Leary's funny life

Denis Leary is standing in the corner of a hotel suite puffing away on a cigarette. He’s six foot three, wearing a black leather jacket, black tee-shirt, black and grey striped trousers and, you’ve guessed it, black boots. As first impressions go, he’s somewhat intimidating.

That daunting impression is not helped by what is generally known about Leary. The Irish-American comedian first shot to fame in the early 1990s with his one-man show, No Cure For Cancer, a general rant about America, politics, eating meat and of course, smoking.