October 4, 2025 • 10 mins
Pod Crashing episode 393 with actor comedian author and podcast host Lisa Lampanelli. Lisa Lampanelli is back. and she's got opinions. Comedy's former Queen of Mean may not be a licensed therapist, but that's never stopped her from dishing out advice. So, after years of roasting celebs (and herself), the retired insult comic has decided it's time for her to help you shrink your problems, roast your bad decisions, and help you get your actual s**t together.
Each week, Lisa and her unpaid sidekick comedian Nick Scopoletti read letters from real people with real issues-mental health, body image, friendship, family, and why you're still texting that loser. Every episode of "Shrink This!" is full of unfiltered wisdom, inappropriate jokes, a whole lotta heart, and ZERO B.S. Just when you thought counseling and straight talk had to be 100% serious, turns out it doesn't!
Each week, Lisa and her unpaid sidekick comedian Nick Scopoletti read letters from real people with real issues-mental health, body image, friendship, family, and why you're still texting that loser. Every episode of "Shrink This!" is full of unfiltered wisdom, inappropriate jokes, a whole lotta heart, and ZERO B.S. Just when you thought counseling and straight talk had to be 100% serious, turns out it doesn't!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, welcome back to the conversation. Let's do some podcrashing.
Episode number three ninety three is with actor, comedian, author,
and now podcaster Lisa Lepanelli.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good. How you doing, buddy.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Absolutely fantastic, And i'll tell you what. You've been playing
hell on my heart for the past week because I've
been waiting for this podcast. And then I love your title,
The Weight is Over, except it's the Weight.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yes, well that's the first episode which dropped today. The
name of the whole podcast is Shrink This, because I
think we all need our head shrunk, especially by someone
as knowledgeable as me. So it's called Shrink This and
it's on iHeart Podcasts. And hopefully this one about weight
is going to resonate with people, because I don't know, man,
(00:42):
sixty three years old, I'm still struggling with it, and
I know so many people who are.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Well, i'll tell you what. You had my wife's attention
right off the bat, because she is so fascinated with
that show My six hundred pound Body, and she watches
these people go through these surgeries. How did you deal
with the dieting afterwards?
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Oh my god god. Okay, so wow, I go into
all that on the podcast, You're gonna love it, okay.
So I unfortunately got a little underweight, but they say
to you, okay, you're going to gain the weight you're
supposed to and sort of stay there, hopefully for life.
But then the pandemic hit. So I ginked about ten
or twenty pounds and I said, oh, this is the
(01:22):
slippery slope for somebody like me. I love food. I
love deflecting with food, comfort eating and by the way,
comfort eating is fun. It's why we call it comfort eating.
Excuse me. So yeah, I had to sort of reassess
where do I want to be? How am I going
to be happy? And we sort of explore that on
the first episode. So it's really interesting. It's always a balance.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Your show and the podcast itself is so interactive with people.
I mean, you and Nick are reading letters from people
who can write to you at shrink this show at
gmail dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yes, correct, and honestly they're pretty bright. So far, we
haven't gotten a lot of letters from people who don't
get it and get right to the point. So usually
I like it. They give me a little compliment first.
I always say, hey, you're more likely to be read
if you're telling me how beautiful I am. Okay, because
you know me, I'm a tasty piece. So once they
(02:16):
get my attention, then we get to give them some advice.
So I just love reaching out to people and seeing
that we're all just trying to work on ourselves as
much as we can.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
And you clearly state in the very beginning of the
show this is for entertainment, and yet while listening to
and experiencing it, Lisa, come on, there's some stuff here
that's very wise.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Oh yeah, I know. I got to be pretty dumb
to have gone through sixty three years of life and
forty years of therapy to not have picked up a
few things. But I think it's important people realize, like
I don't have a degree, I don't have a PhD,
but I got a PhD in life, and I also
have a PhD in telling people what they should do.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yeah, I turned sixty three in one week, and I
know what you mean by trying to get back to
that weight than when you know in your younger years.
And so I'm I've been down twenty seven pounds here,
it's just this year alone, and so I'm really trying
to get back to one sixty nine.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yeah, And you know what's funny, it's such a weird
struggle because we have such emotion around it. We feel,
you know, we step on a scale and we could
be up a pound and feel worthless the whole day.
Oh it's awful. So it's almost trying to take the
judgment of ourselves and of other people out of the
equation and just accept where we are, which is very tough.
(03:29):
Acceptance is always the answer to any problem, and it's
hard to get there.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
So what's your secret food? Mine is olives and sauerkraut
mixed with tomatoes.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Okay, that is ridiculous, and I have to expect you.
I mean, okay, I feel you. No anything chocolate. I've
always loved the chocolate and anything dessert full or sugary.
But I try to balance it, and you know what,
some days, what's great about it all is some days
I fail, and that's okay. The point is not to
(04:00):
beat ourselves up after and not to let ourselves off
the hook completely either. So it's that balance between oh
my god, I really screwed up and I hate myself versus, hey,
it's okay. You can kind of have a day where
you screwed up. Let's try to redirect the next day.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Speaking of balance, how is it that you and Nick
soon like you've been the best of friends for years
and decades?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Oh my god, we've been friends for five years. This guy.
I'm shocked. I'm friends with a straight guy who's half
my age. Honestly, it's almost like I feel like he's
a nephew or something from her previous life. And it
does help that he's a comedian. His name's Nick Scopoletti.
He's super funny, naturally, he has that gift of just
like rolling with conversation and not trying to shoehorn funny
(04:44):
things in which I totally hate. So yeah, I think
it's a real blessing that I met this guy and
he was doing an open mic at a club. I
was just watching, and I was like, I like that guy.
And we see each other and a bunch of friends
every Tuesday and write together. So it was just a
natural fit.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Please do not move. There's more with Lisa Leampanelli coming
up next. Hey, we are back with comedian and now
podcaster Lisa Lempinelli. Don't you love the way that when
doing a podcast, the creative muscles that are required because
it's still a live stage. It's still that performance, and
you've got to bring it to that microphone.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yeah, because I'm not a fan of the whole Oh wait,
let's cut that out or oh me, Nope, I want
it to be just their unfiltered raw and it's fine. Yeah,
I think it is. It is pretty much like a stage,
but with the luxury of not having to ugh, sit
in front of a bunch of people and you know,
put on hair and makeup and figure it out.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
As you get into podcasting, are you going to become
addicted to the analytics and check out those numbers?
Speaker 2 (05:47):
No? That Wow, it's weird you mentioned that because I
just said to the producer, I said, I'm not going
to look at numbers. I'm not going to look at reviews.
I'm not looking at downloads. All I want is the
letters from the people. And we're going to do this
thing for as long as people enjoy it and as
long as the network wants to do it, and if
it's just fun for a year, then that's what it is.
I'm really lucky that I kind of just enjoy the
(06:10):
moment and then move on. So no, thank goodness, I'm
not going to look at the numbers, although probably Nick will,
but I'll tell them to shut up a bit.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
And once again for listeners, it shrink this show at
gmail dot com. Now you you bragged about how you
love AOL, but yet you've got a Gmail address here.
I sat there and I went, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait
a second, But that's how we are at sixty three.
We're very aware of everything.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Yes, it's so funny with the AOL. I just kept
mine because it's kind of nostalgic. And also, like everyone
has that email address of mine? How am I going
to tell people I haven't talked to in forty years
to change? So I'm like, okay. But with the show,
they made me be modern and so we gmailed it. Whatever.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
How did you deal with the art of roasting yourself?
Because I thought that was very interesting because we do
roast ourselves and sometimes you know, the receiving side of
that is going and well, what did I do wrong?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Well? I think the thing is if you have if
you want to make fun of everybody, it has to
include yourself. So pretty horribly self absorbed to be like, well,
here's all the stuff that's wrong with them. But I'm perfect,
so I was very comfortable with people making fun of me.
I think some of the best jokes on the ros
were about me. I still laugh when I see them.
(07:24):
I'm like, wow, that's pretty cool. To be able to
laugh at yourself is a big gift and it's hard though,
but then once you get past the hump, it's all right.
You're getting included. And isn't that what counts.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
One of the things that you've nailed with Nick is
the fact that the commercial timing, because I mean, it's
just enough time for you to take a break, for
us to take a break. We go to a couple
of commercials, we come back to the show, and we're
all refreshed again. So now who's in control of Are
you sitting there in front of a walk clock?
Speaker 2 (07:51):
No, We, thank goodness, have a producer who will give
us a little signal which I'll usually ignore and then
just to give it bigger. Because I remember doing shows.
I was never one of those comics who do like
three hours of material, but I'd go over you know,
I'd do like two hours and seven hour and a half.
So she's learning to become more firm with us, even
though she's gen Z and I'm elderly.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
So now what what is that like for you?
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Then?
Speaker 1 (08:14):
I mean, because in reality, are you not relinquishing a
lot of control to other people and you have to
trust them as well?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Oh my god, you wouldn't believe how untrusting I am.
I am. You know, they send me the video, they
send me the audio, I'm like approved, you know, they
send me the social media clips. I just like want
to see what's going out. I don't ever want to
be the person who is surprised by something online. So yeah,
I'm a bit of a control freak, but I have
(08:42):
to give up all the engineering stuff to them because
they know what they're doing.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I like the way that the show is described putting
yourself on a podcast that tolerate that does not tolerate BS.
I mean, you're we're just going and we're going to
talk about it. We're going to hit that subject hard.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah. I mean some people write in and they're they
want the truth, you know, if you can read between
the lines and see what people are really saying. Because
trust me, I'm used to dealing with delusional people and
have been delusional about issues in my life. And I'm like, ooh,
I see what I did there. Oh, I see what
they're trying to do. Let's just try to get cut
to the real manner and get going. So I really
(09:19):
enjoy kind of doing that with the letters.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
You know, this podcast it's got to lead to a book,
because everything that you're doing in this podcast belongs on
a page where people can sit there and hold onto
that book cover.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Oh my god, if someone will just transcribe it and
put it out there, do it. But I wrote one book.
I will never write a book again. It is the
hardest thing because it was all like dredging up the past. Dude.
Autobiographies are tough. So if someone wants to type this out,
go for it, sell it. Give me ten percent. I'm cool.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I got a secret for you your iHeartRadio app. It's
all transcribed right there on that app. I will sit
there and read it and then I go, okay, now
let's go listen to her voice. I want to hear
her pitch, volume and tone.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Oh my god, I love that. See I gotta go
to that app. I've been hearing all good things, so
I trust you.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
It's quite the journey, and I can't thank you enough
for being that person that's sitting in the front seat
of my car with me.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Oh my god, you're the best. Thank you so much. Man,
you're a real sport. I like it.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Please come back to this show anytime in the future.
The door is always going to be open for you.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Oh, thank you, my friend.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Will you'd be brilliant today.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Okay, Lisa, okay, God bless take care.
Hey, welcome back to the conversation. Let's do some podcrashing.
Episode number three ninety three is with actor, comedian, author,
and now podcaster Lisa Lepanelli.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good. How you doing, buddy.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Absolutely fantastic, And i'll tell you what. You've been playing
hell on my heart for the past week because I've
been waiting for this podcast. And then I love your title,
The Weight is Over, except it's the Weight.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yes, well that's the first episode which dropped today. The
name of the whole podcast is Shrink This, because I
think we all need our head shrunk, especially by someone
as knowledgeable as me. So it's called Shrink This and
it's on iHeart Podcasts. And hopefully this one about weight
is going to resonate with people, because I don't know, man,
(00:42):
sixty three years old, I'm still struggling with it, and
I know so many people who are.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Well, i'll tell you what. You had my wife's attention
right off the bat, because she is so fascinated with
that show My six hundred pound Body, and she watches
these people go through these surgeries. How did you deal
with the dieting afterwards?
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Oh my god god. Okay, so wow, I go into
all that on the podcast, You're gonna love it, okay.
So I unfortunately got a little underweight, but they say
to you, okay, you're going to gain the weight you're
supposed to and sort of stay there, hopefully for life.
But then the pandemic hit. So I ginked about ten
or twenty pounds and I said, oh, this is the
(01:22):
slippery slope for somebody like me. I love food. I
love deflecting with food, comfort eating and by the way,
comfort eating is fun. It's why we call it comfort eating.
Excuse me. So yeah, I had to sort of reassess
where do I want to be? How am I going
to be happy? And we sort of explore that on
the first episode. So it's really interesting. It's always a balance.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Your show and the podcast itself is so interactive with people.
I mean, you and Nick are reading letters from people
who can write to you at shrink this show at
gmail dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yes, correct, and honestly they're pretty bright. So far, we
haven't gotten a lot of letters from people who don't
get it and get right to the point. So usually
I like it. They give me a little compliment first.
I always say, hey, you're more likely to be read
if you're telling me how beautiful I am. Okay, because
you know me, I'm a tasty piece. So once they
(02:16):
get my attention, then we get to give them some advice.
So I just love reaching out to people and seeing
that we're all just trying to work on ourselves as
much as we can.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
And you clearly state in the very beginning of the
show this is for entertainment, and yet while listening to
and experiencing it, Lisa, come on, there's some stuff here
that's very wise.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Oh yeah, I know. I got to be pretty dumb
to have gone through sixty three years of life and
forty years of therapy to not have picked up a
few things. But I think it's important people realize, like
I don't have a degree, I don't have a PhD,
but I got a PhD in life, and I also
have a PhD in telling people what they should do.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yeah, I turned sixty three in one week, and I
know what you mean by trying to get back to
that weight than when you know in your younger years.
And so I'm I've been down twenty seven pounds here,
it's just this year alone, and so I'm really trying
to get back to one sixty nine.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yeah, And you know what's funny, it's such a weird
struggle because we have such emotion around it. We feel,
you know, we step on a scale and we could
be up a pound and feel worthless the whole day.
Oh it's awful. So it's almost trying to take the
judgment of ourselves and of other people out of the
equation and just accept where we are, which is very tough.
(03:29):
Acceptance is always the answer to any problem, and it's
hard to get there.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
So what's your secret food? Mine is olives and sauerkraut
mixed with tomatoes.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Okay, that is ridiculous, and I have to expect you.
I mean, okay, I feel you. No anything chocolate. I've
always loved the chocolate and anything dessert full or sugary.
But I try to balance it, and you know what,
some days, what's great about it all is some days
I fail, and that's okay. The point is not to
(04:00):
beat ourselves up after and not to let ourselves off
the hook completely either. So it's that balance between oh
my god, I really screwed up and I hate myself versus, hey,
it's okay. You can kind of have a day where
you screwed up. Let's try to redirect the next day.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Speaking of balance, how is it that you and Nick
soon like you've been the best of friends for years
and decades?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Oh my god, we've been friends for five years. This guy.
I'm shocked. I'm friends with a straight guy who's half
my age. Honestly, it's almost like I feel like he's
a nephew or something from her previous life. And it
does help that he's a comedian. His name's Nick Scopoletti.
He's super funny, naturally, he has that gift of just
like rolling with conversation and not trying to shoehorn funny
(04:44):
things in which I totally hate. So yeah, I think
it's a real blessing that I met this guy and
he was doing an open mic at a club. I
was just watching, and I was like, I like that guy.
And we see each other and a bunch of friends
every Tuesday and write together. So it was just a
natural fit.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Please do not move. There's more with Lisa Leampanelli coming
up next. Hey, we are back with comedian and now
podcaster Lisa Lempinelli. Don't you love the way that when
doing a podcast, the creative muscles that are required because
it's still a live stage. It's still that performance, and
you've got to bring it to that microphone.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yeah, because I'm not a fan of the whole Oh wait,
let's cut that out or oh me, Nope, I want
it to be just their unfiltered raw and it's fine. Yeah,
I think it is. It is pretty much like a stage,
but with the luxury of not having to ugh, sit
in front of a bunch of people and you know,
put on hair and makeup and figure it out.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
As you get into podcasting, are you going to become
addicted to the analytics and check out those numbers?
Speaker 2 (05:47):
No? That Wow, it's weird you mentioned that because I
just said to the producer, I said, I'm not going
to look at numbers. I'm not going to look at reviews.
I'm not looking at downloads. All I want is the
letters from the people. And we're going to do this
thing for as long as people enjoy it and as
long as the network wants to do it, and if
it's just fun for a year, then that's what it is.
I'm really lucky that I kind of just enjoy the
(06:10):
moment and then move on. So no, thank goodness, I'm
not going to look at the numbers, although probably Nick will,
but I'll tell them to shut up a bit.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
And once again for listeners, it shrink this show at
gmail dot com. Now you you bragged about how you
love AOL, but yet you've got a Gmail address here.
I sat there and I went, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait
a second, But that's how we are at sixty three.
We're very aware of everything.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Yes, it's so funny with the AOL. I just kept
mine because it's kind of nostalgic. And also, like everyone
has that email address of mine? How am I going
to tell people I haven't talked to in forty years
to change? So I'm like, okay. But with the show,
they made me be modern and so we gmailed it. Whatever.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
How did you deal with the art of roasting yourself?
Because I thought that was very interesting because we do
roast ourselves and sometimes you know, the receiving side of
that is going and well, what did I do wrong?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Well? I think the thing is if you have if
you want to make fun of everybody, it has to
include yourself. So pretty horribly self absorbed to be like, well,
here's all the stuff that's wrong with them. But I'm perfect,
so I was very comfortable with people making fun of me.
I think some of the best jokes on the ros
were about me. I still laugh when I see them.
(07:24):
I'm like, wow, that's pretty cool. To be able to
laugh at yourself is a big gift and it's hard though,
but then once you get past the hump, it's all right.
You're getting included. And isn't that what counts.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
One of the things that you've nailed with Nick is
the fact that the commercial timing, because I mean, it's
just enough time for you to take a break, for
us to take a break. We go to a couple
of commercials, we come back to the show, and we're
all refreshed again. So now who's in control of Are
you sitting there in front of a walk clock?
Speaker 2 (07:51):
No, We, thank goodness, have a producer who will give
us a little signal which I'll usually ignore and then
just to give it bigger. Because I remember doing shows.
I was never one of those comics who do like
three hours of material, but I'd go over you know,
I'd do like two hours and seven hour and a half.
So she's learning to become more firm with us, even
though she's gen Z and I'm elderly.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
So now what what is that like for you?
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Then?
Speaker 1 (08:14):
I mean, because in reality, are you not relinquishing a
lot of control to other people and you have to
trust them as well?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Oh my god, you wouldn't believe how untrusting I am.
I am. You know, they send me the video, they
send me the audio, I'm like approved, you know, they
send me the social media clips. I just like want
to see what's going out. I don't ever want to
be the person who is surprised by something online. So yeah,
I'm a bit of a control freak, but I have
(08:42):
to give up all the engineering stuff to them because
they know what they're doing.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I like the way that the show is described putting
yourself on a podcast that tolerate that does not tolerate BS.
I mean, you're we're just going and we're going to
talk about it. We're going to hit that subject hard.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah. I mean some people write in and they're they
want the truth, you know, if you can read between
the lines and see what people are really saying. Because
trust me, I'm used to dealing with delusional people and
have been delusional about issues in my life. And I'm like, ooh,
I see what I did there. Oh, I see what
they're trying to do. Let's just try to get cut
to the real manner and get going. So I really
(09:19):
enjoy kind of doing that with the letters.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
You know, this podcast it's got to lead to a book,
because everything that you're doing in this podcast belongs on
a page where people can sit there and hold onto
that book cover.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Oh my god, if someone will just transcribe it and
put it out there, do it. But I wrote one book.
I will never write a book again. It is the
hardest thing because it was all like dredging up the past. Dude.
Autobiographies are tough. So if someone wants to type this out,
go for it, sell it. Give me ten percent. I'm cool.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I got a secret for you your iHeartRadio app. It's
all transcribed right there on that app. I will sit
there and read it and then I go, okay, now
let's go listen to her voice. I want to hear
her pitch, volume and tone.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Oh my god, I love that. See I gotta go
to that app. I've been hearing all good things, so
I trust you.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
It's quite the journey, and I can't thank you enough
for being that person that's sitting in the front seat
of my car with me.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Oh my god, you're the best. Thank you so much. Man,
you're a real sport. I like it.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Please come back to this show anytime in the future.
The door is always going to be open for you.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Oh, thank you, my friend.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Will you'd be brilliant today.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Okay, Lisa, okay, God bless take care.
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