The Queen of Mean is coming clean.
Comedian Lisa Lampanelli announced Tuesday on SiriusXM’s “Howard Stern Radio Show” that she’s retiring from stand-up comedy to dedicate herself to “storytelling” tours and self-help workshops. She immediately felt relief.
On Monday, Lampanelli previewed her big reveal with a video on Twitter.
When her father died in 2014, Lampanelli says she started feeling drawn away from comedy and toward helping people. She was thrilled when Stern’s producer Gary Dell’Abate offered her time on Tuesday’s show to break news of her retirement.
The 57-year-old Trumbull, Conn., native said her appearance on the show — a roast of the his longtime driver and pal Ronnie Mund — further convinced her that she was finished being an insult comic.
“Even today at the roast with Ronnie, there were a few jokes I looked at and I go ‘I might have done a couple of these jokes five years ago, I’m not doing them now,’” she said.
Lampanelli’s rise to prominence as a top-tier insult comic came in 2002 when she showcased her crass style at the Friars Club Roast honoring Chevy Chase. She has since become a fixture at those events, skewering everyone from President Trump to David Hasselhoff. While she plans to remain a member of the Friars Club, she said comedy “doesn’t feel right anymore” and she’s glad to leave the jokes to other comics.
“I’m not going to lie, I’d get off stage and I’d go ‘I hope that guy I made fun of was OK’ or ‘I hope that guy doesn’t feel like he didn’t know what he was in for,’” she confessed.
It’s Lampanelli’s hope that formally ending her comedy career will give comfort to those who participate in her self-help workshops and catch her “Lisa Lampinelli’s Losin’ It!” tour, which includes a Nov. 3 date in Fairfield, Conn. followed by a Nov. 11 gig at the Gramercy Theatre.
At those appearances, Lampanelli will share the stage with other people who are working to overcome personal demons — particularly regarding health and body issues.
She doesn’t appear to be struggling with her decision to walk away from stand-up.
“Everybody says ‘never say never,’ but I’m pretty confident this path I’m working on is for me,” she said.