And he's still trying to melt away the pounds.

But May, whose livelihood is stand-up comedy, doesn't do fat jokes in his shows. He avoids making fun of the oversized and doesn't needle anyone who's into the Atkins diet or the latest tofu fad.

He's returning for a comedy gig, today at the Pikake Room of the Blaisdell Center. And he's figuratively bigger than ever, thanks to TV and a hit DVD.

"I really don't mess with the weight thing," he said in a phone interview from Houston, where he was having dinner — oysters and baked snapper. "So many of my audience are big people and I don't want them to feel badly. I thought about it a bit, of who I am, and I accept it, not reject. I am fat, or was larger, but it's not all that I am."

"I didn't gain weight till I was 16," said May. "But since the surgery, I've been doing well. And feeling great."

He became a recognizable personality, often alluding to his big-bonedness as a reason for his size, when he placed second this year on the NBC-TV show "Last Comic Standing."

"Comedy is what I love, comedy is what I do," he said, feeling a little like Clay Aiken on "American Idol." The runner-up slot has actually boosted his popularity.

"I have this plan, man, and it all feeds back to stand-up comedy," said May.

"I write for TV and films. In fact, I'm writing a movie for MGM based on a true story from Southern University, where a white guy ran for and won the class presidency in a black school. It's the first time it happened — last year — and I'm set to star in it."

He was 13 when he first dabbled in comedy, back in Arkansas. "It was a church talent show," he recalled. "Then I did a talent show, and won the right to open up for Sam Kinison."

That was the beginning of bigger and better things.

"I work every weekend; it's been a good run," he said. "Comedy is healthy, but it's hard work. I've worked 14 years to become an 'overnight success.' "

And, he said, he can measure his success by his bank account. In his words: "I finally have a comma in my bank account. I work all the time, I make a lot of money and I have insurance now."

So what's funny to May?

"There are a lot of things that are consistently funny," he said. "Like, 'America's Funniest Home Videos,' the '(Dave) Chappelle Show,' 'Tough Crowd,' 'The Simpsons' and 'The Family Guy.'"

He's performed here before, at the Laugh Factory, and he adores the Islands.

Especially sushi.

"You've got fresh tuna there; I love sushi. My girlfriend (Lahna Turner, a musical comedian) and I really love sushi," he said.

Through his shows, and his criss-crossing gigs across the nation, he's noted how audiences vary from one place to another.

"In Texas, you have an amalgam of mostly white Americans," he said, "with some black people and some Mexicans. I don't imagine there are too many Mexicans in Hawai'i, but I've learned that ethnicity has little to do with what's funny. If it's a good bit, it's universally funny. But I've also learned that Hawaiians really love music, and nearly everyone plays some kind of music."

He also picked up on the notion that Samoans are often oversized. So he said, with a sense of proud alignment: "You might say I'm very Samoan-friendly ... and you can probably say I'll be the biggest person on O'ahu who's not Samoan."