Can we all just finally admit that Dennis Leary isn't funny?

[LostInAnomie]

How the fuck do you make a career off of acting annoyed?

[pokerfan]

1. I thought his stand up was unremarkable

and obviously influenced by (some would say borrowed from, still others would say stolen from) Bill Hicks. But, his work on Rescue Me has impressed me and has even resulted in a handful of Emmy nominations.

[JonLP24]

2. Don't know much about him except that I've been told probably here that he is a liberal

I've seen him in quite a few movies but not any main character roles that I can think of. I've seen him give a interview on the morning show Mike & Mike and he was pretty funny but the kind of funny you'd get from a wisecrack at the workplace which isn't a knock on him really. I've known people in real life that were incredibly hilarious but weren't comedians by profession. I have never seen any of his stand-up so I can't say for sure but he isn't a bad actor from what I can tell.

on edit/ speaking of the kind of funny you'd hear at the workplace I also meant here at DU. I see some really funny stuff posted right here on DU.

[RadiationTherapy]

3. Well, the jokes were hilarious when Bill Hicks did them. Leary; not so much.

[jobycom]

39. I thought they were the same guy.

Hicks laughed more at his own jokes, that's about all.

[a kennedy]

4. I have never seen his stand up routine.....but I do really enjoy him

on Rescue Me.

[Bertha Venation]

5. but he's a pretty good actor

[graywarrior]

6. I like his nastiness.

He says what I'm thinking so I don't have to.

[muffin1]

7. I'm not a huge fan of his stand-up, but he is in one of my favorite Christmas movies,

The Ref. It also stars Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey - very funny stuff.

[peekaloo]

11. 'What smells like piss?"

does kind of sum him up. :rofl:

I love this movie, too.

[grace0418]

21. Excellent movie. And he was great in it.

I don't have a big problem with Dennis Leary.

[travelingtypist]

22. Thanks for bringing this up.

I'll always love Gus. Leary is awesome in this.

Even though it's Kevin Spacey's two riveting scenes -- the one about the "body of an athlete" and "the corpse still has the floor" -- make the movie.

[muffin1]

24. That Kevin Spacey scene is priceless.

He tells his mother something like he's going to get her a "big wooden cross, so the next time you're feeling put-upon, you can crawl on up there and nail yourself to it".

I'm going to have to watch it again soon!

[travelingtypist]

37. I love the psychology of this movie.

It helps that Leary is hawt in those black jeans, when Lloyd says to Caroline "you want to have sex with him." I'm going yeah, yeah, yeah. Who wouldn't? Lol.

These people can't discuss what's really bothering them, so they fight about everything else. Everybody gets to be outside their boundaries because of the guy with the gun.

And Glynnis Johns did this movie and While You Were Sleeping about the same time and she was fabulous in both of them. WYWS is another one of my absolute favorite Christmas movies.

[supernova]

8. Rescue Me is the best

thing he's ever done

I've rarely seen his stand up, but there are parts of Rescue Me that are just brilliant.

He's a better writer, it seems, than anything.

[1]

9. you can turn on comedy central and watch for hours as one unfunny idiot follows another...

the state of comedy today is awful...

[quiet.american]

16. Generally agree - although I recently caught Kevin James and he was hilarious.

The really amazing thing about his comedy is that it was completely, and I mean, completely, clean. And he had me rolling.

[flvegan]

17. Kevin James' standup is really underrated.

I caught a Comedy Central show of his and I was on the floor. And you're right, it was PG-13 at worst.

[quiet.american]

26. Alright! :) Nice to see someone else caught his Comedy Central show, too. nt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

27. I like the tame but funny comics.

Kevin James, Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen DeGeneres....all PG-13 at worst, all very hilarious to me. Screaming and using the word "fuck" every third word isn't all that funny to me, frankly.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

10. I can't stand the guy.

All he does is scream and curse and rant, and most of it about inconsequential stuff. Never found him funny as a comedian. He's done a few decent acting roles, though. I haven't watched "Rescue Me" but I've heard good things.

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. I admitted to that years ago. He's right up there with Carrot Top and Carlos Mencia.

Except that of that group of three, at least Carrot Top is telling jokes no one else told before.

[Swede]

13. I love his stuff.

Top 5 on my list.

[MajorChode]

14. But some of the people he steals material from are funny

I guess it's all in the presentation.

[eyepaddle]

15. You make it sound like I haven't alreadfy done so.

I have never found Leary anything even close to funny. Oddly enough I don't think he's abad actor though.

Not only is his whole bit based on being annoyed, it is based on being annoyed at really obvious stuff--hey Denis, what's next, a rant about traffic jams?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

18. Thought he was pretty good in "Suicide Kings"...

...although that part called for someone who spent the entire movie acting annoyed, so that doesn't really change your evaluation at all...

:rofl:



"Suicide Kings" was another one of those "love it or hate it" movies...the whole point of the film was that you were not supposed to "like" ANY of the characters. It's even hard to root for Walken, the victim of the scheme, knowing that he cut up his neighbors and fed them to their dogs.

:toast:

[proteus_lives]

44. I loved Suicide Kings!

Walken and Leary are great in it!

I think the most sympathetic character was poor little Ira.

[IcyPeas]

19. Check out his rant on "coffee" on youtube

(sorry I can't link to youtube while at work - do a search of "coffee and dennis leary")

it's a HILARIOUS rant!!

plus I'm not a big fan, but found this to be right on!!!





:D

[bif]

28. Very funny!

[Fire Walk With Me]

20. He's funny. Funnier than most of these new "comedians", even those with television shows.

Yet I've never managed to see a single episode of "Rescue Me". Wah..

[rcrush]

23. I like Dennis Leary

sure his whole schtick is probably lifted from better comics but he's a good actor and he makes me laugh.





And The Ref is the best Christmas movie of all times!

[Bucky]

25. Of course you can make a career out of being annoying. Look at Richard Belzer.

It's called stage presence. You don't need wit to be loud and intense.

[NightWatcher]

29. his act was funnier when performed by the original BILL HICKS

all leary did was rip him off.

[pokerfan]

32. Bill Hicks and Denis Leary

Reportedly, upon hearing a tape of Leary's album No Cure for Cancer, "Bill was furious. All these years, aside from the occasional jibe, he had pretty much shrugged off Leary's lifting. Comedians borrowed, stole stuff and even bought bits from one another. Milton Berle and Robin Williams were famous for it. This was different. Leary had, practically line for line, taken huge chunks of Bill's act and recorded it."

The friendship ended abruptly as a result. At least three stand-up comedians have gone on the record stating they believe Leary stole Hicks' material as well as his persona and attitude. In an interview, when Hicks was asked why he had quit smoking, he answered, "I just wanted to see if Denis would, too." In another interview, Hicks famously told an interviewer: "I have a scoop for you. I stole his (Leary's) act. I camouflaged it with punchlines, and to really throw people off, I did it before he did."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Hicks#Hicks_and_Denis_Leary

Did comedian Denis Leary steal fellow comic Bill Hicks' stand-up act and persona? You be the judge. Side by side comparison of the two artists:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INarE1WraFA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWaJDF-3YhY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucJ3M4mcetw

[Medium Baby Jesus]

35. That explains why Leary is not funny

[bif]

30. His bit about smoking and eating meat is pretty funny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q7kUFS-0XQ

[RagAss]

31. Lewis Black does a good job of being annoyed.

[mix]

33. I hate his schtick. He steals material from talented people, like Bill Hicks. nt

[bif]

34. Just watched a bunch of his vids. You're wrong

I think he's pretty damn funny. Sorry.

[lost-in-nj]

36. no

he is

gotta know where he's coming from


lost

[donheld]

38. Here's another NO

[Kat45]

40. I've always found him to be funny.

And I relate to the Massachusetts stuff. I also love "Rescue Me." No, that's not his stand-up shit, but still.

[jobycom]

41. I laughed at him a long time ago. Stopped laughing a little less long ago.

Most celebrities start to believe too much that they are the person their critics praise them for being. Dennis fell for that more quickly than most, and his jokes became parodies of themselves.

I like his acting, usually. I wouldn't trust him with Hamlet, but he can do the one-trick acting necessary for TV likes very well.

[omega minimo]

42. You're just jealous

:hug:

[proteus_lives]

43. His acting is better then his stand-up.

But I love his routines about smoking.