-My first guest tonight is an Emmy-nominated actor,
a "New York Times" best-selling author,
and a very, very, very funny comedian.
He now stars in the television series "The Moodys."
And you can see the second season
Thursday nights at 9:30 on Fox.
Here is Denis Leary!
Oh, that's what I'm talking about!
Yes! -Hey, pal.
-Oh, I wish you were here, buddy. Oh, my gosh.
-Oh, I know. You know what?
The first thing I was going to say
is I just -- I can't believe I'm not there.
But listen, I'm half vaxxed, okay?
-Good. [ Cheers and applause ]
-I'm going to be fully vaxxed.
Half vaxxed is pretty much what a lot of people probably
say about me and how I do things.
But I'm half vaxxed.
I'll be fully vaxxed in two weeks.
So, then, you know, hopefully I'll be able
to come into the studio and see you.
It's so weird not to be live, you know?
-But we have like over 50 people in the audience now.
So we actually have -- -That's what I heard.
[ Cheers and applause ]
So we're so happy that you can even do this.
I know you're a big sports fan, big Boston sports fan.
And I wanted to ask you about Tom Brady
and how you felt, him leaving the Patriots
and went on to win the Super Bowl for Tampa Bay.
I know. Sorry to bring this up.
-So, listen. Sadly, my plan didn't work out.
My plan was that Tom was going to go to another team,
in this case, Tampa Bay, and that team would suck,
and then he would come back.
So it didn't really work out, my plan.
-No. -So I was shocked,
'cause I'm like,
he's going to a team that has pewter-colored football pants.
I mean, literally, pewter is the color of their pants.
-Pewter. Oh, my gosh. -I mean, his wife's --
His wife's a fashion model.
She must have said, "Honey, you can't wear pewter-colored pants.
You can't." -[ Laughs ]
-I couldn't be happier that he won again.
And if there's any question about him being
the greatest of all time now, that's seven Super Bowls, right?
-Yeah. -And you'd have to get
all of the other multiple Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks --
There's very few -- And if they want to prove
they're the greatest of all time,
throw the Lombardi Trophy while you're drunk
from one boat to another boat.
-That's the ultimate -- -That's the test.
-That's exactly right.
That's exactly right. -That's the test.
-I want to talk about this. You do this every year,
this show called "Comics Come Home"
in Boston. -Yes.
-And I'm lucky enough to be involved with it whenever I can,
whenever -- Every year I've been going whenever I can.
It benefits Cam Neely Foundation.
And we perform. I do stand-up, or I make you sing a song.
-Yeah. -And I got this footage
I wanted to show you, because do you remember
when you surprised me? -Okay, wait, wait, wait.
Is this footage from the John Mayer thing?
-Yeah.
-Okay, you have to let me set it up.
I love when Jimmy comes,
because we end up singing a song together, you know?
Which is a blast.
So, I call John Mayer without telling Jimmy.
And I say, "Listen, I have an idea.
You come on the show. You play --
Jimmy wants to do 'Walk This Way.'
You play 'Walk This Way,' but we don't tell Jimmy in advance.
So Jimmy doesn't find out
until you walk onstage during the song.
Like, you'll start the riff. [ Vocalizing "Walk This Way" ]
Offstage." [ Vocalizing ]
You and I start singing.
Now, for people who have never sung that song,
that's an incredibly difficult song to sing,
not because of the, you know, the level of the notes.
It's because the lyrics are jam-packed,
and they're unbelievably fast. Right?
-Yeah. -So Jimmy and I had rehearsed it
as trading lines back and forth.
So, you know, if one guy misses a line,
you're kind of screwed, right?
Jimmy comes out.
[ Vocalizing "Walk This Way" ]
And me and Jimmy start doing the song.
John Mayer walks out onstage.
The crowd goes nuts, which they're supposed to.
And Jimmy stopped singing.
[ Laughter ]
Completely.
I figured he'd look at John Mayer and be surprised.
He looks at John Mayer like he's surprised
and then goes over and starts hugging John Mayer
and, like, hanging out with him.
I'm like -- I'm singing the entire song by myself.
[ Laughter ] For like two verses.
-No -- Really?
-Yeah. -I don't remember that --
But I just wanted to show you a clip.
I didn't know -- I forgot that I did that.
Here's, I guess, the moment where I spot John Mayer
surprising me at "Comics Come Home" with Denis Leary.
Take a look.
♪♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
[ Laughter ] -I was like, "Hey!"
-You can hear me singing in the background.
-I knew the guitar sounded good, and your band is always great,
but I was like, "That guitar sounds great."
And then I was like [Vocalizes]
And I was about to go like, "She starts swinging."
And I go, "Hey, dude! What's going on?"
-You literally -- I kept singing -- I looked at you,
and I was like, "He's not going to keep singing."
So now I'm on the teleprompter singing your lines, right?
Because I don't know your lines. [ Laughter ]
And I look over, and you're dancing with John Mayer.
And I literally, at one point, went like, "Hey, let's go!"
Unbelievable.
-Denis, I want to talk to you about your show, buddy.
I want to talk about "The Moodys."
-Yes. -Here we go.
This is -- It's a family sitcom.
Elizabeth Perkins, super funny.
You get to play hockey, which is cool.
-Yeah, I get to play hockey. So, I'll give you the setup.
You know, it's a limited series every time it comes on.
So, the first time we did it, it was about family Christmas.
This year, there's a family wedding that --
It starts out the first 15 seconds of episode 1.
You know that the wedding didn't go well.
And then we flash back.
The kids have been locked down with us in the pandemic,
like a lot of us in real life.
-Yep. -And now the pandemic's over
and two of them leave, and then they come right back.
So we're really getting on each other's nerves
even after the pandemic,
and everybody's supposed to be living out on their own.
I think that's what the clip's about.
-Yeah. It's super funny. I want to show everyone a clip.
Here's Denis Leary in the new season of "The Moodys."
Take a look.
-Hey, look at this.
All three of my adult children living at home,
eating my food, and using my gas-powered heat.
How delightful.
So, right now,
I'm going to go over to the fridge
and get some cream.
And there better be enough left for my coffee,
'cause if there isn't, I'm going to find the culprit,
and I will have two of my adult children living at home with me.
Uh-oh.
Oh, that's -- it's not good.
Ooh, this just --
I don't think it's going to --
Ah.
Mm...
Well, yes.
We remain a family of five.
-Yay.
-[ Laughs ] Yeah!
Denis Leary, everybody.