Handler talks to Shondaland about what it took to get back on the stand-up stage.
Chelsea Handler appears on our Zoom interview exuding genuine warmth and a smile — despite a nasty bout of laryngitis. Even so, her distinctive brand of insightful humor remains completely intact as we discuss her creative process and her new Netflix comedy special Revolution, a show filmed from her “Vaccinated and Horny” stand-up tour at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Revolution comes on the heels of her critically acclaimed 2020 HBO Max comedy special Evolution, a Grammy nominee for Best Comedy Album. When we chat, she’s just two dates shy of completing all 115 shows of her “Vaccinated and Horny” stand-up tour across America, and it’s easy to understand how projecting her thoughts across theaters every week for so long could be an occupational hazard. “I’m reassessing my entire life as we speak,” she smiles.
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Handler is, of course, a comedian who has mastered the art of being herself to great success. She’s a seasoned TV host — the lone female late-night talk show host, in fact, when Chelsea Lately aired on E! between 2007 and 2014 — an iHeartRadio advice-giving podcast host on Dear Chelsea, a best-selling author of six New York Times bestsellers (five of which rose to No. 1), a feminist, and an advocate. After Lately went off the air, Handler struck a deal with Netflix and introduced Chelsea Does, a documentary series with a more serious tone that allowed her to dig deep into topics like racism and marriage. A Netflix talk show, Chelsea, followed for a couple of seasons; then, according to Deadline, Handler struck a first-look deal with Universal for scripted and unscripted programming. As we speak, her 2019 memoir, Life Will Be the Death of Me, is being adapted for television for Peacock with Handler set to both executive produce and star.
During our candid chat, Handler shares the journey that inspired Revolution, digs into her creative process, and explains what happens when she finds herself in unlikely places, like George W. Bush’s Maine compound.
VIVIAN MANNING-SCHAFFEL: I’ve followed your career since The Chelsea Handler Show in 2006 and ever since then thought you were right on.
CHELSEA HANDLER: Thank you!
VMS: When looking back at your early days in comedy, what do you wish you knew then that you know now?
CH: Just to be less of a bitch; that’s pretty much the biggest takeaway. When you’re young, and you’re defensive, and you’re so competitive, I wish I had a little bit more of a relaxed attitude and just trusted that things were going to work out the way that they were going to work out. I guess the way that I am now, but without that, there wouldn’t have been the same growth. So, I guess it was a good learning curve, but I just wish I had been more relaxed about everything.
VMS: Revolution hits Netflix on December 27. At this stage in your life, what surprises you the most about the trajectory and evolution of your career?
CH: I’m just grateful to be able to perform live in front of so many people — to have so many opportunities still, after all this time being in this career. To be respected the way that I’m respected makes me really feel good. I respect myself, and that makes me feel good. I’ve had a big arc in front of everybody, and I’ve been pretty open about whatever I'm going through, whether it’s sleeping around with guys, drinking or smoking weed, or going to therapy. I’ve always put it all out there, and the reason I have the fans that I do is because of that. So, I don’t ever have to pretend. I can always be myself, and there are always people there for me, and that makes me feel really good.
VMS: What’s your writing process like? Notes app as you think of things? How does it work for you?
CH: With stand-up and my books, they are kind of interwoven. So, I go through my books and figure out which stories are going to be great for the stage, and then vice versa. Like, I’m working on a new book now, and some of the stuff from Revolution, I’m putting in that book. It’s always kind of like, because they’re all my stories, what theme am I telling? Revolution is about a revolution in my life: coming out of Covid, giving up on men, then falling head over heels in front of everyone and deciding that I’m not going to shut down again. I’m going to remain open. My mind and heart remain open. So, it’s kind of like a love story in a sense, from my own personal experience. Wait, what was the question again?
VMS: We were talking about your writing process.
CH: Writing is everything. I wake up in the middle of the night and write stuff in my Notes section. I get on planes and write tons of material, or I go back and forth. … I’m always cross-referencing old books with what I’m writing now to make sure I’m not repeating stuff and kind of utilizing everything.
VMS: Are you always working, or do you take time off to just live?
CH: No, I read a lot of books, and that’s my downtime.
VMS: What’s the best thing you read last week?
CH: I’m reading The Great Alone, which is awesome. That’s a great book.
VMS: Obviously, you’re a super-straight shooter. On your podcast Dear Chelsea, you give really great advice to people who write in. Were you always the person whom people always went to for advice?
CH: I mean, whether they came to me or not, I was willing to give it, solicited or unsolicited. That’s kind of been my thing. I have to share my opinions immediately. So, yeah, I wanted to do it in a more formal way. When they asked me to do a podcast, I didn’t want to just do a podcast for a vanity project; I wanted to do something that’s different. I really thought about how much I gained from my own therapy experience and everything I learned, and absorbed, and read — I’m a great student now that I’m not in school. I’m interested! I soaked it all up and wanted to kind of share it with everybody. The podcast is a huge opportunity to help so many people, and people take it so seriously! They call back with updates, and their whole lives have changed.
VMS: That’s a great feeling — they listened to you! You nurtured the careers of so many comics on Chelsea Lately. Who gave you those opportunities when you were coming up?
CH: I don’t know that I had any nurturers — I wouldn’t say that. But I had some influences. I think the first couple of times I was on the road, I went on the road with Dave Attell and Zach Galifianakis. I was so broke, I slept in bed with Zach Galifianakis at the Commodore Hotel — he told me I could sleep in his bed. And every night before we’d go to sleep, he’d whisper in my ear, “I will never rape you.”
VMS: Well, if that isn’t a lullaby, I don’t know what is!
CH: Yeah, those were the biggest imprints on me comedy-wise in the beginning. I lucked out. I didn’t deal with too many a--holes.
VMS: It’s been so cool to see your voice evolve over the years. In early books, like My Horizontal Life, you were sneaking out of an apartment building or whatever, and now you’re getting into adventures in Whistler. Your view is always the same, but obviously it’s evolved, and the settings are different.
CH: I mean, I attract a lot of drama. I’m always looking for an adventure, and there’s always one very close by, and I’m drawn to that. My brothers and sisters and I were in Maine a couple of years ago for Covid when it started. Before we knew it, we were at the Bush compound in Kennebunkport playing pickleball. I was like, “I can’t be at the Bush compound. I can’t hang out with George Bush. I can’t do this!” And I’m friends with his daughter Barbara, who was inviting us over to play pickleball. We go over there, and I’m like, “Listen, Barbara. I can’t be there if your father’s there. I can’t control myself and my outbursts. I don’t know that I’ll be able to respect him in his own house, and I don’t want to behave that way.” We get there, and of course, he’s there. He comes right up to me. He’s hanging out with me for, like, 20 minutes, and my brother and sister are like, “Only with you does stuff like this happen.” And I’m like, “I know.” Wherever we go, there’s some just huge, ridiculous scenario you would never be able to dream up.
I’ve always put it all out there, and the reason I have the fans that I do is because of that. So, I don’t ever have to pretend.
VMS: I’d love to have been a fly on the wall for that situation.
CH: He took me into his house and showed me all of his artwork. I was so stoned inside his house in Kennebunkport that I kept my sunglasses on. I had no idea how to comment on his paintings, so all I could say is “The paint is so thick.”
VMS: They’re actually not bad! He has some talent there. It’s surprising that someone who could do all that he did could also have some sensitivity in that way.
CH: We left there, and my brother and sister are like, “We liked him,” and I go, “That’s why we can’t hang out with Republicans!”
VMS: When you were a kid, what did you want to do when you grew up?
CH: I wanted to be heard.
VMS: You pulled it off! You recently covered for Jimmy Kimmel and will be taking over for Trevor Noah on The Daily Show for a little bit. Think you’re ready to take over late night again? Because I need you to.
CH: Yes! Definitely. We have to get loud about it. I’m coming!
VMS: What advice would you give to aspiring comics and humor writers out there?
CH: Don’t be afraid of failure. Every time you fail, you’re getting closer to getting really good at something. Failure is part of the process. So, do not ever run away from failure. Run towards it.