After ‘back-to-back Super Bowls,’ weight loss, TV star back doing comedy in Lexington

Billy Gardell’s most notable showbiz accomplishments center around both laughter and love.

First, it was “Mike & Molly,” the hit CBS comedy that introduced the world to Gardell and comic tour-de-force Melissa McCarthy as an overweight couple that found each other (at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting) and love together over six seasons from 2010 to 2016.

Gardell returned to weekly television three years later thanks to another on-screen couple that connected with TV audiences with “Bob Hearts Abishola.” On the Chuck Lorre-helmed sitcom, Gardell plays a compression sock salesman who falls for his Nigerian nurse Abishola Adebambo (played by Folake Olowofoyeku) after suffering a heart attack that eventually leads to an unlikely romantic connection. The show ran for five seasons, ending last year.

“It’s like winning back-to-back Super Bowls. I don’t know how else to describe it, to be honest with you,” Gardell, 55, said. “The common theme on both of those shows is love…I think when you present it in a genuine way, you realize we all want the same things.”

While known primarily as an actor, Gardell said his “first love” in entertainment, and what connected him to audiences, was stand-up comedy. Growing up in Pittsburgh and later moving to Florida, Gardell would perform “anywhere there was a light and a microphone” and, after finding TV success in his 40s on a major network, he was happy enough to land a regular gig with “good parking lots, insurance and coffee.”

But even Gardell admits as a TV actor, he felt like he was breaking up with the artform that brought him to the big dance.

“Toward about the second year of ‘Bob Hearts Abishola,’ I just stopped doing stand-up,” Gardell admitted. “I kind of drifted away from it and thought, maybe I’m done with it.”

How ‘Mike & Molly,’ ‘Bob Hearts Abishola’ star lost weight

While he had moments of uncertainty about whether to return to stand-up, he said a decision that he had more certainty about was losing much of the weight that almost became part of his on-screen trademark. He was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 2020, a condition that was extra concerning in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2022, he underwent bariatric surgery and eventually lost more than 170 pounds.

Gardell said the same relentless determination and work ethic he had in pursuing stand-up comedy in the early days was key to making his weight loss stick.

“It’s consistency. The surgery only gives you a window to lose the weight. If you don’t change your mental habits, you’ll go back to being heavy,” he said. “I have recognized at different points of my career that when I decide I’m going to do whatever it takes, then I’m going to be successful.”

Last year, Gardell was determined to be successful at stand-up comedy again and returned to the road to do just that. He has plenty of material to draw from between his Hollywood success, his weight loss journey and his family life, but he is tackling it with a shift in perspective and priorities. Instead of just being a road dog like in his younger years, he goes with a two-weeks-on-two-weeks-off approach so he can be home to spend time in Los Angeles with his long-time wife, Patty, and their son, William.

Gardell hopes his newfound appearance from his dramatic transformation can open up possibilities for more dramatic roles (he currently has a starring role in an indie drama called “The Vortex,” which is releasing in select theaters this month). He said he would also eventually like to record an hour-long stand-up special.

For now, Gardell is just enjoying getting reacquainted with the process, but more than that, he is enjoying the results and fulfillment he gets from his on-stage work.

“My father used to say, ‘If you make someone laugh, you’ve blessed them,’” Gardell recalls. “It goes back to the laughter, man. What’s better than making somebody laugh? It just feels like you’re doing the right thing.”

Billy Gardell

When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6; 7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7 and 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8 (6:30 p.m. show sold out)

Where: Comedy Off Broadway, 161 Lexington Green Circle

Tickets: $35-$45; 859-271-5653 or comedyoffbroadway.com