Comedian Larry the Cable Guy said his new special, "Remain Seated," does not include any political material because he feels audiences are "sick of that stuff." File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
April 7 (UPI) -- Larry the Cable Guy is back with his first solo comedy special in more than a decade, and the longtime stand-up said not much has changed -- other than his material going from "PG-13" to "PG-12." Larry, 57, real name Daniel Lawrence Whitney, is releasing Remain Seated, his first solo special since 2009's Tailgate Party, on Tuesday on the Comedy Dynamics network. The comedian said he has been keeping busy during the past decade with movies, TV appearances and non-solo stand-up specials alongside longtime collaborators such as Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall. Advertisem*nt
He said his main focus in recent years has been offstage.
"For the last couple of years, I've been only doing about 30 shows a year. I've been concentrating on my family and enjoying life," Larry told UPI in a recent interview. He said producers from Comedy Dynamics "called me up and asked if I wanted to do one, and I had the material built up, so I said 'Yeah, sure. Let's do it.'"
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Larry said preparing the material for the special was largely about organizing unused material he had accumulated over the past several years.
"You go and you do shows and you have material for your last one that you didn't use, and you build on those, so I had a ton of stuff," he said.
The accumulated material came out to about 55 minutes, so rounding out the hour required some work.
"I'm a one-liner comedian, so all my jokes are quick -- set-up, punch, set-up, punch. I'm not a storyteller," he said. "Some people do a whole bit and the laugh's at the end. They've got like a seven-minute story, and that's seven minutes they got that they just wrote.
"But I do one-liners. I can write 20 really funny one-liners, but once you put them together, that's only five minutes."
Real-life character
Larry said the biggest change to his stage persona since he debuted in the 1990s has been incorporating more of his own real life into the character.
"When I first came up with the character, it was completely fictional. I was making up girlfriends, making up ex-wives, because I didn't have a wife and I didn't have kids," he said. "Now I have a wife and kids, so I've incorporated my family into the character."
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The performer said he also thinks his "writing's gotten better" and the character is "probably not as rough as it once was."
"I think I went from PG-13 to PG-12," he said with a laugh.
The new special includes plenty of the scatological humor and sexual innuendo for which Larry the Cable Guy became known, but he continues to steer clear of harder profanities.
"I don't need that language to make it funny," he said. "I do regular old country trailer words, but I don't drop any f-bombs, I don't take the lord's name in vain."
Larry said his language choices reflect his upbringing on a pig farm in the 1970s and living with his father, who was a preacher.
"My dad was a preacher, so anything was acceptable except taking the Lord's name in vain and dropping f-bombs. Everything else was pretty good to go."
Keeping it light
Longtime fans might also notice Remain Seated does not feature references to politics or world events -- topics the comedian had taken on in previous material.
"I think everybody's sick of that stuff," Larry said. "I know I'm sick of it, so I just want people to laugh and have fun."
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Larry said he also tries to steer clear of controversy.
"Back in the day I would write a joke, and then I wouldn't want to do it, because I knew people wouldn't like it, but it was so stinking funny I didn't really care," he said.
Audiences, he said, "are way too defensive now."
"It's not like it used to be, where you could do a political joke, and they would laugh at it and move on, or they wouldn't like it and they would still move on. You can't do that anymore. Now, you do a joke, and you offend their politics, and they want to ban you from the planet. So it's not worth it," Larry said.
Older audiences
Larry the Cable Guy's fan base gained a younger component in 2005 when he provided the voice of Mater in Disney/Pixar's Cars and its subsequent sequels, but he said it hasn't led to an influx of younger faces at his stand-up shows.
"I still work casinos and stuff like that, so my shows have pretty much always had an age limit. I have noticed every now and then somebody will bring their kids, which is fine," he said.
"If I do something that's innuendo-y, it goes over their head, anyway. There's not a ton of bad language, so it's not like it's going to upset anybody -- not anybody that's coming to my show, anyway."
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Offstage, the comedian and his wife, Cara, have been operating the Git-R-Done Foundation since 2009. The non-profit raises money for charities with a special focus on causes that benefit children and veterans.
"I enjoy helping the community, and giving back to my fans. They've bought all my stuff and they made it possible for me to have this awesome life, so I feel that it's the right thing to do," he said.
"I feel that if you've come to a certain degree of success in your field, and you've gotten it through people buying your stuff, I think it's only right to help out."
One way the non-profit raises funds is by sponsoring the Git-R-Done Golf Classic, an annual golf tournament in Lincoln, Neb. Larry said golf has become a big part of his life as he's grown older.
"Golf's a great sport when you get a little bit older," he said. "If you were athletic and you always played sports, you get older and stuff doesn't work as it used to work. I find that golf is the one sport where you can still go out and compete with somebody that's a lot younger than you. It's fun, it's challenging -- it's one of the most challenging sports out there."
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Larry's other off-stage interests include highlighting comedians on Jeff & Larry's Comedy Roundup, the SiriusXM radio station he runs with Jeff Foxworthy; signing comedians to his label, Git-R-Done Records; and spending time with his family.
Larry said he's started to notice the humor genes manifesting in his son, Wyatt, 13, and daughter, Reagan, 12.
"It's funny how your kids take on the personality of their parents. My wife is very funny, but she's very reserved, a very dry sense of humor. But it's hilarious. That's what my boy is like. And my girl is just like me. She's always the clown at everything. They're both funny, they're definitely funny," he said.
Larry the Cable Guy: Remain Seated is available Tuesday from the Comedy Dynamics network on streaming platforms and on-demand.
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Larry the Cable Guy:
Larry the Cable Guy, whose real name is Daniel Lawrence Whitney, is a comedian known for his blue-collar comedy and Southern redneck persona. He gained popularity in the 1990s and has since released several comedy albums and specials. Larry the Cable Guy is known for his catchphrase "Git-R-Done" and his humorous observations on everyday life, often with a focus on rural and working-class themes.
Larry the Cable Guy's Comedy Special "Remain Seated":
Larry the Cable Guy's latest comedy special is titled "Remain Seated." It is his first solo special in over a decade, following his 2009 special "Tailgate Party." "Remain Seated" was released on the Comedy Dynamics network. In this special, Larry the Cable Guy focuses on delivering his signature style of comedy, which includes scatological humor and sexual innuendo. However, he avoids political material and controversial topics, as he believes audiences are tired of them.
Larry the Cable Guy's Material and Writing Style:
Larry the Cable Guy describes himself as a one-liner comedian. His jokes are quick and rely on punchlines rather than storytelling. He accumulates material from his previous shows and builds upon it for future performances. For "Remain Seated," Larry organized unused material he had accumulated over the past several years. He incorporates his own real-life experiences, including his family, into his stage persona. Over time, Larry's writing style has evolved, and he believes his material has become less rough, transitioning from a PG-13 rating to a PG-12 rating.
Larry the Cable Guy's Language Choices:
Larry the Cable Guy's language choices reflect his upbringing on a pig farm in the 1970s and his father's role as a preacher. He avoids using harder profanities and taking the Lord's name in vain. While he uses regular country trailer words, he believes that he doesn't need explicit language to make his comedy funny.
Larry the Cable Guy's Off-Stage Interests:
Off-stage, Larry the Cable Guy is involved in various activities. He operates the Git-R-Done Foundation, a non-profit organization he founded in 2009. The foundation raises money for charities, with a special focus on causes that benefit children and veterans. Larry and his wife, Cara, also organize the Git-R-Done Golf Classic, an annual golf tournament in Lincoln, Nebraska, to raise funds for the foundation. Additionally, Larry runs Jeff & Larry's Comedy Roundup, a SiriusXM radio station that highlights comedians. He also signs comedians to his label, Git-R-Done Records.
I hope this information provides you with a good overview of the concepts mentioned in the article. Let me know if there's anything else I can assist you with!