Lisa wanted to "depug" in her last name and changed the spelling to Lampanelli and soon replaced Don Rickles as America's most popular insult comic. Unlike Rickles, she has the reputation of often going to far, such jokes about Roger Ebert's cancer, Downs syndrome, and AIDS. She especially targets Latinos, African Americans, and gays, although her insults have a subtext of affection. Lisa once remarked, "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." As example of her true feelings, when members of the Westboro Baptist Church protested a show she held on 20 May 2011 in Topeka, Kansas, she promised to donate $1000 to Gay Men's Health Crisis for every protester that attended. After an initial count of 44 protesters she rounded the donation to an even $50,000, crediting the donation as being "made possible by the WBC."

Lisa is also outspoken on race relations. In a February 19 2007 interview on Dead Frog.com, Lisa stated "My friend who’s a black comic thinks that there will never be a black/white couple on TV as the main characters because the Jews in Hollywood are threatened by the black man’s big dick. I like to think he’s right.."

She makes frequent references to her real-life relationships with black men.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."

Lisa started out as a journalist but switched to comedy after a few years She got her break at the 2002 New York Friars' Club roast of Chevy Chase and went on to skewer such targets as Pamela Anderson, Flavor Flav, William Shatner, David Hasselhoff, and Donald Trump. Lisa returned to her journalistic roots to author a memoir, Chocolate, Please: My Adventures in Food, Fat, and Freaks (2009).which received great reviews, one of which by Publishers Weekly stated:

"After more than 30 pages on her search for the “perfect black man,” Lampanelli moves on to outline her standup career, from handling hecklers to doing the The Tonight Show... Seeking the roots of her humor, she recalls her childhood as an “attention whore”: “Eating to get attention is a behavior that I continued into my high school days.” She follows her memories of “fat rehab” with a variety of topics, from the Virgin Mary to vegans. Much is quite funny, and Lampanelli never pulls her punches. Despite her raw language and raucous writing, honest reflections and stark self-insights emerge as she probes her past."

So to celebrate Lisa's birthday, we suggest renting the video The Aristocrats (2005), a documentary film about the famous dirty joke of the same name, in which she appears and enjoying what we would classify as her just dessert - the perfect Black Cake,

Black Cake

Ingredients

2 cups buttermilk 2 tsp baking soda 2 cups white sugar 4 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp ground nutmeg	1 tsp ground cloves 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 cup butter 1 cup fresh blackberries
Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 º F 2. Grease and flour three 8 inch round cake layer pans. 3. Dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk. 4. Combine the sugar, 3 1/2 cups of the flour, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, ground cinnamon and the butter. Stir in the buttermilk mixture. 5. Toss the blackberries and raisins with the remaining 1/2 cup of flour to coat. Mix in the blackberries and the raisins into the batter and stir until evenly distributed. Pour batter into the prepared pans. 6. Bake at 350 º F for 25 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center of the cakes comes out clean. Serves 10-12

© 2011 Gordon Nary and Tyler Stokes

July 19 Lisa Lampugnale's Birthday

Lisa wanted to "depug" in her last name and changed the spelling to Lampanelli and soon replaced Don Rickles as America's most popular insult comic. Unlike Rickles, she has the reputation of often going to far, such jokes about Roger Ebert's cancer, Downs syndrome, and AIDS. She especially targets Latinos, African Americans, and gays, although her insults have a subtext of affection. Lisa once remarked, "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." As example of her true feelings, when members of the Westboro Baptist Church protested a show she held on 20 May 2011 in Topeka, Kansas, she promised to donate $1000 to Gay Men's Health Crisis for every protester that attended. After an initial count of 44 protesters she rounded the donation to an even $50,000, crediting the donation as being "made possible by the WBC." Lisa is also outspoken on race relations. In a February 19 2007 interview on Dead Frog.com, Lisa stated "My friend who’s a black comic thinks that there will never be a black/white couple on TV as the main characters because the Jews in Hollywood are threatened by the black man’s big dick. I like to think he’s right.." She makes frequent references to her real-life relationships with black men.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." Lisa started out as a journalist but switched to comedy after a few years She got her break at the 2002 New York Friars' Club roast of Chevy Chase and went on to skewer such targets as Pamela Anderson, Flavor Flav, William Shatner, David Hasselhoff, and Donald Trump. Lisa returned to her journalistic roots to author a memoir, Chocolate, Please: My Adventures in Food, Fat, and Freaks (2009).which received great reviews, one of which by Publishers Weekly stated: "After more than 30 pages on her search for the “perfect black man,” Lampanelli moves on to outline her standup career, from handling hecklers to doing the The Tonight Show... Seeking the roots of her humor, she recalls her childhood as an “attention whore”: “Eating to get attention is a behavior that I continued into my high school days.” She follows her memories of “fat rehab” with a variety of topics, from the Virgin Mary to vegans. Much is quite funny, and Lampanelli never pulls her punches. Despite her raw language and raucous writing, honest reflections and stark self-insights emerge as she probes her past." So to celebrate Lisa's birthday, we suggest renting the video The Aristocrats (2005), a documentary film about the famous dirty joke of the same name, in which she appears and enjoying what we would classify as her just dessert - the perfect Black Cake, Black Cake