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Lisa Lampanelli, often called the Queen of Mean, is a Grammy-nominated American stand-up comedian and insult comic. She is noted for her extremely racy and raunchy style of comedy, which frequently includes taboo subjects such as racism, homosexuality, and sexual assault.

Lampanelli was born in Trumbull, Connecticut and graduated from St. Joseph High School in Trumbull, CT. Lampanelli graduated from Syracuse University in 1983 with a degree in journalism and went through a graduate program at Harvard in 1986. She worked as a copy editor at Popular Mechanics and an assistant at Rolling Stone. She was also a fact checker and the first chief of research for Spy magazine; a book about Spy describes her then as "your average decked-out-heavy-metal-head-next-door." Speaking later to Maxim Magazine Online, Lampanelli remarked, "I was a real journalist for Rolling Stone, Spy, Hit Parader. I interviewed those fuckin` hair bands: Cinderella, Slaughter. They were dumb as a post."

Lampanelli began her stand-up career in New York in the early 1990s. She made her break at the 2002 New York Friars` Club roast of Chevy Chase, and went on to participate in the roasts of Denis Leary, Pamela Anderson, Jeff Foxworthy, Flavor Flav, Larry the Cable Guy, and William Shatner. Lampanelli released a comedy special on DVD entitled Take it Like A Man in 2005, appeared in the 2006 motion picture Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, and had a cameo appearance in the VH1 sitcom So NoTORIous. She also landed a deal with Fox for a sitcom pilot with the tentative title Big Loud Lisa, which was considered a candidate for the network`s 2006-07 television season.

Lampanelli is frequently on the dais for The Howard Stern Show roasts, including appearances at the roasts for Gary Dell`Abate, Artie Lange, Andy Dick, and KKK member Daniel Carver; Comedy Central`s Roasts of Denis Leary, Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, William Shatner, and Flavor Flav; and A&E`s "Gene Simmons Roast" in April of 2008. She was also the Roastmaster for Larry the Cable Guy`s Comedy Central roast.

Lampanelli taped her stand-up special Dirty Girl in the fall of 2006, which aired on Comedy Central on January 28, 2007. Her Dirty Girl CD and Dirty Girl .. No Protection DVD were released by Warner Bros./Jack Records on January 30, 2007.

She was also featured in the movie Delta Farce starring Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall and D.J. Qualls, which was released early in 2007, and in Drillbit Taylor starring Owen Wilson.

Racial / ethnic humor is a large part of her comedy routine. Lampanelli explains:

“ I can get away with it because I`m a nice person, I have a warm personality, my intention is good behind it. The thing is, people sense when you have the least bit of anger or hate towards a group –– that`s why you never make fun of people you don`t like.. ”

She makes frequent references to her real-life relationships with black men.[10] In an interview with AskMen.com, she explained:

“ ...my problem is, I can`t get a good-looking white guy anymore, I just don`t have the looks to get that. I can get hot blacks, but also blacks are now starting to get uppity and go for the skinny white ones and the Asians, which is very offensive to me that they don`t stick with their roots — the chubby white girl! ”

On November 21, 2008, in Santa Rosa, CA, Lampanelli taped her first one-hour HBO Special at The Wells Fargo Center for the Arts. The special

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