E!'s Chelsea Handler is a real-life celebrity

The E! celebrity admits she knows very little about Youngstown, but can’t wait to bring her tour here.

By JOHN BENSON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

Comedian/actress/talk show host Chelsea Handler admits she doesn’t know much about Northeast Ohio in general and the Youngstown area in particular.

In fact, while she knows of Bruce Springsteen, she hasn’t heard his song “Youngstown.”

If such an acknowledgement seems odd considering Handler comes to Warren for a stand-up gig Saturday at Packard Music Hall, shooting from the hip with impunity is her forte. In fact, it’s just such honesty that has made her new E! show “Chelsea Lately” a hit.

After “Chelsea Lately” debuted this past summer, the cable network recently picked up the half-hour long entertainment talk show, which can be seen weekday nights at 11:30.

Show imitates life

“It’s all me,” said Handler, calling from her Los Angeles home. “We have a roundtable where we discuss all of the things that happennterview and a fill piece where I do something funny. Like recently I took a CPR class because I’m dating older men now and I want to be prepared.”

Since this summer, the show has featured guests ranging from paparazzi celebrities Perez Hilton and Kim Kardashian to rock and rollers Bret Michaels, Dave Navarro, Nikki Sixx and more.

“We just don’t take anyone,” Handler said. “I don’t want to hear somebody promoting their movie. I don’t want to hear Nicole Kidman on why she doesn’t want to talk about Scientology. I want somebody on who is going to talk about Scientology, and why it’s creepy and what’s wrong with it. I want people to dish, and also I want people who have a sense of humor about themselves. A lot of these celebrities are so annoying.”

 She added, “I don’t really want to be kissing celebrities’ [butts]. I think that’s really lame. So you want to have a conversation with them, and if someone is creepy, you want to tell them they’re creepy.”

More importantly, you better believe Handler is just the person to tell someone they’re annoying, creepy or both. It’s such in-your-face candor that led this New Jersey native to switch career pursuits from acting to stand-up comedy. 

“I was just really suck-y at everything else I was trying to do,” Handler said. “People were like, ‘Oh, you should do stand-up, you’re loud.’ I’m like ‘OK,’ and then I just did it once, and it was a total fluke. I had 15 margaritas, went on stage and it was a total blast.”

Valley bound

A decade later, Handler, who has switched to vodka, has become a regular on the stand-up circuit. Her autobiographical material spans the gamut of topics, including the fact she’s crossed the big 3-0 threshold and has yet to walk down the aisle.

“I talk about my friends who are getting married, and how annoying they are when they register for their own gifts,” Handler said. “You log on to their registry list and the cheapest thing is a $750 pillow sham. So you have to go in on a pillow sham with a friend like an [expletive]. And then send them a letter saying, ‘Hope you get the other one. It’s kind of been a rough month.’”

The success of “Chelsea Lately” has put a damper on her touring schedule. She’s even been forced to pull out of many dates due to her limited availability. Naturally, Handler’s long history with Youngstown is why she didn’t dare cancel this local gig. 

“You can spin it any way you want,” Handler laughed. “I’ve been dying to come ever since I heard that [Bruce Springsteen] song.”