PITTSBURGH — Chelsea Handler will perform April 4 at the Benedum Center.

Tickets start at $39 available at TrustArts.org and the Box Office at Theater Square for the 7:30 p.m. benefit for the Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh, the region’s leading lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organization. Tickets also can be purchased by calling 412-456-6666.

“An Evening with Chelsea Handler” will be hosted by six-time Emmy winner Bruce Vilanch, who for quite a few years could be found on “Hollywood Squares” to the left of Whoopi Goldberg (“if that’s possible” according to his bio).

After a successful 10-year career in TV, Handler ended her most recent talk show, “Chelsea,” and last October announced she would pursue political activism.

She has authored five books that have made the New York Times Best Seller List, four of which reached number one. She also writes columns for Cosmopolitan and NOW, a UK celebrity magazine. She was the host of the 20th annual GLAAD Media Awards and received the “Ally for Equality Award” from the Human Rights Campaign, and was named a Grand Marshal of LA Pride.

The post Bruce Vilanch To Host Chelsea Handler At Pittsburgh’s Benedum Center April 4th first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Boy Culture interviewed legendary comedy writer Bruce Vilanch, who had his own opinions on the joke and the response to it:

BC: Bette Midler recently took it on the chin when she was perceived as mocking Caitlyn Jenner for being trans.

BV: Personally, I thought that was insane. She wasn’t making a joke about transgenders, she was making a joke about the monetizing of transgenderism, which is being done by Caitlyn Jenner.

BC: I guess the waters are muddied because people want to mock Caitlyn, and she’s so famous for being trans.

BV: Exactly. Anybody who would make that leap is out of their mind. It’s not a joke about transgenders, it’s a joke about this person who will do anything to remain in the public eye—and who is not our friend, by the way. She’s more to be pitied than censured. There’s no accounting for the taste of some. You find generally in communities like in the gay community that activists have no sense of humor. They areso sensitive about everything. And to jump on Bette Midler is kind of like, “Excuse me? Where’ve you been for the last 50 years?” Well, you know, probably in Trinidad, Colorado, deciding what you wanted to look like, I don’t know.

That alone would get me in jail. That remark. You know, you’re not allowed to say anything!

Bruce Vilanch

The post Is It Okay To Make Fun Of Caitlyn Jenner? first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Cincy Glbt
4th Annual Comedy Night – “Laughing OUT Loud” Starring Poppy Champlin and Bruce Vilanch
posted Feb 11, 2011 11:52 AM by Michael Chanak

“Laughing OUT Loud,” is Greater Cincinnatiâ€s 4th annual Comedy Night membership event & fundraiser. Below Zero Loungeâ€s second level will be transformed into a comedy club for the nightâ€s festivities featuring comedians Poppy Champlin and Bruce Vilanch. Saturday, March 12, 2011; 8 PM

Poppy Champlin walks on stage looking urban cool and begins rolling out the jokes, starting slow and sure and moving on to staccato and soon she is hitting on all cylinders, spitting out jokes, quips, songs, impressions, interactions, bird calls and with deep resources to draw from. All of Poppys’ shows can be described as spin art – “No two alike.” Poppy is crackerjack at the craft of improv. Poppy has performed at the famed Chicago Second City Improv, one of the quickest witted comedians working either coast today. She has a wild and roaming spontaneity, which makes each show actually; feel like one of a kind. Poppy’s experience with classic standup and improv, gives her a double-barreled flexibility that works particularly well with her subjects of choice. www.poppycockprod.com

Bruce Vilanch is one of the most sought-after jokesmiths in the entertainment industry, a recognizable face in his own right, thanks to the feature-length documentary “Get Bruce!” (1999) and his one-time stint as a regular on “Hollywood Squares” (1998 ), for which he also served as head writer. He has scripted most of the Academy Awards telecasts over the last decade, two of which won Emmys. He has written for The Tony’s, The Grammy’s, The Emmy’s, and just about every other award show on television screen. He has roasted celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor and President Clinton, as well as writing the touching Emmy-winning valedictory Bette Midler crooned as a send-off to Johnny Carson. www.wegotbruce.com

Tickets are available for purchase online at www.hrc.org/lol at several levels including a Celebrity Reception featuring Poppy & Bruce. Prices range from $45-$240.

The Human Rights Campaign is Americaâ€s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

The post “Laughing OUT Loud” Starring Poppy Champlin and Bruce Vilanch first appeared on We Got Bruce!.