Lisa Lampanelli (Cobb Energy May 30) has a sensitive side

If you saw her on "Celebrity Apprentice" in 2012, she offered TV viewers a broad spectrum of emotions: joy, triumph, disappointment, tears, anger and even grace. The insult comic has since gone through a divorce and gastric sleeve surgery that helped her lose 100 pounds.

She returns to Atlanta for her first show in more than two years at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre Saturday, more centered and happy to be a single woman at age 53. (Buy tickets here.)

Lampanelli avoids social media trolls. "I've been insulated the past few years," Lampanelli said in a recent phone interview. "I don't even bother getting annoyed or read anything on Twitter. I'd rather assume everybody loves me. I get my feelings hurt."

She acknowledges the irony given her reputation on stage. But she said in those instances, it's about context. People who attend her shows want to be roasted. And fellow comics messing with each other at a celebrity roast? It's mutual respect, she said. In those situations, if someone is calling her old and ugly, as long as it's funny, it's cool.

Lampanelli doesn't obsess over ticket sales for validation. "I'm not going to sweat it," she said. "If it's 200 people or 9,000 people, I'm going to do a good job." She gets more angry when she hears a friend's show didn't do well. For instance, she's a huge fan of Jim Norton, a cranky but blatantly honest comic. When she heard he had a small-ish crowd, "I got mad when I heard that." (See. She's a sensitive soul!)

She was a working comic hitting smaller comedy clubs when the Comedy Central roast of Pamela Anderson hit the airwaves in 2005. Her incredibly dirty but also incredibly funny jokes helped her graduate to larger venues. And she hopes to keep it that way. (I'd embed the video from the special but it's too explicit for the AJC so I'll just link it here.)

"I'd rather shoot myself than go back to comedy clubs," she said. "I told my manager if it gets to that point, I'd rather retire. I'd rather garden and go to book club and curse in front of old ladies."

Lampanelli said her weight loss has been great for her health, not so much for her fan base. People still get confused when they see her because she looks so much different from her days when she made fun of her own weight.

"I have to work extra hard, do more interviews," she said. Her appearance on "Celebrity Apprentice" didn't hurt. But she doesn't have a regular TV show to keep herself in the spotlight.

She has moved forward since her divorce last year, which she said was amicable. They had become more like roommates. "I was at a point I wanted to hang with my gay friends and girlfriends more," she said. "I married someone who wasn't right for me.  Thank God he was cool with it. I've met his new girlfriend. I love her. We had dinner at the Friar's club recently, sitting around laughing. Who would have ever thought this would be a family?"

As for her own single life, she said even in her 50s, she still isn't good with relationships but is open to one if the right person comes along. She said her family and friends provide her with all the comfort and love she needs for now. "We have game nights with my mom," Lampanelli said. "It's fun to be focused on others instead of me."

Lampanelli, for all her sex jokes, said she actually has been celibate for more than two years. "I've been going through menopause," she said. "My sex drive has plummeted. This is the perfect time for me not to be dating. I couldn't care less!"

She said she can't see herself using an online dating site in the future if she felt the need for a man. Rather, she sees herself meeting someone through more traditional means: mutual friends, a high-end matchmaker or at spirituality retreats she likes to attend.

She said her shows still involve plenty of insults but also includes more stories about her life, her divorce, her struggles with body image. "People know a little more about me," she said. 'They relate to me." She said she was an emotional eater from ages 18 to 50. She tried every diet and exercise plan in the book until she opted for surgery, which limits her appetite. "I no longer see food as my friend," she said. "I want to handle my emotions with emotions, not food."

Her next TV special will be on Epix, a relatively new pay cable network, on June 26. "They're really getting known for stand-up comedy," she said, noting fellow comics Jim Breuer, Sherri Shepherd and her friend Norton have also aired specials on the network. "They pay pretty well and they can handle my hardcore stuff," she said, without complaint or editing.

She, not surprisingly, loved Louis CK's monologue on "Saturday Night Live" earlier this month where he made pedophilia jokes that made some folks in the audience and on social media a wee bit uncomfortable. "Loved it!" she texted me in a follow-up conversation. "Love edge! I have pedophilia jokes in my act and would never apologize for them. People should know what to expect when they watch edgy comics."

And while she doesn't have deep ties to Atlanta, she did meet Tyler Perry years back at a Canyon Ranch resort. She told him she was a fan and what she did for a living. He said to give him a DVD so he might consider her for a TV show or movie. "I never heard back from him," she said. "The first black joke probably got him!"

IN CONCERT

Lisa Lampanelli

8 p.m. Saturday, May 30

$50-$60.75 after fees

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta

www.cobbenergy.centre.com