Denis Leary Tickets

Denis Leary
Denis Leary is a Golden Globe and Emmy Award-nominated American actor, comedian, writer and director. He is known for his often angry comedic style. Leary displays an overt affinity for libertarianism.

Biography
Early life
Leary was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, to John Leary and Nora. He graduated from Saint Peter-Marian High School in Worcester.

Emerson College
Leary is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston, where he was classmates with fellow comic Mario Cantone, who to this day remains his closest friend. Comedian Steven Wright and actress Gina Gershon also attended Emerson at the same time as Leary. At the school, he founded the Emerson Comedy Workshop. After graduating with the Emerson Class of 1979, he took up a job with the school teaching comedy writing classes and maintained the job for five years.

Career
Leary started in career as a comedian in the notorious Boston comedy scene of the 1980s, where he hosted his own show at the underground club "Play It Again Sam". He also wrote and appeared on a local comedy series, Lenny Clarke's Late Show, hosted by his friend Lenny Clarke. Leary and Clarke both spoke about their early affiliations and influences in the Boston comedy scene in the documentary film When Standup Stood Out.Leary first became famous through an MTV sketch in which he ranted about R.E.M. Several other commercials for MTV followed. He has released two records of his stand-up comedy: No Cure For Cancer and Lock 'N Load. In late 2004 he released the EP Merry F#%$in' Christmas.

His sardonic song about the American lower-middle-class male in 1994, Asshole, achieved much ill repute. It was voted #1 in a major Australian youth radio poll as well as reaching #2 in the singles chart in that country. The video also became a staple of MTV's late-night programming. Due to its overt and controversial content, however, it received limited airplay on mainstream American radio stations. At the 2004 Comics Come Home in Boston, Massachusetts, Denis performed a new version of the song directed at the New York Yankees. The song was also used as part of the Holstein Pills series of ads in the UK which Leary was participating in.

Personal life
Denis Leary has been married to writer Ann Lembeck since 1982. They met when he was her instructor for an English class at Emerson College. They have two children.

Leary Firefighters Foundation
On December 3, 1999, Leary's cousin, Jerry Lucey, and his close childhood friend, Lt. Tommy Spencer were killed in a massive warehouse fire. In response, the comedian founded the Leary Firefighters Foundation. Since its creation in the year 2000, the foundation has distributed over $2.5 million to fire departments in the Worcester, Boston, and New York City areas. Leary has close ties with 107.3 WAAF-FM, who in 2000 released the station album "Survive This!"

Accusations of Plagiarism
For many years, Leary had been friends with fellow comedian Bill Hicks. However, when Hicks heard Leary's 1992 album No Cure For Cancer, he felt Leary had stolen his act and material.

At least three stand-up comedians have gone on the record stating they believe Leary stole not just some of Hicks' material but his persona and attitude. As a result of this, it is claimed that after Bill Hicks' death from pancreatic cancer, an industry joke began to circulate about Leary's transformation and subsequent success.

During a 2003 roast of Denis Leary, comedian Lenny Clarke, a friend of Leary's, said there was a carton of cigarettes backstage from Bill Hicks with the message, "Wish I had gotten these to you sooner." This joke was cut from the final broadcast. The hullabaloo about plagiarism is also mentioned in American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story by Cynthia True: