August 28
The Riverside Th..
Interview with Larry the Cable Guy
I spent 30 minutes gabbing with Larry the Cable Guy, whose real name is Daniel Whitney. He was analytical and confident yet humble.
His character on stage is more a goofy, happy-go-lucky Southern good ol’ boy in cutoff plaid shirts and is now considered one of the biggest comedy draws in the country this side of Dane Cook.
But he says he and the character are now melded together in a sense, not separate people. “I’m half and half,” he said by phone last week. “In the beginning, it was just a character. But I’ve had a wife and kids. I’ve started incorporating more of myself into Larry so it becomes more real.”
Larry — we’ll call him Larry since that’s who he is better known as — is going to be on stage for two shows at Fox Theatre Saturday at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. and will be the target of a Comedy Central roast which was taped earlier this month and airs Sunday at 10 p.m..
On his own simple comedy philosophy: “I read Steve Martin’s book. I noticed how much his career paralleled mine in the way he exploded on the scene. He never felt nervous before a show because he knew the fans were coming to see him. The only thing he worried about was disappointing the fans. That’s exactly how I feel. You just want to do your best every time you go on.
On the Comedy Central roast Sunday: “It felt great. It’s an honor to be roasted. You have to have a certain level of accomplishment to get roasted.”
On who got to roast him: “I got to pick all the roasters. Jeffrey Ross was in my Christmas special. He’s a great roaster, great one liners. Nick DiPaulo was one of my all-time favorites from back when I was working in clubs. Lisa [Lamponelli] is a dear friend of mine. I had to have Greg Geraldo. I like the way he really hammers you. I saw him on the Foxworthy roast. Toby Keith– I hang out with him a lot. And Maureen McCormick? She’s Marcia Brady! I chose her just because I wanted to.And Gary Busey, you never know what he’s going to do.”
On how they roasted him: “They got on my case about my weight. But that’s crap because I’ve lost 50 pounds. I might blow my Nutrisystem deal! They picked on my movies. “Delta Farce” got hammered a lot. And the fact I’m a character.”
On his real accent vs. his stage accent: “I picked up my accent when I moved to Florida when I was 16. I’m a country kid who grew up on a farm in Nebraska. It’s not like I grew up in an apartment in L.A. or woke up to decide I’ll become a redneck. I’ve always been a country act.”
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