The comic, author, and late-night TV host has a fast and funny answer for every question.
By Eliza Edel
Catching up with Chelsea Handler, host of Chelsea Lately on E!, is no mean feat. But JL finally tracked her down—or up, as the case may be: She was 30,000 feet in the air, en route to Sundance. From that lofty perch, the high-flying comedian talked about the permutations of being a woman, being funny, and being Jewish.
JL: You grew up in a mixed home and were given the choice of religions. What made you pick Judaism?
CH: It was basically between Judaism and Mormonism. My parents told me I had to choose one. After hearing that Mormons don’t drink, have caffeine, or have sex before marriage, I opted for the dreidel.
JL: Do you think Jewish women are especially funny?
CH: I think it has more to do with being a minority in the grand landscape of life. If you’re gay, if you’re overweight, if you’re Jewish, you have to defend yourself. Until you move to Hollywood. Then you glide right in.
JL: Well, being a woman, has it been hard for you to break into the all-boys club of late-night talk shows?
CH: I think it’s actually easier to be a woman and get noticed. People love women to be funny. Look at Kathy Griffin, Sarah Silverman, Lisa Lampanelli. We’re all so different, and yet we are always being compared because we are all having success. I hope that group gets larger and larger.
JL: And you’ve found success as an author too—first with My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands and now with Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea. How do you convert your comedy style from the stage to the page?
CH: I write everything in the same way I would say it, and I hope it lands the same way. I pride myself on never delivering something in someone else’s voice, even though it may sound better.
JL: What’s left to accomplish? What do you hope to achieve in the next 10 years?
CH: I hope to be doing exactly what I am doing now, but on a real network, like Animal Planet.
