the comic's comic

Denis Leary talks up second edition of The Rescue Me Comedy Tour with Adam Ferrara, Lenny Clarke

Denis Leary held court recently with reporters to talk up his upcoming Rescue Me Comedy Tour 2, the sequel, with his TV co-stars and longtime friends in Boston comedy -- Adam Ferrara and Lenny Clarke -- and his band, The Enablers. It kicks off May 22 at The Borgata in Atlantic City and continues through the end of June, wrapping up with two nights at Town Hall in New York City. In between, they'll hit D.C., San Diego, L.A., Vegas, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago and Cleveland.

Leary, Ferrara and Clarke also just uploaded a "podcast" to promote the tour, essentially an informal NSFW chat that turns into talk about kinky sex. And it's a three-camera shoot! Roll the clip:

Now, as for the tour itself, here's what Leary had to say last week: "Parts of it we do by bus because it’s really a lot of fun, and it’s much easier to travel, obviously, than having to go to the airport all the time. But, I think most people would be surprised. I’ve known Lenny for 30-something years and Adam for at least twelve now. So, it’s very funny and it’s non-stop, constant bickering because all we do is insult each other and make fun of each other. Now, Whitney Cummings, who’s a young female comedian, who did our benefit in Boston, the Comics Come Home Benefit that we do every year for the Neely Cancer Foundation up there, I’m desperately trying to get her to do a few dates on this tour, because I think she’s a fantastic comedian. I’m hoping that the presence of a woman will calm everybody down. So, we’ll see if she brings any better manners out of it, but it’s ugly. It’s really ugly."

Just For Laughs Chicago 2010: Ellen, Cedric The Entertainer, Denis Leary, Aziz Ansari, Russell Peters

For its second year in the Second City, Just For Laughs Chicago is bringing back Ellen DeGeneres for another TV variety show, recording a special with Cedric The Entertainer, and welcoming Aziz Ansari, Russell Peters, Denis Leary's "Rescue Me" tour, a Nasty Show hosted by Greg Giraldo with special guest Jim Norton, and a daytime sketch show for kids produced by Bob and Naomi Odenkirk.

There's much more to come for the Just For Laughs Chicago 2010 schedule, happening in various theaters and clubs around the city from June 15-19, 2010, including a third TV special to be announced later.

But here is the initial slate of headlining acts. Tickets for all shows go on sale March 29.

THE CHICAGO THEATRE
Ellen’s Somewhat Special – Wednesday, June 16, at 7:30 p.m. (Taped for TBS)

Cedric The Entertainer’s Urban Circus (working title) – Friday, June 18, at 8 p.m.
Featuring comedians, sketches, music and more. (Taped for TBS)

The Rescue Me Comedy Tour with Denis Leary – Saturday, June 19, at 8 p.m.
Featuring Lenny Clarke, Adam Ferrara and music with The Enablers and the Rehab Horns. Portion of the proceeds benefits the Leary Firefighters Foundation.

ROSEMONT THEATRE
Russell Peters - The Green Card Tour - Saturday, June 19, at 8 p.m.

THE VIC THEATRE
Aziz Ansari – The Dangerously Delicious Tour – Thursday, June 17, at 7 p.m.

The Nasty Show hosted by Greg Giraldo with special guest Jim Norton – Friday, June 18, at 7 and 9:30 p.m.

PARK WEST
Lucha VaVOOM – Wednesday, June 16, at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. – 21+ only show
Featuring Mexican masked wrestling and not-so masked burlesque.

MERCURY THEATRE
The Not Inappropriate Show – Friday, June 18, at 4 p.m. and Saturday, June 19, at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Made especially for kids ages 6 and up, this sketch comedy show stars Bob Odenkirk and Kate Micucci, along with some of Los Angeles’ hottest sketch performers. The show, which is being produced by Naomi Odenkirk, will feature a collection of specially chosen sketches and songs designed for kids who love great comedy.

The secrets of Paul Blart's success

When Kevin James went to bed last night, he knew his reign as king of the box office had ended, with Taken dislodging Paul Blart: Mall Cop from the top of the charts. But the King of Queens star still took a victory lap on his character's signature Segway on Super Bowl Sunday, enjoying the ride as he talked up the movie during NBC's pregame coverage and saw the studio roll out new ads touting Blart as America's first blockbuster of 2009. Ah, Hollywood hyperbole. In two weeks and three weekends, the movie so far has grossed north of $83 million.

There are many things funnier than Paul Blart: Mall Cop, but perhaps none funnier than watching critics, journalists and bloggers fall all over themselves trying to make sense of the film's popularity. The Los Angeles Times said the movie "was underestimated"...by whom? EW's PopWatch blog asked if James was ready for meatier roles, so to speak. New York's Vulture blog, meanwhile, tried to coin "Blart" as an adjective for an entire genre of film. And the AP tried dissecting the film's appeal. As if it were all a big secret. Spoiler alert! It's not a secret. Though the film is kind of a mess, particularly the first half, once the action sequences start, it's a broad slapstick take on action heroes, with James nimbly fulfilling the fantasies of all of The Biggest Losers in America. Simply put, perhaps James should have switched TV titles with his longtime comedy buddy Ray Romano because Everybody Loves Kevin. And Kevin James loves his fellow comedians, and especially his brother.

For more than 200 episodes of King of Queens on CBS (and continuing in syndication), James shared his stage with comedians who dropped by for short stints and for long-running characters, most notably Jerry Stiller and Patton Oswalt, but also Nicole Sullivan, Jimmy Shubert, Eddie Pepitone, Adam Ferrara, Jackie Flynn and James's brother, Gary Valentine. Ferrara, Flynn and Valentine also got parts in Blart. And Valentine previously scored a role supporting James in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry.

Brotherly love in show business is a rare breed in the world of stand-up comedy. Certainly, there have been plenty of brothers in comedy (Marx, Smothers, Murray, Wayans, Farley, Sklar), but they either stuck together as acts or worked separately in TV and film projects. Eddie Murphy's brother, Charlie Murphy, dove into stand-up comedy only once Eddie had left the stage. Chris Rock and brother Tony Rock both tour comedy clubs and theaters, but they appear to work on their projects individually. Gallagher famously got into a family fight and lawsuit with his brother after he toured as Gallagher Too. Rising comedian Mike Birbiglia's brother assists him in writing and shaping his material. Perhaps the only example I can think of, though, wherein two brothers in stand-up comedy actively helped each other's career on the road is Brian Regan and his brother Dennis. The two Regans toured clubs together for years, with Dennis opening for his more famous brother, Brian. More recently, Dennis Regan also had worked as a writer and story editor for...King of Queens.

Further reading: Not all was happy in Blartland, as someone wrote to indieWIRE to report how a similar "Mall Cop" screenplay disrupted the good times on the set of Blart.

Hourlong comedy special tapings for Schimmel, Correale, Ferrara, Breuer

Apologies in advance for the last-minute notice: This week is a busy one for new hourlong comedy special TV/DVD tapings, especially at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College here in New York City, where Robert Schimmel is taping his latest special for Showtime tonight, and Pete Correale, Adam Ferrara and Jim Breuer all follow suit with their own individual stage-to-screen efforts this weekend. Ticket info here.