All good comics find a common denominator with their audience. Larry the Cable Guy aims for the lowest, and it has made him a pop star and a huge commercial success.
Saturday, he performed twice at the Midland at AMC theater. After his initial show sold out faster than he can deliver a fart joke, he added a 5 p.m. matinee. That one nearly sold out, too. Why? A lot of people like to laugh at material that appeals to their inner-seventh-grader, even some of us under the impression that we’re above it.
More than the average cable-guy, Daniel Lawrence Whitney looks like the kind of fellow you’d see at a small-town famer’s market, yucking it up about the coyote carcass that’s lodged in his combine or the poachers he scared off his land. His stage voice is thick-hick, and his manners are first-class rube with lots of hillbilly charm.
His delivery, though, is as artful as Rodney Dangerfield’s. In fact, he can spit out the one-liners as fast and deftly as the King of No Respect, like how he tried to cash in his “rollover minutes” to get some sex out of his wife. Or how the pregnant woman laughed so hard a tiny foot came out her nose. Or how it was so cold “my tongue got stuck to a stripper’s pole.”
He will tell you he pays no attention to political correctness, but he does tend to know where that line is. His ethnic material, at worst, straddles it: “If Southern women are Southern belles, are Mexican women Taco Belles?” He is not above laughing at his own kind, like the average Wal-Mart shopper or employee: During an eye exam at Wal-Mart, he said, “They ask you, ‘How many teeth does that cashier over there have?’ ” He also talked about the absurdity of walk-in health clinics at Wal-Mart: “ 'What? I’ve got a polyp on my colon? Hell with that. I’m going to Target for a second opinion.' ”
His show was mostly a-political; he is predominantly a redneck-populist. When he did get poltical, the show went a little errant. He ranted a little about government bailouts and global warming ("Al Gore is no scientist") . And he seemed to blame President Obama for all the state aid the Octomom is getting out in Cali.
But mostly he gave abuot 1,800 people plenty of silly reasons to laugh at each other and about themselves. What’s so redneck about that?
| Timothy Finn, The Star
Daniel (aka Larry) use to be a regular caller into Tanna's radio show on KY (before Johnny's, sorry) and was always quick with the tongue. What's funny is to hear him without the redneck voice. An intelligent east coast guy if I remember correctly. You might not like the "schtick" but change the subject matter and he's as quick as the best of 'em. You get it Tim. Rodney's a good comparison.
Posted by: wadkc | April 26, 2009 at 04:37 PM
Sorry. Nebraska & Florida.
Posted by: wadkc | April 26, 2009 at 04:39 PM
If you went to high school in any rural town in the midwest, you'll recognize Larry. CMT has been running an interview w/ him by Mike Wallace from 60 Minutes. They go back to his home town and talk to his classmates and teachers. Jeff Foxworthy got the ball rolling and people like Larry picked it up and kept it going. How can you NOT laugh at someone talking about their grandma gettin' the "walkin' farts"? Irreverent, juvenile, low brow, sure, but it makes you laugh and laughter's good in f'ed up times like today. IF politics is your schtick, then sure fire away from the stage. But, if you've made a living off non-political jokes, then there's no reason to alienate any of your fans and get political. You don't have to be head cashier down at WalMart to appreciate that :)
Posted by: The Teacher | April 28, 2009 at 08:45 AM