While working as a disc jockey in Dallas, Bill Engvall
planned to become a teacher. At a nightclub one evening, he decided to try
stand-up comedy. It didn’t take him long to discover that he was good at making
people laugh. His ability to connect with an audience by sharing the humor in
everyday situations has made Engvall one of the top comedians today and among
the busiest.
Engvall attributes his 35 year career to his evolution from joke-teller to storyteller. Indeed, the breadth of his work spans small comedy clubs, nationally touring comedy shows, radio, television, films, albums, and books. Currently, he has been working on a new special called “Just Sell Him for Parts” and you can see him perform live at the Thrasher-Horne Center on Friday, October 2nd, 2015.
At Home on Television
After moving to Los Angeles to pursue television
opportunities, Engvall teamed up with Rosie O’Donnell in a Showtime Special
called A Pair of Jokers. He also hosted
A&E’s Evening at the Improv and
appeared on both The Tonight Show and
The Late Show with David Letterman.
In 1992, Engvall won the American Comedy Award for Best Male
Stand-up Comedian. After appearing in episodes of Designing Women, Engvall went on to portray Buck Overton on Delta, an ABC sitcom starring Delta Burke. On
the very popular Jeff Foxworthy Show,
Engvall played Jeff’s best friend, Bill Pelton. It wasn’t much of a stretch since
they are very good friends.
Engvall has hosted award shows, as well as several
television programs such as LINGO for
GSN, Country Fried Videos and Mobile Home Disasters for Country Music Television. He has also appeared
in Kiss at Pine Lake for the Hallmark
Channel, a three-episode arc in Hawthorne
for TNT, and Bait Shop with Billy
Ray Cyrus on USA Network. Eventually, Engvall produced and starred in his own self-titled
sitcom for three seasons on TBS, and went on to become one of the stars of the
sketch comedy show Blue Collar TV for
the WB network.
In addition to the wildly successful Blue Collar Comedy
concerts (which are some of the most watched specials in Comedy Central’s history),
Engvall has many Comedy Central specials including Bill Engvall Live in 2004 and Aged
and Confused in 2009. He reunited with Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable
Guy on Them Idiots Whirled Tour,
which was filmed for a March 2012 special for CMT.
Just a Guy – A Very Busy Guy
The small screen has just been the beginning for Engvall,
though. His television and stage success translated on to the big screen with Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie in
2003. He has also appeared in other films, including Strawberry Wine with Christina Ricci, Bed and Breakfast with Dean Cain, and Delta Farce. Engvall recently starred as Coach Z in the movie Catching Faith.
Engvall’s first album, Here’s
Your Sign, was number one on the Billboard Comedy Chart for 15 straight
weeks. It went on to high rankings on both Billboard’s Current Country Album
Chart and Top 200 Album Chart. His single of the same name reached Gold Status
after ranking number one on Billboard’s Country Singles Sales Chart for ten
weeks and number 30 on the Billboard’s Singles Sales Chart. In 1997, Engvall
won the “Best Selling Comedy Album” award at the annual NSRM convention,
outselling albums by Chris Rock and Adam Sandler.
His second CD, Dorkfish,
was certified gold (500,000 copies), and was – yet again – ranked number one on
Billboard’s Comedy Chart. His subsequent comedy albums, 15° Off Cool and Aged and
Confused, both debuted at number one on the Billboard Comedy Chart.
Engvall has even written several books, including Here’s Your Sign, You Don't Have to Be Dumb to Be Stupid, and his well-reviewed autobiography, Bill Engvall – Just A Guy. For someone who says he’s just a guy,
he has been a very busy guy at that.
The Importance of Laughter
When asked why comedy is important, Engvall said, “I think
that in this day and age people have to laugh. I mean look around, people are
losing their minds. I can’t even watch the news anymore because I get so
depressed. People need a release and I am so glad I am able to provide that.” (Buzz Magazine, October 2015) With that
in mind, here are a few of his jokes to make you laugh:
I called my wife up on
the cell phone and said “Baby you ain't gonna believe this. We just hit a deer
with the airplane.” And there was a silence on the other end of the line
followed by “Oh my god! Were you on the ground?” I said, “Nope, Santa was makin’
one last run.”
I pulled the boy close
to me and said, “You see that girl? That’s my only little girl. So if you think
about huggin’ or kissin’, remember these words. I ain't afraid to go back to
prison.”
I called my pilot 2 weeks before I flew and
asked him, “I don’t want to get sick, what should I eat?” He said, “Peanut
Butter.” I said, “If I eat peanut butter, then I won’t get sick?” He said, “No,
but it tastes the same comin’ up as it does goin’ down.”
I might have tried
bungee jumping, until I saw that video of that guy whose cord came untied. He
didn't know it 'till he hit the ground. Oh, he flew off that tower, hollering
at his buddies. "Whoo, check me out, dudes! Oh, that ground is coming
up..." WHAM! And what do you say, if you're the operator of that ride, to
the next guy in line? "All right dude, you're up."
This guy from L.A.
sits down next to me, and he says "You like baseball?" I said,
"Oh, man, I love baseball." So he goes "Did you know that if
Jesus had played ball, he'd have been the greatest ball player ever?" Like
I'm gonna argue with that logic. So I sat there for a second, and then I said
"did you know that if Babe Ruth had been the Messiah, the Catholics would
have beer and hot dogs at Communion?" He left.
I've come up with the
three things you never want to hear at your kid's parent/teacher conference.
Number one: "You're only responsible for the first $10,000 worth of
damage." Number two: "We have medication for this." And number
three: "It was more than an ounce and he was less than a hundred yards
from the school."
My wife collects twist ties. Welcome to my world.
Join in on the laughter and get your tickets to see Bill Engvall
today!
The Thrasher-Horne Center
The Thrasher-Horne Center has other great performances
coming up, including Boz Scaggs in November, Michael McDonald in December, and
magician Mike Super in December. Check out the calendar.
The Broadway Season at the Thrasher-Horne Center begins in
December. There will be six great shows including Rudolph The Red-Nosed
Reindeer, Ragtime, Always…Patsy Cline, Annie, Saturday Night Fever, and the
Northeast Florida Premiere of Once. Subscriptions are on sale now on the
Thrasher-Horne Center’s website.
Spread the word about one of Northeast Florida’s best kept
secrets! Tell your family and friends about the Thrasher-Horne Center. Share
this article with them. They will appreciate learning about what they have been
missing.
We appreciate you taking the time to visit us. If you have a
comment about this article, leave it in the comments section below.
In this article, I’ve written about the upcoming performance
of comedian Bill Engvall on October 2nd. He has a long list of accomplishments,
including his roles on The Jeff Foxworthy
Show, Blue Collar TV, and Blue Collar
Concerts. Engvall has appeared in
many movies and TV shows and he has written several books, including his
autobiography, Just a Guy.
Thrasher Horne should be a great venue for a seasoned comedian like Bill Engvall.
ReplyDeleteBill Engall created one of the most hacked comedy bits in modern history. It will be nice to see the guy who actually came up with the "Here's Your Sign" bit.
ReplyDeleteIt great to see that Thrasher Horne is bring top notch comedy to the Center. Our community is blessed to have this venue. Whats really cool is that this is just one of the top notch acts that's coming to NE Florida.
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see another great show coming to the Jacksonville area. The best part is that I don't have to drive all the way downtown to see them.
ReplyDelete