You won’t hear a single “you might be a redneck” joke on Jeff Foxworthy’s first solo stand-up special in nearly a quarter century on a service that didn’t even exist in 1998: Netflix.
But his fundamentally likable persona and clean humor at age 63 is no different than it was when he was 39.
The long-time Atlanta resident’s “The Good Old Days” special, now available on the streaming service, covers a broad array of relatable material such as aging parents, erectile dysfunction ads, the difficulty remembering passwords and overpacking for vacations.
He opened with a strong, extended bit about his wife Pamela’s gabbiness during the pandemic and his inability to process it all by himself. “It’s almost as if people think the bit is over but I just keep going,” Foxworthy said. “I can see the men in the audience elbowing their wives.”
Foxworthy ended with an even funnier story regarding a hotel incident with Larry the Cable Guy where Foxworthy is the literal butt of the joke.
He originally was going to tape the special at his favorite place, Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, but the pandemic kept causing him to push the date back and he found the vaccine requirements there too extreme for his taste at the time he was taping. So he ended up doing it in Minneapolis, where everyone in attendance still had to wear masks. As a result, the special only showed audience members from behind.
“The audience sets the pace of the race,” he said. “It’s weird not to see the facial expressions. You have to depend on hearing the laughter and setting the pace with that.”
Here are other highlights from a recent interview Foxworthy had with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
On his recent move to Brookhaven: “I’ve lived in Decatur, Hapeville, College Park, Smyrna, Norcross, Alpharetta, Johns Creek and now Brookhaven. I’ve just about covered the whole city. We moved [to Brookhaven] because our kids are down this way. One girl is nine minutes away and the other is ten minutes away. It’s kind of awesome to have them this close.”
His job in 1984 before he became a full-time comic: “At IBM, I was a customer engineer, which sounds fancy. I carried a tool bag and fixed machines.”
Being a stand-up comic: “I still enjoy it. It never seemed like a job. The travel has been a challenge the past couple of years. Half of the hotels don’t even have room service. But once I’m at the theater, I say, ‘Crap! I can’t believe I’ve been getting away with this for so long!’”
It remains a challenge: Comics typically don’t use material that already aired on TV or a streaming service. So Foxworthy now has to start over. “I have to start from scratch and sit down and write a new 90 minutes. It’s scary. There’s no easy way to do it. I have to practice my material in small clubs like the Punchline. I don’t want a Saturday crowd because I think they’re more generous laughing. I go on a Monday or Tuesday when there are only 30 people there. They’ll be honest with me. It’s one of the things that fascinates me about stand-up. I don’t know what people are going to laugh at. I have these notecards. I’d pick four of them I’d think are the best and two of them get nothing. Others I think are stupid and I just throw it out there and people are beating the tables.”
Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
Physical humor: Foxworthy does a bit in the special where he rolls around on the floor. “That was a spur of the moment thing. I had not planned that. It kind of happened. When I was halfway through it, I was thinking, ‘I hope I can get up again!’ I did a joke during the Blue Collar Comedy Tour 20 years ago about kids in the cereal aisle of the grocery store throwing a tantrum. I’d get on the floor and run my feet around in a circle. I had a friend who was a chiropractor and he’d go, ‘Oh my gosh. You’ve been doing the cereal joke again!’ It would whack out my back when I do it!”
Credit: Bob Andres
Credit: Bob Andres
On his recent Fox theater show: “It might have been the best show I’ve ever done. I love playing the Fox. It’s so warm. It’s my hometown. To think it was so close to getting torn down. There’s something about being on the stage. The sound is so rich. You can hear the laughter rolling down to you like a waterfall. It’s a magical place. Between the top floor and main stage in the stairwell backstage there’s a life-size picture of me on the wall. There’s one of Elvis Presley there, too. That’s the only time Elvis and I will be listed in the same sentence!”
On his fellow Blue Collar Comedy Tour mate Ron White’s retirement announcement: “I bet I can talk him out of it. We’ll see.”
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
On when he knows it’s time to call it quits: “I tell my wife to tell me when I’m not funny anymore. I don’t want to be the comedian on stage who isn’t funny. She said, ‘If you listen closely, you’ll know.’ I don’t want to stay too long at the dance, but for now, I still enjoy it. Let’s just say I’m listening carefully for any hint it’s time to hang it up.”
WHERE TO SEE IT
“Jeff Foxworthy: The Good Old Days,” available now on Netflix
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