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Denis Leary has Big Ben in his sights
By JOHN BENSON
For the second consecutive year, actor-comedian Denis Leary has scheduled a Rescue Me Comedy Tour to support the new season of his FX cable series. However, you can’t help but feel the tour is just an excuse for this wisecracking Boston native to get together with his friends and have some fun.
The Rescue Me Comedy Tour 2 comes to Cleveland on Tuesday at PlayhouseSquare’s State Theatre. Headlined by Leary, who hasn’t toured the nation as a stand-up for a decade, the evening features “Rescue Me” regulars and veteran comedians Lenny Clarke and Adam Ferrara, as well as musical guests The Enablers with the Rehab Horns. There’s also a six-minute sneak peak at “Rescue Me” season 6, which debuts June 29.
The Vindicator recently took part in a telephone conference call with Leary, who hinted about the end of “Rescue Me,” what type of material he has planned for the comedy tour and his memories of Northeast Ohio.
Q. Considering you haven’t toured as a stand-up comedian in a while, what sort of other material are you preparing for the show?
A. I get out there and I have a piece of paper in my pocket or in my hand before I jump on stage. Generally speaking, it has about five ideas on it. Those ideas feed into my brain, and I kind of perform on my feet. Last year, I used very large plasma screens in the hall and on either side of the stage where I could display pictures and newspaper articles that sparked ideas for me. I’ll probably do the same thing this year. One of the things, obviously, we’ll be talking about is the Catholic Church and Ben Roethlisberger. Just the idea of talking about Ben Roethlisberger, athletes who are criminally involved in illegal pursuits, that alone could probably give me 10 minutes of material. I think we can safely say whatever night you come, you’re going to be entertained.
Q. Looking ahead to “Rescue Me” ending in 2011, do you know how the series will finish?
A. We just finished writing it. Not that we were out to please the audience, but we wanted to do something that was organic and, obviously, fit the characters, and fit the tone of the show, which is a group of firefighters who deal with life and death all the time. The show has obviously dealt with the question of mortality over and over again. So it will deal with the mortality of the characters, and it will deal with it, hopefully, in the traditional “Rescue Me” way, which is with some biting drama and some really, really funny comedy.
Q. Can you reveal any of the rejected endings?
A. One was a diner with all the firefighters sitting around listening to a Journey song, and then just cut to black. But, apparently, they did that at the end of “The Sopranos,” so we can’t do that. Then it was going to be a group hug la “Mary Tyler Moore,” which was going to be kind of an homage. But some of the guys didn’t want to be involved in a group hug. So both those ideas went out the window. We have to deal with the fact that it’ll be almost 10 years to the day after 9/11 (when the final show airs). That reflects really heavily on the characters and what their futures might be, individually and collectively.
Q. As far as stand-up, it’s a long time since you were in the clubs, but any memories of coming through Cleveland, back in the day?
A. Yeah, the last time I was in Cleveland was in ’97, when I was doing the Lock and Load Tour for HBO. Jeff Garland was directing this show on the road and he was also my opening act at that time. We went into Cleveland. I think we might have done one night in Cleveland, but in my mind, I think it’s two nights, but we had a blast. I’ve got to tell you, man, Cleveland’s one of those places when that kid (Joakim Noah) on the Bulls starts saying, “Cleveland sucks.” I’m like, I guess you haven’t really been out in Cleveland, pal! I love Cleveland. We’re really looking forward to getting there.