Blue Collar comedian to make a stop in Greensburg on solo tour
Comedian Bill Engvall will perform at the Palace Theatre, 21 W. Otterman, Greensburg, on Friday, Nov. 8.
Comedian Bill Engvall
Long-time comedian Bill Engvall, best known for his 鈥淗ere鈥檚 Your Sign鈥� bit, will be coming to Greensburg for two shows next week.
He will perform at the Palace Theatre, 21 W. Otterman, Greensburg, at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Nov. 8.
Engvall has hosted numerous television shows including the game show LINGO for GSN, Country Fried Videos and Mobile Home Disasters, for CMT as well as several award shows.
He was featured on the TNT show Hawthorne, narrated a documentary for the Speed Channel on Darrel Waltrip and starred in the Hallmark Channel movie 鈥淜iss at Pine Lake.鈥�
Engvall also starred in and executive produced his own self-titled sitcom for TBS, which ran for three seasons and he was one of the stars of the sketch comedy show, Blue Collar TV, on the WB network. In 2008 Bill starred in Bait Shop which co-starred Billy Ray Cyrus and had its world premiere on the USA Network.
Engvall was part of the enormously successful Blue Collar Comedy concert films, which have sold more than 9 million units and are some of the most watched movies and special in Comedy Central history.
Engvall is a native of Galveston, Texas, but because his dad was in public health service, his family moved around a lot.
His start in comedy came from humble beginnings.
鈥淚 was in college and discovered women and beer and studies went out the door, so I dropped out of college, moved to Dallas and began spinning records in a night club,鈥� Engvall said. 鈥淢y friend who was a bouncer at the club said a new comedy club had opened and asked me to go watch amateur night.鈥�
Once they got there and a 鈥渇ew rounds of liquid encouragement鈥� went through them, Engvall got talked into going on stage. That was the beginning of 40-plus years of a comedy career.
鈥淚 just fell in love with it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e always enjoyed making people laugh, and it seems to come fairly easy to me because I鈥檓 able to pick up on stuff that a lot of people don鈥檛.鈥�
Engvall said he knew he had truly made it as a comedian when he won the American Comedy Award for 鈥淏est Male Stand-up Comedian.鈥�
鈥淭hat was the first year that the comedy awards had let the fans do the voting as opposed to just a panel of people,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat really meant a lot to me that the fans picked me out of five great comics.鈥�
But it was the Blue Collar Comedy Tour that 鈥減ut it all over the top鈥� for Engvall.
鈥淏eing a part of that group was an amazing experience,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檒l always be grateful to those fellows, but I would say the biggest break was when 鈥楬ere鈥檚 Your Sign鈥� first came out.
鈥淚 wish I could tell you that I was that smart that I knew it would be a hit,鈥� Engvall said. 鈥淭he original joke was that I thought that stupid people should be slapped, and my wife who is constantly looking out for me, said I didn鈥檛 look like the kind of guy who walks around slapping people.鈥�
Engvall was in a club where he was performing for five or six nights in a row, which really gave him the opportunity to work on his material, and he came up with this idea of a sign that said 鈥淚鈥檓 stupid.鈥�
鈥淢an, people just hooked into it 鈥� to the point where I would sell signs at my show for $1 a piece or two for $5 and you can鈥檛 believe how many people would buy two,鈥� he said.
Engvall said he would鈥檝e never believed it would catch on like it did.
鈥淚鈥檓 still amazed today that people will pay money to hear what I鈥檝e got to talk about,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 thank God for it, but just the other night I was at a show, and I was walking in the room with the promoter and the room was filled.
鈥淚 told him that it was weird that these people made plans to come out and see me, like I would say I was going out to see Elton John 鈥� it鈥檚 a big deal,鈥� said Engvall. 鈥淚t never goes unappreciated that people are coming out. I hope and pray that I never ever lose that feeling, because if you do, I think it鈥檚 time to quit.鈥�
Most comedians draw on what they know and things happening in their lives, which tends to draw in on family life or family members, but Engvall said they always know there are lines he won鈥檛 cross.
鈥淏ut that being said, when my daughter was in high school, she came home one day and said 鈥榯hat鈥檚 enough 鈥� some kid I don鈥檛 even know came up to me in the hallway at school today and said I heard your dad talking about your underwear on the radio,'鈥� he said.
鈥淏ut they all enjoy the perks of the business, so they鈥檙e willing to put up with a little bit to have a nice life,鈥� Engvall added.
Engvall has been touring for years, both solo and as part of the Blue Collar Comedy tour and said there are plus and minuses with both.
鈥淲ith the guys, it was great because you could hang out with your friends on the road,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e touring on your own, it gets kind of lonely sometimes and boring. But then again, on the Blue Collar tour, we all only got 20 minutes each and then an encore, whereas on my own I get to really stretch it out and have some fun.
鈥渋t was a little more constricted on the Blue Collar tour as opposed to by myself, but the numbers on Blue Collar were crazy,鈥� Engvall added. 鈥淭he fact that we were selling out arenas 鈥� I looked at (Jeff) Foxworthy one day and said this was as close to rock stars as we were ever going to get.鈥�
In the last several years Engvall has been solo touring and has been continuing to try his hand at acting.
鈥淚 enjoy acting a lot,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 enjoy the challenge of bringing a fictitious character to life. But, when you鈥檙e doing television and movies and stuff, I鈥檓 not the boss.
鈥淚 may have a 20-year-old executive at a network that鈥檚 telling me what I think is funny and what I should do, but being 62 and doing this for 40 years, sometimes that鈥檚 a hard pill to swallow,鈥� Engvall said. 鈥淏ut when I鈥檓 touring, I鈥檓 the boss and I make all the decisions.鈥�
Recently he just wrapped up on an indie film called 鈥淣o Running鈥� that will be out next year and he continues his reoccurring role as Reverend Paul on the Tim Allen Show.
鈥淭here鈥檚 different people looking at me for other projects 鈥� there鈥檚 some other irons in the fire, but I鈥檓 old enough now that I鈥檝e learned until the check clears and I鈥檓 on the stage, I don鈥檛 take anything for granted,鈥� Engvall said.
Tickets for his upcoming Greensburg show are $35, $45, $55, $65 and $90 and can be purchased online at http://www.thepalacetheatre.org or by calling 724-836-8000.