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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Lenny Clarke

Boston's original saloon comic operates at maximum volume.

3 specials · 2002–2018

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Lenny Clarke hits the microphone yelling. He does not bother with tight, polished segues or quiet observation. He bullies, he laughs at his own belligerence, and he tells sprawling stories with a thick, raspy Boston bark. He uses a deceptively cheerful aggression to keep the room entirely off balance. A set feels less like a rehearsed routine and more like you are cornered at a bar by the loudest guy in the neighborhood, who refuses to let you leave until he finishes his point.

Specials

On stage

In the lore of standup, Clarke is foundational. He was the vital center of the 1980s Boston boom, the guy who ran the open mics at the Ding Ho and shared an apartment nicknamed “The Barracks” that served as the crash pad for every comic coming through town. He plays clubs and theaters, commanding the stage entirely through the sheer force of his presence.

The written material is almost secondary to the delivery. Clarke relies heavily on crowd work and spontaneous tangents. He will pick on a guy in the front row, veer into a massive detour about his health or weight loss, and scream a punchline that lands strictly because of the conviction behind it. You rarely remember the exact phrasing of a joke, but you remember the volume.

If people recognize him outside of standup, it is usually from his acting, most notably his long run playing Uncle Teddy on Denis Leary’s Rescue Me. But the screen barely contains his energy. To really get it, you have to be in the room while he shouts.

Turning points

  1. 1980s

    Establishment of 'The Barracks' Crash Pad

    Clarke and roommate Martin Olson ran a Harvard Square apartment known as 'The Barracks', which served as a legendary gathering place and crash pad for visiting standup comics in Boston.

  2. Creation of Lenny Clarke's Late Show

    Clarke hosted and co-wrote a two-hour weekly TV-38 late-night show that became a local cult phenomenon and helped launch figures like Steven Wright and Denis Leary before being pulled for controversial segments.

  3. 2004–2011

    Long-Running Run on FX's Rescue Me

    Clarke joined longtime friend Denis Leary on the critically acclaimed FX drama Rescue Me, portraying Uncle Teddy across seven seasons.

At a glance

Born
, Cambridge, Massachusetts
On stage
since 1980
Style
topical, observational, satire
Breakout
Lenny Clarke's Late Show
Influences
Steven Wright, Steve Sweeney
Topics
Elsewhere
Wikipedia

Fans also like

  • Denis Leary

    Both emerged together as central figures in the 1980s Boston comedy scene and later shared screen time in Lenny Clarke's Late Show, The Job, and Rescue Me.

    Photo: Adam Freese at https://www.flickr.com/photos/31582437@N05/ / CC-BY-2.0

  • Steven Wright

    Wright was Clarke's longtime peer and early creative partner from the Ding Ho and The Barracks comedy era in Cambridge.

    Photo: 48states at English Wikipedia / CC-BY-SA-3.0

  • Bobcat Goldthwait

    Goldthwait was a regular guest at Clarke's apartment 'The Barracks' and appeared in segments on Lenny Clarke's Late Show.

    Photo: John Manard / CC-BY-SA-4.0

Also on screen

1990–1991
Lenny Lenny Callahan
1993–1996
The John Larroquette Show Officer Adam Hampton
2001–2002
The Job Frank Harrigan
2003–2004
It's All Relative Mace O'Neil
2004–2011
Rescue Me Uncle Teddy

A clip to start with

Lenny Clarke at Dangerfield’s (1988)

1 min · 24K views · on Rodney Dangerfield