Before Denis Leary played Tommy Gavin on “Rescue Me,” or ranted in MTV promos, or hosted 27 editions of Comics Come Home, he was a nobody telling jokes on stage at Cambridge comedy club Ding Ho. Back then, Leary was part of a cast of nobodies, all of whom became somebodies, as his Boston comedy class honed their skills and rose from the local scene to national stardom.
“When I started as a stand-up, it was because Steven Wright — who I went to Emerson College with — had gone onstage at Lenny Clarke’s show at the Ding Ho,” Leary told the Herald via email while shooting on location in Europe. “My girlfriend at the time – Lauren Dombrowski – and a fellow Emerson Comedy Workshop member Mario Cantone – went one night and told me about it. Then we all got onstage as well. And got hooked.”
Back in ’80s and early ’90s, Leary and his class connected with Cam Neely and a few other Bruins who loved comedy. In the years since, Leary and Neely have become close as the pair have collaborated on Comics Come Home — the annual benefit for The Cam Neely Foundation’s work to address the most immediate needs of cancer patients and their families. As usual, the TD Garden event will mix national names with local legends including sets from Leary, Bill Burr, Lenny Clarke, Ronny Chieng, and Robert Kelly on Nov. 2.
For Leary, making sure plenty of locals is important because our locals are funnier than anybody else’s.
“The reason Boston produces so many great comedians is because first of all it has so many different working class ethnic groups and growing up in Massachusetts that way you get a chip on your shoulder and a healthy dose of sarcasm every single day,” he said. “So you’re surrounded by wiseass remarks and funny put-downs 24/7, 365. If you’re funny to begin with it’s like a training ground. In my neighborhood in Worcester even the parents were funny. Even the mailman was a wiseass.”
Leary went from a funny neighborhood to a city full of rising talents — “The group of comics I started with at The Ding included Lauren, Mario, Paula Poundstone — who was working at a restaurant on Boylston St with Lauren — Bobcat Goldthwaite, Jimmy Tingle, Tony V. and Tom Kenny,” he said.
It’s been a while since Leary has indulged his first love of stand-up comedy so he always looks forward to getting on stage at Comics Come Home. Frankly, he is too busy with film and TV work to work on stand-up. Netflix puts out “No Good Deed” in December. Fox debuts “Going Dutch” in January. Amazon has “Oh. What. Fun.” with Michelle Pfeiffer on its 2025 Christmas calendar.
“‘No Good Deed’ is the first time Ray Romano and I have actually appeared together on screen as actual human characters,” he said. “We play brothers. Cain and Abel style. And without giving too much away the story involves a criminal cover up shared by us and Lisa Kudrow.”
“‘Going Dutch’ is myself, Danny Pudi from ‘Community’ and Taylor Misiak from ‘Dave.’ ” he added. “It’s a really intense comedy triangle of screwed up relationships set in the military world — it involves failed marriages and secret attractions and even more secret black market profits. All set on a base in the Netherlands and NATO bases all over Europe.”
Between all that, he will fit in another Comics Come Home. But barely. He flies straight from filming “Going Dutch” in Europe to Boston for the show and then right back to finish up.
For tickets and details, visit tdgarden.com/events