Billy Gardell, who had bariatric surgery in 2022 that helped him shed 150 pounds, recently told “Live with Kelly and Mark” that he transformed from a “young Jackie Gleason to an old Paul Newman.”
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in advance of four shows May 10 and 11 at the Punchline Comedy Club, he said that quip came off the top of his head. “Those were two of my idols,” he said.
Credit: CBS
Credit: CBS
The massive weight loss, he said, eliminated his type 2 diabetes, improved his resting heart rate from 113 to 68 and reduced both his blood pressure and cholesterol to normal levels.
“It’s been two years and I’m not used to it,” he said. “I still don’t fully recognize myself.”
He has managed to maintain his weight between 205 to 210 but said it takes work.
“It’s the hardest part and the best part,” he said. “I have to consistently eat right every day, take care of myself water-wise, protein-wise and vitamin-wise and keep to my regimen. I work with a nutritionist. We talk once a week with a video check. I weigh myself every day. I am really committed to this.”
Credit: TOUCH
Credit: TOUCH
Being lighter, he said, has changed his life in multiple ways.
“Just to be able to move with more grace,” Gardell said. “I can fit into an airplane seat. I don’t need to take a deep breath to tie my shoes. I can shop at normal stores. I don’t have to walk into a place and wonder if a chair will hold me. There’s a freedom that you can only understand if you were heavy.”
The surgery happened between seasons of his show “Bob Hearts Abishola,” an ensemble sitcom which ends its five-season run May 7. This is Gardell’s second show under producer Chuck Lorre (”The Big Bang Theory,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Mom”) after six seasons on “Mike & Molly.” The concept focuses on an unlikely mixed race couple: a middle-aged man named Bob from Detroit (Gardell) falling in love with his Nigerian-American cardiac nurse (Folake Olowofoyeku) while recovering from a heart attack.
With budgets cut and ratings down, CBS only gave the show a fifth season if most of the cast only showed up part of the time. In the end, Gardell was happy to get 96 episodes and a show that will go into syndication.
“I don’t pay close attention to what goes on behind those business doors,” Gardell said. “I just play the best game I can. With two shows from Chuck Lorre, I was able to play third base for 11 years.”
For now, he’s focusing on stand up. But with his weight loss, he said he feels different on stage.
“I’m not the same presence,” he said. “I was wearing this giant Iron Man suit. There was a little more confidence. I’m now a littler guy. It’s reversed polarities. I have to adjust my humor. It’s a challenge. As an artist, nothing should be the same. You have to keep stretching and figuring it out.”
Gardell loves coming to Atlanta. He lived in Marietta during his early stand-up days in the mid-1990s. His long-time manager Chris DiPetta runs the Punchline Comedy Club in Buckhead. He met his wife Patty at the original Punchline in Sandy Springs, a former country western bar that had great acoustics for stand-up comics.
“The Punchline carries such a rich history of great comedy,” Gardell said. “There was something incredibly magical about that old room. It had all the dust of all the greats who worked that stage. And laughter of 300 people in there felt like 1,000 people.”
IF YOU GO
Billy Gardell
8 and 10 p.m. Friday, May 10; 6 and 8 p.m. Saturday, May 11. $28, Punchline Comedy Club, 3652 Roswell Road, Atlanta. punchline.com.
