Denis Leary: No Cure for Cancer

Denis Leary proves his insanity in this show. When he goes ballistic while talking about the French, it's like he needs professional help. He is one of the most talented comedy acts alive (a good heir to the Bill Hicks throne) and he has a way of communicating that is different from any other. When Denis jumps into the story about his brother and the Bow and Arrow set, i almost fell out of my seat, and that stone-cold father of his...unbelievably funny.

See this show. It's incredible!

In "No cure for cancer" Denis Leary hammers some points to his viewers: He has used all the drugs there are. He loves to smoke. He hates people who whine about having it hard. This may sound great to people who agree with him, but to me Leary seems to lack an important comedy element: jokes. For example, at one point Denis Leary tells us that he hates people who whine about having a hard childhood, and they should "shut the f*ck up". This is one of his most cited pearls of comedy. I'm not kidding. Beside the lack of jokes and ideas, what irritates me about this irritated man is the way he constantly underlines the fact that he has had a really tough life and he is really rock'n'roll. He actually sounds like some damn Bon Jovi he so much hates. By the way, did you know that Denis Leary is a LIBERTARIAN? Imagine him whining "Boo-hoo, i don't wanna pay my taxes, governments are the cause of all evil"..shut the f**k up.

This is one of my fave comedy albums of all time. When it came out I had it on tape and would have worn it out if I had not lost it. I then replaced it on CD and still love it even today. Unfortunately somebody told me about Bill Hicks and when I checked him out I was so sad and disappointed. Leary absolutely lifted parts of Hicks' persona, routine, even flat out some of his jokes. It is too bad. It is still a funny album if you take it for what it is.

PERFECT! This was a great special. I have this on CD on I laughed my A** off. Denis is a great actor and a great comic who tells great stories....and great trash talk. his songs are full of hillarious lyrics about serious things. He is my 1st favorite comic/actor. My 2nd favorite is George Carlin. This deserves a 9/10.

I was using some long journeys and my mp3 player to catch up on some audio-books and comedy shows that I had missed or not heard of for years. I was of the age at the time of this show where I was familiar with Denis Leary but not with Bill Hicks and I remember being quite impacted by the angry comedy of Leary. This time round I listened to No Cure for Cancer having listened to a few Bill Hicks shows (including Relentless)and was surprised by the similarity between the two. The boards are full of "influenced/stolen" debate so I'll not get too much into it here but I do have to say that in this show Leary is not just doing the same "themes" as Hicks but is often doing the same joke using slightly different language. The Jim Fix reference is the oft-quoted one but when you add John Lennon's murder, metal fans committing suicide, warnings on cigarette packs and so on then it is hard not to be distracted by just how much common jokes there are – not common ground, but actual jokes.

This aside though the show is still funny and enjoyable, mainly because Leary keeps the energy high by simply never stopping ranting and shouting. Some here have called him the greatest ever stand-up and, while I think they are way off the mark here, he is a good performer. His material is mostly good but not great, mostly because he doesn't inform it so much as shout it. However this shouting is what works and you can feel his anger to the point where you end up laughing along with him whether you agree or not. Sadly beyond this he doesn't have a lot in this show; time has shown him to have more range that has helped his career but he plays his strongest card here throughout.

No Cure for Cancer is not brilliant but it is a good example of "outraged" comedy. No doubt it is far too similar to Hicks' material to be of comfort but Leary himself helps by being convincingly and consistently angry, keeping the show's energy high throughout.