Comedy Central

With the gigantic success that the Blue Collar Comedy Tour has accumulated, it was only a matter of time before each one of the comedians received their own HBO or Comedy Central special.  Jeff Foxworthy is associated with the “Are you smarter than a 5^th grader?” game-show. Larry the Cable guy is showcasing his acting range with box office phenomena (i.e. Witless Protection and Delta Farce). Bill Engvall has struggled to find his niche and seems to be on every sitcom pilot that has come out in the last two years.  And then there’s Ron White, if you’re anything like myself, this is your next question, who?  

Ron White is a stand up comedian that gained notoriety with his red neck self-deprecating genre of comedy. White did not want to be associated with Blue Collar TV because he was not interested in being typecast as a blue collar comedian. Unfortunately, his routine begs to differ.  His set is riddled with low brow humor and a genre of observational comedy.  There are still a few laughs and his recounting of his recent drug arrest is well told.  However, multiple times throughout the set, his rants feel forced and the result is tiresome.  There are similarities between this set and Lewis Black’s newer material.  At least Black’s comedic performances take firm political and social stances.  Any political or social stances that White takes are buried beneath piles of profanity, ethnic slurs and sexual humor. The high points of this set are when he struggles with his material. White stammers on his own words and laughs it off. The audience gets to see the natural, unforced side of his humor and these are true comedic moments. If low brow, uncouth and foul mouthed comedy is your interest, this DVD is for you.