A few more notes on Jeff Foxworthy

Jeff Foxworthy is not a musician, but he is a music host, so it's close enough for this blog.

It is a rule... Most of the time comics or comic actors suck on the phone. This has been my experience. Every now and again, I get surprised. George Carlin was good. So, too, was Lily Tomlin. Chelsea Handler was horrible. Lewis Black was sort of dull and Martin Short made me want to get drunk and jump in front of a car.

I didn't expect much from Foxworthy. Still, I thought it turned out pretty good.

-When I spoke to him, he'd just returned from a hunting trip to New Zealand. His wife booked it as a present for his 50th birthday. Foxworthy is an avid bow hunter. A native guide took them out to hunt Red Stag and he said the countryside was amazing. I asked him if he got any tattoos or if he hunted while wearing a loincloth.

-About tattoos. He told me he didn't have any, though if he did, he'd have them put on his wrist next to his watch. They'd be his wife's birthday, his wedding anniversary and a warning not to let Ron White borrow his car. That was a little vague for me, but White was in a movie where a character wrecked a car. I'll have to ask White about it, next time he comes through.

-Foxworthy seemed a little sensitive about how his comedy is perceived. I asked him if rural people are safe to make fun of. I was thinking of Borat, which mercilessly hammered rural sentiments (more so than urban. When he wasn't playing the rube from the country in the big city, he was poking fun at small town small-mindedness). He, of course, said he didn't make fun of rural people. He was just poking fun at human foibles.

-I don't think he trusts TV. He got burned on his sit-com and was hesitant about going back. He's not the first to come up with that. Several other rural comedians have had trouble, not so much with establishing a show, but dealing with the Hollywood system.

-I asked him about the story involving the lighting guy falling asleep during his set during the Blue Collar Comedy Tour's stop in Charleston. This was supposed to have happened a few years ago. He didn't remember it, but thought it was hilarious --if it happened. I heard the story from a stagehand a few years ago, but couldn't verify it.

-He was amazed at how some of his bits have grown without him. I asked him what he thought about all these chain e-mails floating around (with pictures) based on his Redneck bit. He said it sort of underlined one of the things he learned about his humor. The jokes that get the biggest laughs are the ones that are true.

-All in all, a really nice guy and he was okay with laughing.