Natasha Leggero can laugh at Paris Hilton snub

Today's fun Paris Hilton story is brought to you by comedian Natasha Leggero. She was in an acting class with Hilton years ago, before Hilton got famous with her sex tape.

And so, Leggero says being in acting class with Hilton was "hilariously bizarre."

"She came to class and brought this photo album of all these pictures of herself, and passed it around the room. Nobody asked her to do that," Leggero says.

Back then, Hilton invited Leggero to a birthday party in Vegas.

But what Leggero didn't know was that the party wasn't Hilton's personal celebration. It was just a Vegas nightclub promotion hosted by Hilton.

"I was so excited. I drove (from Los Angeles to Las Vegas) that night. I get to the front of the line in this club, and I'm like, 'I'm here for Paris' party!' And they're like, 'Get in line.'

"I'm like, 'No, no, I've been invited personally.' And they were like, 'Oh yeah, so was everybody else.' "

Leggero walked to the back of the "long, long" line to get into the club. She was even holding a present to give to Hilton.

"And I get into the club, finally, and it's packed. And Paris is sitting in a corner, sipping a cocktail with a bow in her hair, and a wall of men in Sean Jean (clothes) protecting her.

"And everyone's just trying to scream over the men - 'Paris! Paris, over here!'

"And she's just ignoring everybody. I got duped."

Leggero wondered what to do with that present she was holding for Hilton.

"I bought her a barrette, because she said she liked mine," Leggero says. "I didn't want to throw it over the men. So I just put it on and drove back to L.A., embarrassed."

And yet after all that, Leggero still enjoys Hilton's work.

"I have to say, I like her. I think she's entertaining. I really liked those shows she did. I loved 'My New BFF.' That was so funny to watch. And 'The Simple Life' was funny."

I would suggest that the public version of Hilton is accidentally funny, while Leggero is funny-funny, which is why she has been a regular on "Chelsea Lately."

Leggero also has a 2011 hit comedy album called "Coke Money." One of my favorite jokes:

"My friends who have babies can't do anything. You can't go out at night. Having a baby is like a DUI from the universe."

Leggero's baby aversion seems to be real. She tells me:

"I have friends who say, 'You just can't understand what it's like to be a mother until you're a mother.'

"I'm like, 'I don't need to know what it's like to be homeless to know that I prefer plates.' "

Also on "Coke Money," her delivery is killer on jokes about tourists in Vegas. There's one about how "bros" at hotel pools brag they had sex with a prostitute:

"OK, bragging that you had sex from a prostitute is like bragging that you got some Doritos from a vending machine."

Leggero tells me she wrote her Vegas material the last time she was here, two years ago.

"I'm excited to come back, get some more material, and see if the girls are going to wear pants.

"The last time I was there, I felt like no girls were wearing any pants. It was like shirts and their vaginas. Is that why you live there?"

Then again, she has noticed TV newscasters wear the same high heels and super short skirts that women wear here to clubs.

"I was watching Fox News, and everyone just looks like they're going clubbing now," she says. "If you need a giant pair of boobs to get you into the news, then maybe the news isn't for you."

By the way, the weirdest thing about Leggero is, if you type her name into Google, the very first autofill response from Google is "feet," because foot fetishists have accumulated many photos of her feet.

When I inform Leggero about this, she is both surprised and horrified.

"That's scary," she says. "Guys should not be allowed to use the Internet all day long. So sad. Well, thanks for telling me that great news."

Doug Elfman's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Email him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.