Are you there, Philly? It’s me, Chelsea!

posted by Kate // 4.21.10

Jersey-born Chelsea Handler gets her “Bang Bang’s” out at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia at one of the latest stops on her comedy tour and tries her first Philly Cheesesteak!

Classless, irreverent, inappropriate, crass, and borderline perverted, but most of all, hysterically funny, Chelsea Handler hit the stage at the Tower Theater this past weekend for not one, but TWO sold-out comedy shows! Not to mention a book signing earlier that afternoon at the Free Library Festival. “Philly loves Chelsea!” or at least that’s what was screamed out several times during the show on Saturday night and seemed to be proved by the never-ending lines at all of her events that day.“Her cheeky candor is one of the things that makes her unique: She’s a hot blonde with a filthy mouth.” says the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Chelsea Handler is on top of her game right now. Her late night talk show, Chelsea Lately, is consistently the highest-rated program on E! Yes…that’s the station that brings you half-naked Playboy-models-next-door and “Keeps You Up” with the wild Kardashian Clan. Yet, Chelsea is still bringing home the bacon! She also has three books on the NY Best Sellers List, My Horizontal Life, Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea and the brand spanking new # 1 hit, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang. Her books are collections of hysterical essays poking fun at her ridiculous life as well as her friends, family members and ex boyfriends.

The Chelsea Bang Bang Tour, sponsored by Belvedere Vodka stopped off in Philly Saturday night, so I along with two of my gal pals, Julie and Jenn, set out for a night with Chelsea. Arriving at the Tower Theater was a mess. The 8:00 show had run late and the 10:30 show was sold-out as well. MAJOR traffic Jammo (as CBS’s Bob Kelly would say)! I kept thinking I was grateful not be on my way to work at that very moment! After finding the enormous line outside the venue, we decided to make a beeline to the local bar just down the alley instead of waiting in the surprisingly cold weather.

“Do you know how to make an oatmeal cookie shot?” My friend Julie asked the weary looking bartender. We had just had dinner and were looking for a treat, as well as some vodka in honor of Miss Chelsea. We got a blank stare in return. “Ooook how about…” Julie rattles off a few names of different shots. “Nope.” Uh-oh. We’re not in Kansas anymore. “I didn’t know you could still smoke in bars?” I mentioned looking at the guy next to me about to light up. Technically, the Tower Theater is in Upper Darby, and not Philadelphia, and supposedly you can still smoke there. I’m reminded of why I don’t frequent suburban bars more often. Anyway, we decide to create our own dessert shot. Bailey’s Irish Crème and Raspberry Vodka. (If you’d like to order one, it’s called an Irish Raspberry now and I’ll be happily serving them when PhillyIn Guest Bartends at Public House this Friday night from 9-12).

We thank the bartender and are out the door as soon as we verified that the line was gone. Perfect timing! No line, but also no Belvedere Vodka drinks for us. Oh well, we took our seats as the show started an hour late!

Jo Koy, a regular on the Chelsea Lately roundtable opened for Chelsea and did not disappoint with his all-out humor.

Then the Jersey-born Chelsea sauntered on-stage carrying a bottle of water and a blue plastic cup of…something other than water… She did both old bits and new, covering everything from celebrities to bridezillas to her sidekick Chuy to well…farts. She also spoke candidly and hilariously about her recent breakup from longtime boyfriend/E! boss Ted Harbert including a prank she pulled on him involving some bed sheets and a piece of chocolate cake.

In this clip she describes his shock at finding out some personal info about Chuy!

So what did Chelsea think of Philly? Well, she was spotted dining (and tipping generously) at Smith & Wollensky on Rittenhouse Square, but on Monday on Chelsea Lately she touted the many glorious attributes of the Philadelphia Cheesesteak. “I never thought I’d order extra cheese wiz on a sandwich, but I did!” she laughed. She got a chance to try her 1^st cheesesteak at 3 am shortly after she finished signing books at her 2^nd show (which hadn’t ended till 1 am). She said she’d come back to Philly just to eat another one.