Comedy Central Presents: Lenny Clarke

Boston comedy fixture Lenny Clarke brings his loud, streetwise energy to a half-hour set anchored by a major personal transition. Known for years as a heavyset performer, Clarke taped this twenty-two-minute broadcast after dropping nearly a hundred pounds. The visual disconnect feeds the material, as he pitches aggressive dieting tips to the crowd with the exact same cadence he usually reserves for barroom stories. He also spends time on the education system, explaining exactly why he maintains a deep-seated soft spot for teachers.

Filmed in New York City in early 2002, the performance caught Clarke during a busy stretch of television work. He was co-starring alongside Denis Leary as a constantly snacking detective on the ABC series The Job, eating prop donuts on camera while dieting in real life. The resulting broadcast captures a veteran club act translating decades of New England stage time into a tight, high-volume cable debut.