Comedian Artie Lange returns to podcasting after rehab with ‘Halfway House’

Comedian Artie Lange has been back on stage as a stand-up comedian after spending months in drug rehab. On Thursday, he performed a set in his hometown as part of the Hoboken Comedy Festival.

On Sunday, he announced his return to another medium: podcasting.

Lange, 51, said on social media that his new podcast, “Artie Lange’s Halfway House,” would premiere next month.

The comedian, who grew up in Union Township, returned from rehab in September. Lange has struggled for decades with drug addiction. He was jailed in May for noncompliance with his drug court program after being arrested at the Clinton halfway house where he was living as part of the program. After a 21-day stint at Essex County Jail, Lange was transferred to a new program.

Lange is best known for his eight years as a sidekick on the “The Howard Stern Show," from 2001 to 2009. He also had a recurring role for three seasons of the Judd Apatow-produced HBO series “Crashing,” starring Pete Holmes, before the show was canceled this year.

As a podcast host, Lange last appeared on Compound Media’s (audio and video) “The Artie and Anthony Show" with Anthony Cumia. In 2018, just before he was sentenced to four years of probation for heroin possession, Lange was asked to leave the show because of his frequent absences.

Lange’s probation is for a 2017 arrest. State Police pulled the comedian over on the Garden State Parkway and reported finding him with 81 decks of heroin, including a bag of heroin in his lap with a straw.

His latest time in Essex County Jail followed several days in the same jail in January and February after he tested positive for cocaine for the second time in less than two months, in violation of his probation.

The reason for Lange’s noncompliance with his drug court program is unclear, but he says he is now more than eight months sober. As part of the program, he worked as a gas station attendant on Route 31 in Lebanon. In April, he was seen working on a garbage truck.

“Got a few big announcements coming over the next few days but none bigger or more important than this,” Lange tweeted on Sunday. “Woke up clean again this morning and I feel great. One day at a time. Thanks guys.”

Lange also said on Sunday that he is only booking comedy shows within driving distance of his Hoboken home so that he can sleep in his bed every night.

“Got good people around me getting to and from the gigs,” he tweeted.

The deflated appearance of Lange’s nose is owed to the fact that his septum was damaged from years of snorting cocaine and heroin (as well as one incident in which Lange accidentally snorted a crushed-up OxyContin tablet that had glass in it).

Each day, he’s been sharing video messages to fans featuring dramatic readings of movie quotes (today’s was from Dan Aykroyd talking to John Belushi in their 1980 film “The Blues Brothers").

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