# Is country comedy pretty much dead? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2016, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723 "2016-06-07T10:09:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/1 "2016-06-07T10:09:12Z")
There was always a comedy act in the old country music shows. Minnie Pearl, June Carter, Stringbean, and Grandpa Jones. Most of them combined country music with comedy. Later there was Jerry Clower, the great yarn teller. Shotgun Red (a puppet) and others I’ve forgotten. I can’t think of any rural comedy except Jeff Foxworthy,Bill Engvall, and Larry the Cable guy. I don’t think they actually travel and perform with country music acts. Not sure, but I doubt any have been on the Grand Ole Opry. Is cornpone country comedy a lost art? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/2 "2016-06-07T11:04:23Z")
How did you not mention **Hee Haw!**? Definitely the peak of country comedy consciousness. I suspect the “cornpone country comedy” epicenter these days is Branson, Missouri (the Vegas of country stars). These things go in and out of fashion, though, so perhaps in another decade there’ll be a resurgence of hilarious hicks in popular culture. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/3 "2016-06-07T12:42:28Z")
When I saw Johnny Mathis a couple of years ago he had Gary Mule Deer as a supporting act. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/4 "2016-06-07T13:27:51Z")
Shit. Gary Mule Deer has been on tour with _somebody_ since at least 1972, which is the first time I saw him. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/5 "2016-06-07T15:34:29Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > How did you not mention **Hee Haw!**? Definitely the peak of country comedy consciousness. > > I suspect the “cornpone country comedy” epicenter these days is Branson, Missouri (the Vegas of country stars). These things go in and out of fashion, though, so perhaps in another decade there’ll be a resurgence of hilarious hicks in popular culture. I was going to chime in that I have been to Branson in the last decade or so and seen exactly this type of performance. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/6 "2016-06-07T15:48:49Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Is cornpone country comedy a lost art? Yes, yes it is. There is not a single person alive today doing country comedy. We’ll have to wait until the next generation grows up. So maybe we might see it again in 30-40 years. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/7 "2016-06-07T18:17:14Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > When I saw Johnny Mathis a couple of years ago he had Gary Mule Deer as a supporting act. How is Gary Mule Deer country comedy? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/8 "2016-06-07T18:23:48Z")
100 appearances on the Nashville Network and a couple of years on _Hee Haw_. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/9 "2016-06-07T18:32:19Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > 100 appearances on the Nashville Network and a couple of years on _Hee Haw_. But other than that, how is he country comedy? ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/10 "2016-06-07T19:59:34Z")
Rodney Carrington (even though he says he isn’t a ‘country comedian’) Jon Reep (‘That thing got a hemi?’) Ron White (Tater Salad) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/11 "2016-06-07T21:07:12Z")
Stringbean, and grandpa Jones were very good banjo pickers. June Carter was a pretty good singer that sang in the Carter Family. June always said that her sisters were better singers. I guess that’s why she shifted to comedy and also still sang. I think musical ability and comedy set them apart. The exception was Minnie Pearl. That ear piercing Howdy!!! I never saw her sing. Probably for the best. 😃 Jim Stafford did funny songs. But I dont know if he included comic banter in his act or not. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/12 "2016-06-07T21:24:12Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > 100 appearances on the Nashville Network and a couple of years on _Hee Haw_. Some kinda subversive hippie is what he is. Seriously they must not be checking the resumes on Hee Haw anymore. The screening used to be a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/13 "2016-06-07T22:37:31Z")
I think people are mixing up cornpone comedy with comedians with southern accents. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/14 "2016-06-07T22:51:06Z")
Didnt sing? [Minnie Pearl Sings - YouTube](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=26o0TnXcfWY) I seem to recall seeing Cousin Minnie plucking on a small guitar, once or twice. In Vaudeville you needed to be able to do more than one thing. Then there’s the classic story of tour bus drivers pointing out her lavish mansion, then pointing to the smaller one nearby as the governor’s. Nice digs, and I don’t impress easy. Girl knew how to live. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/15 "2016-06-07T22:52:56Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I think people are mixing up cornpone comedy with comedians with southern accents. Yeah, cornpone is probably as dead as the lifestyle it rose from. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/16 "2016-06-08T02:06:30Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Didnt sing? [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=26o0TnXcfWY](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=26o0TnXcfWY) > > I seem to recall seeing Cousin Minnie plucking on a small guitar, once or twice. In Vaudeville you needed to be able to do more than one thing. > > Then there’s the classic story of tour bus drivers pointing out her lavish mansion, then pointing to the smaller one nearby as the governor’s. Nice digs, and I don’t impress easy. Girl knew how to live. I didn’t know she sang. Thanks for the link. I recall an interview and they said Minnie had the thankless job of travelling with Hank Williams jr. In the 1960’s. Trying to keep him sober and able to do the next show. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/17 "2016-06-08T02:21:12Z")
**Is country comedy pretty much dead?** If it ain’t someone needs to drive a stake through it’s heart. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-comedy-pretty-much-dead/756723/18 "2016-06-08T11:45:28Z")
I ran across this article. I’m going to order the Wheeler Walker alubum. [http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/03/arts/music/country-music-humor-alter-egos.html?\_r=0](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/03/arts/music/country-music-humor-alter-egos.html?_r=0) > [@](#): > > For one week in February, “Redneck \_\_\_\_” by Wheeler Walker Jr., a provocative creation of the comedian Ben Hoffman, was both the No. 1 comedy album and the No. 9 country album. Granger Smith’s “Remington” arrived a month later, featuring jokey numbers by his outsized alter ego, Earl Dibbles Jr. And Mr. Bones’s own band, the Raging Idiots, a jocular duo that also features his show producer Eddie Garcia, recently released its first full-length album, “The Critics Give It Five Stars,” which not only made its debut atop Billboard’s comedy albums chart but landed at No. 4 on the country chart.