Lately, Chelsea’s Talkin’

What's the difference between Chelsea Handler and all those other talk show hosts who keep America up at night?

There's this: Jay and Dave and the boys have never smushed a Jonas brother's face into their cleavage.

OK, it wasn't really a Jonas brother, and the bosom-smush was just part of a skit on "Chelsea Lately," Handler's nightly talk show on E! But, for a growing corps of hard-core fans, Handler's smarts, wit and unpredictability have made her show appointment viewing, and on a network known for its more obsequious treatment of celebrity culture to boot.

On Saturday, Handler returns to Las Vegas -- she performed almost a year ago at The Comedy Festival at Caesars Palace -- for a show at The Pearl at the Palms.

"I just love to do stand-up. That's how I started," Handler said during a recent phone interview. "As long as someone will pay to see me, I'll be happy to come and perform for them."

Handler -- whose TV credits also include Oxygen's "Girls Behaving Badly" and correspondent work on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" -- has been hosting "Chelsea Lately" for just more than a year.

"I slip under the cable radar," she said. "It's been a lot of fun. We're not really in the big leagues like Leno and Letterman. We're on a much smaller network, so we have a lot of fun and get away with a lot more than I imagine you can on NBC or CBS."

Handler suspects viewers enjoy her nightly deconstruction of pop culture because hosts on the usual outlets for entertainment news -- morning news shows, late-night talk shows and the rest -- can't voice the "things everyone is thinking. They always have to be somewhat politically correct, because those people are probably going to end up on their show."

In contrast, Handler said, "we're not trying to get those kind of people on the show."

Handler, 33, imagines her opinions about celebrity doings are "pretty much consistent for people my age. My thinking is, like, women and men 18 to 34 years old pretty much think Paris Hilton is an idiot. No one says, 'No she's not.'

"I just try to be honest about what I think and what my opinion is, because that usually works out best. People know if you're being sincere, and can smell (insincerity) a mile away."

"It's a fun show, so most people know not to take it too seriously," Handler added. "And I think that's really the fun of it. It's just good to be laughing at stuff. Especially when we care so much about pop culture, it's good to make fun of it."

Have any potential guests backed off because of the barbs? "Oh sure," Handler replied, "but everyone starts to come around. They start to realize it's just such a silly show. We're not attacking anyone. We're just making fun of idiots, and we don't really want idiots on the show anyway."

Besides, any celeb who takes the time to watch would realize that not even Handler is safe from Handler's barbs.

"I think if you're going to make fun of other people, you have to start by making fun of yourself," Handler said. "Otherwise, you have no business making fun of other people."

Take the titles of Handler's best-selling books: "My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands" and, more recently, "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea."

The latter may be the best title for a memoir ever, but does anybody get the Judy Blume reference these days?

"Most girls my age, they read it and they get it," Handler said. "And gay guys."

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.