,
Dascha Polanco,
Samira Wiley, DeLaria, and
Alysia Reiner from
Orange Is the New Black in 2015 DeLaria's stand-up career began in 1982 when she moved to
San Francisco and performed raunchy stand-up comedy in the
Mission District. Discussing her stand-up, Delaria says, "This is who I am, when I'm up there. This is it. I'm a big
butch dyke. That's who I am. And I'm a friendly one. I'm a big butch dyke with a smile on my face."
Ten Percent Revue was performed in
Boston, San Francisco,
Provincetown,
Philadelphia, and
Atlanta. Many shows were sold out. The show received very favorable reviews nationwide. DeLaria conceived, wrote, directed and starred in ''Girl Friday: We're Funny That Way'', a musical comedy, in 1989. The show won the 1989 Golden Gull for Best Comedy Group in Provincetown, Massachusetts. When DeLaria appeared on
The Arsenio Hall Show in 1993, she was the first openly gay comic to appear on a late-night talk show. While appearing on the show, DeLaria said, "Hello everybody, my name is Lea DeLaria, and it's great to be here, because it's the 1990s! It's hip to be queer! I'm a big dyke." DeLaria later said she had been told that she should not have used the term dyke on the air. Hall later defended her, saying, "If she wants to call herself a dyke, that's her business."
Entertainment Weekly said "a star is born with Lea DeLaria" of her "showstopping" performance as Hildy Esterhazy in the 1998 Broadway
revival of
On the Town. DeLaria subsequently played Eddie and Dr. Scott in the 2000 Broadway revival of
The Rocky Horror Show, and can be heard on the
cast recording. DeLaria appeared in a number of films, including
Edge of Seventeen and
The First Wives Club. DeLaria integrates musical performance into her stand-up comedy, focusing on traditional and modern
be-bop jazz. In 2001 she released a CD of jazz standards called
Play It Cool. This was followed by the album
Double Standards in 2003, and by
The Very Best of Lea DeLaria in 2008. In 2001, DeLaria was the voice of Helga Phugly on the short-lived animated sitcom
The Oblongs. In 1996 DeLaria played the part of a woman friend of Carol and Susan in the
Friends episode The One with the Lesbian Wedding. In 1999 DeLaria played the recurring role of
Madame Delphina on the
ABC soap opera
One Life to Live, returning in 2008 as both Delphina and
Professor Delbert Fina. She continued to portray Delphina on a recurring basis until 2011. In 2008, Warner Records released
The Live Smoke Sessions, DeLaria's first recording focused on "timeless pop standards" such as "Down With Love", "Night and Day", "Love Me or Leave Me" and "Come Rain or Come Shine." She noted, "I styled this CD on the old school live recordings ... It is my hope that this CD will take you back to 1948 and the Village Vanguard. So please let me invite you to mix a cocktail and enjoy a smoke while you sit back and soak up the swing." In November 2008, DeLaria completed a tour of Australia, playing
Sydney,
Melbourne,
Adelaide and
Brisbane. She also frequently collaborates with comedian
Maggie Cassella, most notably on an annual Christmas cabaret show in
Toronto which also sometimes tours to several other North American cities. In July 2010, her version of "
All That Jazz" was used on
So You Think You Can Dance. DeLaria performed in
Prometheus Bound at the
American Repertory Theater in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 2013, she has appeared in the
Netflix Original
Orange Is the New Black as the recurring character prison inmate
Carrie 'Big Boo' Black. In December 2014, DeLaria voiced EJ Randell, the lesbian mother of Jeff in the
Cartoon Network animated series
Clarence. On February 14, 2015, DeLaria received the
Equality Illinois Freedom Award for her work as "a cutting-edge performer who has used her talent to entertain and enlighten millions of Americans," said Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois. On receiving the award at the 2015 Equality Illinois Gala in Chicago, DeLaria said, "As an out performer for over 33 years who has made it her life's work to change peoples perception of butch, queer and LGBT, it is an honor for me to receive such recognition from my home state. I feel I'm doing Belleville proud. Go Maroons!". In 2021, DeLaria starred in
Wes Hurley's autobiographical dramedy
Potato Dreams of America earning rave reviews, praise from
John Waters and the Outstanding Supporting Performance Award from
Tallgrass Film Festival. In 2022, DeLaria returned to
Broadway in the comic play
POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive where she received positive acclaim from critics. == The U-Haul Joke ==