Road dogs ready to kill with comedian Billy Gardell

Billy Gardell was that breed of comedian known as a “road dog” until he won stand-up’s lottery: a hit sit-com “Mike & Molly.”

But he didn’t forget his brothers still in the trenches of all-night diners and hotel lounges. Gardell tapes the second edition of a Showtime stand-up revue, “Billy Gardell Presents Road Dogs,” on Thursday at the Plaza.

“They absolutely feel like I’m a lucky bastard,” Gardell says of hosting the showcase for club vets Don Learned, Earthquake and Bob Zany. “But you know what? They’ve been doing it long enough that it’s OK that they feel that way.”

The first “Road Dogs” (taped in Atlanta) aired earlier this year and fared well enough for Showtime to order two more. Gardell says cable networks feature “guys that are already famous or guys that are just breaking into the business. But nobody’s doing the guys who are just really good, who have had some success but haven’t quite gone all the way over the top yet.

“I’d say there’s a quality of travel and experience they all share,” he adds. “They all share the fact that they’ve been doing it for over 20 years and the fact that they’re killers. They’re just great at what they do.”

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@
reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.