James Sweats It Out in Stand-Up

“When you’re big, you don’t need a reason to sweat,” says Kevin James, who returns to his stand-up comedy roots in a new Comedy Central special airing tonight at 10.

Mopping his brow now and then, the sizable sitcom star delivers a fitfully amusing monologue in his hometown of New York, sounding off on things he loves--pizza, Big Apple delis, having the right change at fast-food drive-throughs--and the little things that annoy him: lines at the bank, guys who eat fruit at baseball games and slow, long-winded messages on his answering machine.

Some of the observational material in “Kevin James: Sweat the Small Stuff” generates a smile (“You can’t be in good shape if you wanna take a nap halfway through your Big Mac”), but none of it will have you wheezing from laughter.

James, who got his start in Long Island comedy clubs, comes across as a pleasant, self-deprecating Everyman whose delivery is as big and broad on stage as it is in his CBS sitcom, “The King of Queens.” If you’re not a fan of his series, however, you’ll probably want to look elsewhere for entertainment this evening.

Big men can relate to James, who’s willing to throw himself around with abandon. And far as we can tell, there’s no ego. Or at least not a huge ego. That’s a plus.

The Comedy Central press material states this is the cable channel’s first hourlong stand-up special devoted to one performer.

Jon Stewart strikes us as a stronger choice for that honor, but then he doesn’t have a girlfriend 3,000 miles across the country who tells him, “If I had a magic carpet, I’d be there in two hours.” To which the incredulous James replied, “What? Do you have a layover in Dallas?”