Lisa Lampanelli: Long Live The Queen

I'll be honest with you. Watching comedienne Lisa Lampanelli's first HBO special Long Live The Queen is the first time I've seen her comedy act.

I knew from her reputation that she is the self-proclaimed "Queen of Mean," and that she uses every swear word and politically incorrect word to describe every imaginable race. While there's a debate as to whether she's racist or not (she claims not), her comedy is also not clever, inspired, or funny, which made this special a chore to sit through.

Described in the HBO press release as a cross between Don Rickles, Archie Bunker, and a vial of estrogen, Lampanelli spends the hour-long concert (shot before a live audience in Santa Rosa, CA) skewering everybody under the sun, including deafs, who, she says, are, in reality, just retards looking for an upgrade. She says during the show that this is not a joke, but a fact. Now, if you find that joke hilarious, then Lampanelli and "Long Live the Queen" may be for you.

Dressed in a baby doll dress during the show, Lampanelli and her comedy relies primarily on the shock of having her scream words such as "faggot," "gook," and the "N" word, as well as detail her sexual escapades with black men. However, once you take away the myriad of inappropriate terms she strings throughout her special, the jokes don't have much else going for them, such as being funny.

The audience, which clearly included every type of person she rants about during her show, seemed to love her comedy, and clearly didn't appear to be offended by anything she said. And, in truth, I wasn't offended either. I was never uncomfortable with what she said, since I knew to expect this brand of humor. But truthfully, I wasn't entertained, and I didn't laugh once during the entire hour.

So, while I cannot recommend "Long Live The Queen" due to the lack of humor in the jokes Lampanelli tells, if you're still curious, it began airing Saturday, January 31st at 10/9c on HBO with multiple re-airings during the month of February.