Chelsea Handler
(4 of 7)
According to Handler, the key is that the persona is real. "I'm not pretending to be a character," she says of her act. "If I did, then people would smell it a mile away. You have to be whatever your authenticity is. You have to make that front and center so that everybody gets it. The people who are going to be turned off, they are long gone. The people who are drawn to me, well, they're loyal. It's like when people ask me, 'How do you date men after they've read your books?' and I'm like, 'Anyone who's read my books and still wants to date me, that's a keeper.'"
Handler is the last to board her private jet from Los Angeles to Portland, Ore., where she will be headlining the Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me show at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on a late summer evening. "I want you to know," she tells me as she takes a rear-facing seat next to Heather McDonald, a comic who will be opening for her that night, "I usually roll bigger--G-IV, G-V. This is a short flight, so only a Hawker."
No other female comedian rolls even this big. Since the success of her first book, she has toured in support of each subsequent volume, signing books before and after her set. She is unique among comedians in that she not only sells out 10,000-seat houses; she also has products to hawk: every ticket buyer becomes a multiple-books buyer. "I can't think of a comedian who came this far this quickly," says Geof Wills, president of Live Nation Comedy, which handles her stand-up tours. "Maybe Dave Chappelle. But this has been very steep."
The 2010 tour was an 80-show monster that Handler admits left her an emotional wreck. The latest tour, just 26 dates and most of them on weekends, has been more manageable; also, it is structured so that Handler does just 45 minutes and is one of four comics. But she is clearly the one everyone is coming to see. Her audience remains largely women and gay men but with more and more ostensibly reluctant boyfriends turning up.
"She brought a whole new audience to stand-up--women 18 to 34," says McDonald. "She's the first successful female host on late night. More than 50% of the writers on her shows are female. That doesn't happen on any other show."
"I'm not trying to be a trailblazer with women on my show," Handler says. "To intentionally do anything is a put-off. If I were intentionally so ambitious or if I were always pushing some agenda, then I wouldn't be here. But I am for equality. I make fun of everyone the same."
When the plane touches down in Portland, a pair of black Escalades are waiting on the tarmac to take Handler to that night's venue. She sits behind the driver and, as we are driving over the Willamette River, asks, "What is Portland famous for?"
"Weed," someone says.
"It's beautiful, though."