending its border with France.

By reducing a "line of fortifications" to a "clothesline", the song helped to deflate the feeling of doom inspired by powerful German defenses. Allied casualties were still high, but morale was aided by the satire--at least according to Freudian theory.

Updated On: 3/24/13 at 05:51 PM

Meanwhile, back in the here and now, Lisa Lampanelli wanted to be "one of the greats," but Andrew Dice Clay was never one of them, and she's sub-Andrew Dice Clay. A good rule of thumb when picking a career path might be, don't base it on stridently saying things you don't believe over and over. I love in the clip when she tells the onstage staff, "This is like an episode of the Jerry Springer Show.' Well, yeah. You get what you give, Lisa. Except in this situation there is no Jerry Springer, just trashy behavior from the one person who is supposed to be in control of the theatrical event. I wonder if producers are reconsidering.

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From the Northeastern University student paper a few years back, Eric. It's easy to see how the phenomenon you describe -- people laughing out of gratitude for her not noticing them -- could happen:

In a search for all the black audience members, Lampanelli, who is well-known for her love of black men, thought she had found an ideal candidate, until she realized something was off.

“Is he a black or a ‘spic with a tan?” she asked in her thick New York accent.

The student, in fact, was Colombian, which prompted Lampanelli to say Colombians are “the saddest and laziest of all the ‘spics.”

She warned him not to “fart,” because the lucky girl sitting directly behind him would fall victim to the illegal drug trade by instantly becoming high.

After a brief search through a sea of white audience members, Lampanelli found someone else to make fun of: a black girl named Victoria who said she wanted to be a doctor. Lampanelli said she had a vision of Victoria in the future, sitting in a hospital room with an old white man on his deathbed.

“Do it, Victoria,” she said as she made a motion of pulling a life-support plug. “This is for slavery, Whitey! You’re dead!”

So, ya see, even though the "reclaiming hurtful words" argument was already mentioned in this thread, here's why she is doomed to failure. Loud mouthed white lady doesn't GET to reclaim racist words and claim it reduces their power. White lady REINFORCES how the words have historically been used. She's playing with fire and it's probably all about to collapse around her.

Also, the "sea of white audience members" demonstrates what I have contended from the beginning: she exists to tell other white people it's okay for them to be racist and misogynist.

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Updated On: 3/24/13 at 07:52 PM

"Yes, just like Daniel Tosh is in character when he jokes about replacing his sister's pepper spray with silly string..."

Ok, that made me laugh out loud.

Namo, that pretty much describes the video I saw--from five minutes on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4cBeYAa33I But these people paid to see her, so they must find her funny--and expect this.

It was a pleasure to waste a few seconds of you time. my punctuation was lacking, but I think I made my point. :)

So is she "in character" for one question but not for the other?

Michael Musto did that interview right? He must have been thrilled to interview her and as a bonus he got to use the word "dinge queen".

I tried watching a bit of that clip Eric posted and it just made me angry and sad. It's really sophomoric and immature how she feels the need to exasperatingly provide such a disclaimer for what you claim to be your own brand of humor in your act. Honestly, she's no different Ann Coulter. She just pretends to be a comedienne rather than a "political commentator".

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I guess it's something I just don't want to take nor do I want to be laid into. At least, not in that way. Clearly, people find Lampanelli funny. I just don't think it's such a stretch find her hugely offensive, especially since she feels the need to explain herself either in interviews or even in her act.

But yeah, her brand of...entertainment...as well as her constant reminder of why she says what she says, reminds me a LOT of Ann Coulter, who is equally unapologetic about the victims of her speech. Coulter is also a great leveler, finding vulnerability in all minorities, saying horrific things about them, then feigning shock that someone should react negatively to them, often insulting them further in the process. So....yeah, really.

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Namo, you know I love you and I am glad we can dialogue about this, but then do you feel the same about Griffin, Cho, Rivers and others who preach hatred. Is it different if they crucify celebrities or people they deem less than-fat people, ugly people, etc.

At least Lampanelli talks to her audience and singles them out. Rivers will say "I hate fat people" when half the audience is obese. Griffin will say "have you seen so and so's face lift" when she herself looks like a circus clown. It's all relative. Everyone is damaged and comedians use it. Most comedy is the flipside of anger.

I saw Margaret Cho say the most vile, violent things about George Bush, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter. Is it ok for Cho to speak horrendous things because "we" don't like those people? I never get that to be honest. Talking horrendous things to a captive audience that is on your side. Cho is a coward in many respects and panders horribly.

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I think Kathy looks great now. If she's had any more work done after the disastrous freshening up she publicly through for Entertainment Tonight, it's only been for the better.

I do remember Bettyboy chose Joan over Kathy once because of the class of the former and lack thereof in the latter. Where does Lisa land on the classy scale?