Don’t be sorry. Dorkfish *is *freaking funny. I also love, love, love his story of Vicodin Land, and his account of flying with the Thunderbirds.
I have to defend Engvall. My family found him on At the Improv on A&E back in the late 80s/early 90s. That was when he wasn’t just Foxworthy’s sidekick, and his “Stupid Sign” routine hadn’t yet morphed into the catch-phrase encore bit it is today. Him saying “Tire go flat?” in that real Southern goober-drawl is still a gem of comedy, but he’s moved on. It’s a shame he has to keep going back to the thing to keep his fans happy. If you actually listen to his regular stuff, it’s funny stories about mid-life, married life. It’s good.
As for the others, Foxworthy is better away from his standup; Larry deliberately dumbs it down too much, and Ron White relies on being a witty jerk. Larry is the one I could live my whole life without ever hearing again, even if he does make me chuckle every once in a while.
Once upon a time there was an OK but unremarkable comedian from Nebraska named Dan Whitney.
He created a character called “Larry the Cable Guy” and audiences responded favorably, so Larry’s stage time grew and grew until he ultimately took over Whitney’s entire act.
Larry has made Dan a very rich man, of course, but he’s also caused him to stagnate creatively. The other three, appearing as themselves (or versions thereof) rather than a single over-the-top fictional character, don’t have such a problem. This is why Larry is the weak link of the quartet.
Larry and Ron rely way too much on cheap dirty jokes. I don’t want to sound like a prude, but the reality is that a lot of their jokes are the sorts of things that teenaged boys would come up with while chatting with their buddies in the gym locker room. Some people think that kind of humor is hilarious, but to my mind, it’s seldom very clever, and thus, not very funny.
That’s why I like Bill Engvall. He mostly keeps it clean, which means that he has to rely on wit, imagination, and comedic delivery. Sure, he has that “Here’s your sign” gimmick, but it doesn’t take over his entire act. His “Dorkfish” routine is indeed a classic, and his Indian guide song had me in stitches.
I have to stick up for Bill Engvall - I saw him in clubs back in the 80s and laughed so hard I couldn’t catch my breath. Super nice guy.
While I’m happy he’s had some good success, I wasn’t thrilled to see him join forces with the redneck group because that was so not a part of his comedic persona back in the day.
On edit: what garygnu said.
Bill Engvall is definitely the weakest link.
Ron White’s my favorite.
Seconded. Bill Engvall is the only one of these Blue Collar assclowns I can stand to watch more than a couple minutes of.
None of them make me laugh, but I like Ron White. Something about the way he knocks back a drink is kinda cool.
Yep.
Engvall
Foxxy
Ron
Larry
Larry is last because of the aforementioned sole reliability on dirty jokes. I’m not a dirty joke guy so they don’t do it for me, although he will get some good ones in there.
Ron is funny in his own right, but again, not really my type.
I think Engvall is the funniest because, aside from the sign stuff, he has the best straight matierial.
In order:
Ron White has made me laugh, and I kind of like his persona.
Bill Engvall has made me laugh.
I’ve even gotten a couple of mild chuckles off of Jeff Foxworthy.
I have never found Larry remotely amusing.
I’ll admit all have made me laugh, but Ron White’s the only one I really like more than I don’t. Foxworthy’s voice annoys the hell out of me- very whiney and self congratulatory if that makes any sense. He’s also as phoney as Larry- he makes comments about the small town south and growing up redneck (a term he uses interchangably with “trailer trash” or “white trash”) and pickups and coondogs and yee-haw and the like when in fact he grew up upper middle class in suburban Atlanta- not exactly a shack out in the bayou. Engvall’s “here’s your sign” are my least favorite part of his act- he had a routine about sex scenes in the movies versus sex in real life that was one of the funniest stand up bits I ever heard. So my favorite to least favorite order would be White, Engvall, Larry, Foxworthy.
What he said.
LOVE Ron White.
I like Foxworthy.
I can tolerate Engvall.
I* hate *LTCG’s stand-up. He’s OK at the end where they are all on stage trading stories.
Least - as in slightly less entertaining than the rest - Bill Engvall.
But honestly, anyone who doesn’t find them all funny is seriously stuck in their own I-haven’t-pooped-in-three-weeks-because-i’m-so-stuck-on-my-own-holier-than-thou-narrow-views-of-the-world PC bullshit.
Thanks for that.
Because your sense of humor is ‘correct’ and anyone who disagrees is wrong. Riiiiight. :rolleyes:
Can’t stand Ron White for more than a minute. I’m not much of a fan for the cynical comics. I love Bill Engvall’s take on dealing with kids, being middle-aged, mostly because I’m a country hick that’s middle-aged, married, and have kids.
I definitely like Ron White. He seems to be a really cool, party guy.
It’s just that his jokes aren’t funny! I think that people wait so long for him to get to the point, that they’d feel like idiots if they didn’t laugh at something.
Let’s party, Ron, but leave the jokes to me.
Best wishes,
hh
Ron has great delivery. If you think critically about “I knew how many they were gonna use,” it’s not all that funny, although I do think it’s a clever line. But the way he delivers it is brilliant.