No Cure for Cancer (1992) (TV)

Director:

Ted Demme

Writer:

Denis Leary
(more)

Genre:

Documentary | Comedy

Plot:

Ticked off comic Denis Leary talks honestly about subjects ranging from smoking, red meat, drugs, his family, rehab, and yes, cancer. |

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Cancer | Smoking | Live Performance | Musical Number

Cast

Denis Leary	...	Himself
Chris Phillips	...	Himself
Adam Roth	...	Drummer

Directed by
Ted Demme

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Bill Hicks		uncredited
Denis Leary

Produced by
Denis Leary	....	executive producer
Forrest Murray	....	producer
Jason M. Solomon	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Denis Leary
Chris Phillips
Adam Roth

Cinematography by
Adam Kimmel

Production Management
Fred Styles	....	production manager

Camera and Electrical Department
Anthony Hardwick	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Brad Rothberg	....	on-line editor

Other crew
Denis Leary	....	executive album producer
Chris Phillips	....	executive album producer
Adam Roth	....	executive album producer
Jim Serpico	....	production executive

Production Companies

• Channel 4 Television Corporation

Distributors

• Fabulous Films (2006) (UK) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Denis Leary: No Cure for Cancer" - USA (promotional title)

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive language, drug and sex-related humor

Runtime:

62 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:18 | USA:TV-MA | Australia:R | New Zealand:R16 | USA:R

Company:

Channel 4 Television Corporation

Trivia:

The night of the show's taping, the crew set up but through some error gave the actors no access to the bathroom. Just before the show, Denis Leary had to use the bathroom badly but had no way of getting to it. Chris Phillips took a look at the crowd and seeing no way to get Denis to the bathroom without making the audience believe the show had started, handed Denis a bucket.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Denis jokes about Mama Cass Elliott choking to death, but she actually died of a heart attack.

Quotes:

Denis Leary:What's the problem with just smoking a joint, eating a couple of twinkies, and going to sleep, was that a problem?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "De wereld draait door: Episode #7.47" (2011)

Good "outraged" comedy but too much in common with Hicks is distracting

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.