Culture
From Cleveland to Antarctica: Chelsea Handler ponders personal growth and joy for High & Mighty Tour
By: Ian Saint
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Chelsea Handler wasn’t fazed about speaking with Ohio public media while vacationing in Istanbul. As it turns out, the Buckeye State holds a special place in her journey.
“I’m always very happy to come back to Ohio,” Handler said. “When I decide to tour, we want to hit the places that I like, that have been good to me, and where fans have shown themselves to be supporters of the tenets I care about — like democracy. Ohio is one of those states.”
Handler is best known for her books — six are #1 New York Times Best Sellers, including 2025’s I’ll Have What She’s Having — and starring in TV shows on networks like NBC, Netflix, E!, Oxygen, and an upcoming sitcom on Hulu.
Stand-up is where her comedy career began, however, and this weekend, her High and Mighty Tour plays Cleveland’s State Theatre (1519 Euclid Ave.) Friday, Columbus’s Palace Theatre (34 W. Broad St.) Saturday, and Cincinnati’s Taft Theatre (317 E. 5th St.) Sunday.
Ahead of those shows, WOUB’s Ian Saint interviewed Handler. Below is a transcript of their conversation, edited for length and clarity.
You can listen to an edited audio version of the conversation, featured on Conversations From Studio B, by clicking “play” in the Soundcloud widget below.
IAN SAINT: Any special Ohio memories?
CHELSEA HANDLER: Cincinnati is very specific to my childhood because of WKRP in Cincinnati. Cleveland was my first headlining gig, ever: Hilarities, when I was 30. They usually hire you for five to six nights, but Hilarities hired me for eight because it fell around Valentine’s Day. I stayed in that mall, which is also a hotel…
HANDLER: Yeah. You come out of your room, and you’re in a mall; like, where’s room service? I only had 45 minutes of “A” material. I thought I could stretch (to an hour), reading newspaper clippings at the end, which is not the way to do comedy — you must close on a strong note.
On the third night, the manager said, “We’re moving the middle (act) to headliner, and you’ll be middle. You’re really funny, but you don’t have an hour.” I was humiliated. So, I have a very special kinship with Cleveland. Then, Columbus and Cincinnati have always been very cool cities to perform in.
How does High and Mighty compare to your 2023 Ohio shows? You’ve explored Antarctica, which must’ve been transformative.
HANDLER: Not only Antarctica, but I’ve also been to the Arctic Circle now. I was like, “I’ve got to go the other way, too.” I went to Finland for my birthday because I wanted to ski under the Northern Lights. They have real reindeer in Finland. I’m with a new lover. We met during my Vegas residency, then we met again in Antarctica — I don’t think lots of people can say that. For High and Mighty, I share all my travels, nonsense, and magnetic attraction to ridiculousness.
I take my job — to purvey joy, sunshine, and laughter — very seriously during these times. People need reprieve. As a performer, looking at the crowd and seeing people who don’t know each other laughing together brings ineffable purpose. In the first 10-15 years of my professional life, I didn’t understand the impact it had on me; I was more focused on the audience’s impact. Now, it’s reciprocal energy. I’ve become more purposeful in my craft (because) there’s a domino effect.
(Whether) You’re famous or not, if you make five people feel great that day, those five people will each make another five people feel great that day. We need to dial back to love and tenderness; those are the most important ingredients. We need to refocus on that — instead of skin color, sex, all these issues dividing us.
That reminds me of your 2017 Politicon event with Tomi Lahren, where you truly inspired me after a vitriolic election. Folks may have expected a fierce debate, but your softer approach seemed to disarm her. She even admitted she was on her parents’ insurance, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, which I’m not sure she would’ve shared on her show. What have you learned about bridging divides?
HANDLER: Thank you; that means a lot. I’ve learned that when my heart gets heavy and fast, I should take it down a notch. I’m an intelligent woman; I don’t need to yell to make a point. Take your time with everyone, and make your point in an elegant, fruitful, and well-informed way.
That requires a lot of learning, reading, and focusing — I can’t speak about issues I don’t know anything about, because then I have no artillery. I couldn’t speak to Tomi Lahren unless I understood where she was coming from. I didn’t want to have a “Gotcha!” moment because I don’t want to humiliate anyone. I wanted to have an awareness moment and get on the same page about humanity.
I’ve changed over the years; I’ve evolved, gone to therapy. I’ve understood my weaknesses and gained self-awareness. I’m a white woman from a middle-class New Jersey family; it took a long time for me to understand the privilege in that. When I did, I understood that my messaging had to be different. That’s impactful for how you move in the world.
My friends are like, “What are you doing in (Turkey, which borders Iran) right now”? I’m just having a good time. I want to be tolerant of things that aren’t natural to me or recognizable from my childhood. Hearing Muslim prayers five times a day is not natural to me, but guess what? It’s beautiful. I want to be somebody worthy of compassion, and to show up for others. Those are the most important things in my life right now. I want to inspire other people to feel the same way.
Your Dear Chelsea podcast episode with Australia’s Olympian snowboarder Scotty James is a recent example of connecting with someone very different.
HANDLER: Scotty James was so fun. I was like, “What am I going to talk to this straight snowboarder about?” Then guess what? He was a dream.
And your celebrity guests are always followed by features with everyday people. What sprang that?
HANDLER: Everyone was getting offers for podcasts. I was like, “I don’t want to do a podcast unless I can do something different. I can’t just interview celebrities; I did that for nine years, between my E! and Netflix shows. What else can we do?”
I’ve always given unsolicited advice — I’ve always been this big sister, even though I’m the youngest in my family. What if we gave solicited advice, like Dear Abby? What if people called for advice from an objective person who has nothing to do with their life? I wanted strangers and my fans to get a platform (and help them) make bold decisions. I want every person to be seen fully for who they are. I’m for the underdogs because I’ve been given so much.
Handler and Saint discussed other career milestones — like hosting MTV’s VMAs and the Dear Chelsea caller that changed her direction — that can be heard in the Conversations From Studio B episode featuring their conversation. Listen to that episode by clicking “play” in the Soundcloud widget above.
Find more information about all of Handler’s tour dates at this link.