Some background: Spent the tender formative years of my adolescence and young adulthood in VA; worked in blue collar jobs around a lot of other blue collar co-workers; married into a relatively poor southern family (not that mine was rich by any stretch of the imagination).
I found this DVD in the local used rack and bought it without really knowing anything about it due to the presence of Jeff Foxworthy on it. I guess I should have been aware of Bill Engvall somehow, as he seems to have (and acts kind of uppity like he has) first or second billing, but he was new to me. Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White were also new to me, and appeared to have third billing together.
Jeff basically phoned his performance in, but he did get a chuckle out of me now and then. A disappointment. Surprisingly his southern angle didn't ring very true - more Midwest if you ask me, both in content and delivery. Nothing wrong with that per se, just didn't fit in so well with the others.
"Here's your sign" Bill Engvall struck me as a big fish from a little southern pond; sanctimonious, maudlin, kind of a jerk actually. Some of his stuff was funny, but he had this superiority thing going that really turned me off. Maybe I'm just slow, but it took me a while to figure out the whole "here's your sign" shtick, but I guess if you already are familiar with him and his act then you know what to expect. He laughed too much at his own stuff. OK, I laughed too now and then, but overall he was annoying.
Ron White was easy-going and full of charisma, and had some great material and an even greater delivery. I have no idea how much the drink in his hand was contributing to his performance, but it appeared to be enhancing the entire laid-back southern thing and not seriously interfering with the mental functions required to do stand-up. Ron was incredibly humorous and made me laugh like I hadn't laughed in a while. Really good stuff. I'm going to get his "Tater Salad" DVD when it comes out.
Larry the Cable Guy was the best, though. If you've never spent time with someone like him, you might think that he is some kind of hick caricature - he is not. These people really exist, and their take on things can easily be perceived by the uninitiated as near self-parody. Larry either comes from NC or thereabouts, or is a very good study (I believe the latter). He has the vocal inflections, speech patterns, phrases, and body language of that area down cold, all the way to the absent-minded arm scratching. And his material is a riot! Side-splittingly funny! I almost went hoarse with laughing. I went and got his "Get-R-Done!" DVD yesterday and it didn't disappoint, but he seemed a bit fresher on the BCCT DVD. (FYI: no real overlap in the material on the two DVDs; even his "eatin' britches" routine is expanded and quite different on "Get-R-Done!". I want a Dunkin' Britches franchise of my own!)
Rating as-is: 7.5 out of 10. Without Jeff and Bill: 9 out of 10.
I found this DVD in the local used rack and bought it without really knowing anything about it due to the presence of Jeff Foxworthy on it. I guess I should have been aware of Bill Engvall somehow, as he seems to have (and acts kind of uppity like he has) first or second billing, but he was new to me. Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White were also new to me, and appeared to have third billing together.
Jeff basically phoned his performance in, but he did get a chuckle out of me now and then. A disappointment. Surprisingly his southern angle didn't ring very true - more Midwest if you ask me, both in content and delivery. Nothing wrong with that per se, just didn't fit in so well with the others.
"Here's your sign" Bill Engvall struck me as a big fish from a little southern pond; sanctimonious, maudlin, kind of a jerk actually. Some of his stuff was funny, but he had this superiority thing going that really turned me off. Maybe I'm just slow, but it took me a while to figure out the whole "here's your sign" shtick, but I guess if you already are familiar with him and his act then you know what to expect. He laughed too much at his own stuff. OK, I laughed too now and then, but overall he was annoying.
Ron White was easy-going and full of charisma, and had some great material and an even greater delivery. I have no idea how much the drink in his hand was contributing to his performance, but it appeared to be enhancing the entire laid-back southern thing and not seriously interfering with the mental functions required to do stand-up. Ron was incredibly humorous and made me laugh like I hadn't laughed in a while. Really good stuff. I'm going to get his "Tater Salad" DVD when it comes out.
Larry the Cable Guy was the best, though. If you've never spent time with someone like him, you might think that he is some kind of hick caricature - he is not. These people really exist, and their take on things can easily be perceived by the uninitiated as near self-parody. Larry either comes from NC or thereabouts, or is a very good study (I believe the latter). He has the vocal inflections, speech patterns, phrases, and body language of that area down cold, all the way to the absent-minded arm scratching. And his material is a riot! Side-splittingly funny! I almost went hoarse with laughing. I went and got his "Get-R-Done!" DVD yesterday and it didn't disappoint, but he seemed a bit fresher on the BCCT DVD. (FYI: no real overlap in the material on the two DVDs; even his "eatin' britches" routine is expanded and quite different on "Get-R-Done!". I want a Dunkin' Britches franchise of my own!)
Rating as-is: 7.5 out of 10. Without Jeff and Bill: 9 out of 10.