How to get enough leverage to remove pedals when their cranks are not attached to a bike? I'm trying to troubleshoot a weird barely-felt click on my cruiser. The nest step of the process is to swap out the pedals and see if the problem goes away (if not, the problem is likely the bottom bracket). 

I've replaced pedals before, own a good pedal wrench, and know how to remember which pedal has reverse threading. I was surprised to find that I couldn't get my only spare pair off the cranks--they were removed from a bent frame for me by a shop, an currently live in a box next to the frame I'll eventually hang them on. I usually grip the crank opposite to the one I'm removing a pedal from, but I can't get any leverage with just one crank! 

TL;DR/ The question: How do I get enough leverage to remove the pedals from these free-range and short mountain cranks?
The best option would be to place the crank in a table vise - or in a pipe that has been gripped in a table vise.

If you don't have access to a vise, another option is to try and attach the pedal wrench so that the handle is only a few degrees away from inline with (right on top of) the crank, so that you squeeze the wrench and the crank together.