No Cure for Cancer

Since his monologue No Cure for Cancer won the 1990 Critics Award at the Edinburgh International Arts Festival, comedian Denis Leary’s star has risen both in the theater and on MTV. A thinking man’s Andrew Dice Clay, Leary delights in savaging political correctness, but as a countercultural sensitive guy he’s more akin to Eric Bogosian. In Cancer, he deftly skewers preachy rock stars and cosmetic surgery, takes easy shots at undeserving prey like Kitty Dukakis, and is at his best dissecting his Irish-Catholic, boys-don’t-cry upbringing. B+