WASHINGTON — Jeff Foxworthy built a phenomenon with “You Might Be a Redneck,” Bill Engvall made waves with “Here’s Your Sign” and Larry the Cable Guy capitalized on “Git-R-Done.”
But Ron White — the fourth and arguably funniest member of the “Blue Collar Comedy Tour” — etched himself into the Mount Rushmore of modern country-fried comedy with “Tater Salad.”
This Friday, White returns to D.C. for a pair of shows at Warner Theatre, which hosted the final “Blue Collar” show back in 2006 after six years on tour.
“I’m running for president, so I may be coming back to live there on Pennsylvania Avenue. ‘President White for White House,'” White jokes with WTOP.
What sort of jokes can we expect?
“I’m gonna gut you like a catfish and leave you laying there on the pier,” White says. “You’ll leave hurt and I won’t apologize. … I’m gonna gut you first, then you’re gonna shed tears of laughter.”
WARNING: The video below may contain some explicit language.
White says his comedy style mirrors the late Bill Hicks more than anyone. These days, he loves Dave Attell, Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock, whom he says “might be the best living comic.” Meanwhile, White’s stage at Warner Theatre was just warmed up last weekend by Wanda Sykes.
“She’s one of my favorite comedians and also one of my favorite people. She is just hilarious and I just love her to death. I did something that she hosted back before anybody knew who I was, and she was just a doll to work with. My wife, who’s a singer-songwriter voice-over person, can do her perfectly and it’s just hilarious. She can impersonate anybody, but her Wanda Sykes is just dead-on funny.”
Expect to see White’s wife, Margo Rey, during Saturday’s shows.
“My wife is going to come out and do four songs with her badass guitarist, Jimmy Mahlis. If you’ve never heard Margo sing, you’re in for a real treat. She’ll sing a hole right through you before I gut you. Then her brother, who’s my business partner, we own a tequila company together. We’ve been doing stand-up together for 30 years. … He’ll come out and do 15 minutes, then I’ll come out and do an hour and 15. I’ll smack you around and there’s nothing you can do about it once you’re in the room.”
WARNING: The video below may contain some explicit language.
If you’ve seen White’s stand-up routines — cigar in one hand, glass of alcohol in the other — you shouldn’t be surprised to learn that he owns a tequila company called Number Juan.
“It’s the best tequila you’ve ever tasted in your life. We’ve been in the country for 24 months with it. We’ve won nine gold medals, two silver medals and five competitions, all of them double-blind taste tests. That’s how we got in the business. He’s from Mexico — my wife’s family is from Acapulco — and a good friend of his found it on this tequila crawl. … It wouldn’t leave us alone. It was so delicious.”
Fittingly, you can find the company’s website by typing TatersTequila.com.
While White uses the “Tater Salad” brand for his products, he has admirably removed it from his stand-up routine in favor of new material.
“Anytime I film something, I quit doing it. It’s the only way to stay relevant and the only way to make yourself work, to replace all of it, to get it out of the act,” White says. “So I hadn’t done that bit in 12 years, but this year I played Madison Square Garden … and I thought, you know what? They’d love it if I did that bit here. I genuinely didn’t know it, ’cause it’s eight minutes long. I had to go back and get a ‘Blue Collar’ album out and listen to it three or four times before I knew it again.”
How did the Blue Collar Comedy Tour come about in the first place?
“Jeff saw my first show ever. I was on stage in Arlington, Texas for my first set,” White says. “I was nervous. I went straight to the bar and ordered a beer and a shot of tequila, and Alex Reymundo — my brother-in-law now — handed me the beer and shot of tequila. He was the bartender. Foxworthy was the headliner in the club that week. I went up and did my four-minute set and I came off and he said, ‘Man, you are funny. But you need to put the punchline at the end of the joke.’ … This is how generous this guy is. … He sits down with a brand new comic and teaches him something about structure.”
White says he owes his career to Foxworthy.
“I don’t know if you know this or not, but he sold more albums than (Richard) Pryor and (Bill) Cosby combined, not counting the millions and millions of ‘Blue Collar’ albums you guys bought,” White says. “My success came from Jeff’s generosity to share a stage. So did Bill (Engvall)’s and so did Dan Whitney: Larry the Cable Guy. They’re all great guys. They’re all dear friends. Dan Whitney is one of the quickest guys off stage mentally. He’s the only of the four of us with a degree.”
Together, the four comics created something special.
“It was kind of magic,” White says. “‘The Kings of Comedy’ just happened and they were doing huge numbers … so it turned into something special and something I will always hold dear. In real life, I’m a little rowdy for those boys, to tell you the truth.”
WARNING: The video below may contain some explicit language.
Speaking of rowdy, this spring White begins filming the Showtime series “Roadies,” in which he plays a road manager for a Pearl Jam style rock band. It’s directed by Cameron Crowe (“Almost Famous”), executive produced by J.J. Abrams (“Lost”) and stars Imogen Poots, Luis Guzman and Luke Wilson.
“It’s about the back of the house,” White says. “It’s really just the day-to-day function of that band as it interacts with people in their day-to-day lives. It’s got a great cast. It’s going to be fun to do.”
From TV shows to stand-up comedy tours, White remains blown away by the success.
“I was surprised any of it took off. I never saw this coming. I never saw this kind of success coming, even though it happened to Jeff and he was standing right next to me when it happened to him. But I still didn’t see it happening to me. So I was just as surprised as anybody.”
Now, he is considered a “celebrity” whenever he does interviews.
“I just got through this interview in Bentonville, Arkansas, where Walmart is out of. This DJ says, ‘So, Ron! … Any type of celebrity calls our radio station … we always ask them the same question: If you could have a conversation with anybody living or dead, who would it be?’ And I said, ‘Living.'”
Listen to the full interview with Ron White below. Click here for ticket information.
