Comedian, father and sitcom star Billy Gardell thinks we’re too hard on kids. Gardell, a veteran standup and star of Mike & Molly, Young Sheldon and Bob Hearts Abishola, comes to The Hult Center April 24, performing a brand-new hour of comedy. “I think it’s lazy, low-hanging, mouth-breathing idiocy to think that these kids aren’t up against way worse than anything we’ve come up against,” Gardell says of the younger generations. In his material, he also talks about his own father and his weight loss experience post-bariatric surgery — or as he puts it, “the elephant that’s no longer in the room.” He also touches on married life in his 50s, what he calls “the sweet spot. It’s just fun to be older and in love,” Gardell says — fitting well with the good-natured blue-collar TV dads he often plays. “My material is always what I’m doing in my life or what I’ve learned,” Gardell explains. “I’ve always found those are good wells to go to because it stays authentic. I’m not an observational comic. I’m not a crowd work comic. I’m a guy who tries to convey a common experience.” Gardell’s Hult show is part of his first theater tour after years in the business. “I’m a little old, and the travel hurts, but the minute they call my name, it’s worth it. I still love being up there,” Gardell says.

Billy Gardell: The Less is More Tour is 7 pm Friday, April 24, at the Hult Center’s Soreng Theater. Tickets start at $39 and are available at HultCenter.org. The performance is all ages.