From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jeff Foxworthy
Foxworthy at the red carpet of the 2007 American Idol Season Finale
Birth name	Jeffrey Marvin Foxworthy
Born	September 6, 1958 (1958-09-06) (age 51) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up Television Film Radio
Nationality	American
Years active	1984–present
Genres	Southern comedy Country comedy
Subject(s)	Rednecks Culture of the Southern United States Everyday life Family
Spouse	Pamela Gregg (1985–present)
Notable works and roles	The Jeff Foxworthy Show (1995–1997) Blue Collar Comedy Tour (2003–2006) Blue Collar TV (2004–2006) Host of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (2007–present)
Signature
Website	JeffFoxworthy.com

Jeffery Marvin "Jeff" Foxworthy (born September 6, 1958) is an American stand-up comedian and television personality. As the best-selling comedy recording artist of all time, he is a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, a comedy troupe which also comprises Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall and Ron White. Known for his "you might be a redneck" one-liners, Foxworthy has released six major-label comedy albums. His first two albums were each certified 3×multi-Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Foxworthy has also written several books based on his redneck jokes, as well as an autobiography entitled, No Shirt, No Shoes… No Problem!

Foxworthy has also made several ventures into television, first in the mid-1990s as the star of a sitcom called, The Jeff Foxworthy Show. He has also appeared alongside Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy in several Blue Collar television specials, most notably Blue Collar TV. Since 2007, he has been the host of the quiz show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? on Fox (2007-09) and syndication (2009-present). Foxworthy hosted a nationally syndicated radio show called The Foxworthy Countdown from April 1999 to December 2009.

Biography

Foxworthy was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the first child of James Abstance, a computer executive, and Carole Linda (Camp) Foxworthy.^[1][2] His grandfather, James Marvin Camp, was a Hapeville, Georgia, fireman for more than 30 years.^[1]

Foxworthy graduated from Hapeville High School. He attended Georgia Tech in Atlanta, but did not graduate. He worked for five years in mainframe computer maintenance at IBM (where his father also worked). At the urging of co-workers, he entered and won the Great Southeastern Laugh-off, at Atlanta's Punchline comedy club, in 1984.^[3]

Personal life

Foxworthy has been married to Pamela Gregg since 1985 and has two daughters, Jordan (born in 1992) and Julianne (born in 1994).^[4]

A noted hunting enthusiast, Foxworthy has appeared as host and featured guest on several programs on the Outdoor Channel and Versus.[1][2]

Foxworthy, a born-again Christian, has supported missionary work in Africa, specifically Kenya. He has close connections with the 410 Bridge and has put on a benefit event for them entitled, "A Night For Africa," two years in a row. He has been to Kenya to provide aid on a firsthand basis.^{[citation needed]}

As a supporter of the Duke University Children's Hospital and Health Center, Foxworthy is the honorary chairman of its golf tournament. Each year he and his wife host a reception during the tournament weekend, and he serves as headliner and host for an evening of entertainment.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Comedy albums

Foxworthy received the award for "Best Stand-Up Comic" at the 1990 American Comedy Awards.^{[citation needed]}

In 1993, he released You Might Be a Redneck If..., which started the "You Might Be a Redneck" fad, topped the comedy album charts and sold more than three million copies.

His July 1995 release, "Games Rednecks Play," received a 1996 Grammy nomination for "Best Spoken Comedy Album."^[5]

Totally Committed was released in May 1999. In conjunction with the CD was a one-hour HBO stand-up special by the same name. The CD reached "gold" status and received a 1999 Grammy Award nomination.^[6]

In 2001, he received a nomination for "Best Spoken Comedy Album" at the 43rd Annual Grammys.^{[citation needed]}

Foxworthy hosted Country Weekly's ""TNN Music City News Country Awards" show for 1998, 1999 and 2000.^[7]

Television

In 1995, he starred in The Jeff Foxworthy Show, a sitcom created out of his stand-up comedy persona. It aired on ABC, but was canceled after one season. NBC subsequently picked up the show, but it was again canceled after one season. Foxworthy later remarked that the network did not understand how to properly market his humor; thinking his routine was "too Southern" for a national network ("Has anyone heard me talk?", he commented in one of his stand-up routines), they based the first season of his sitcom in Bloomington, Indiana. The show later aired on Nick at Nite and CMT in 2005 and 2006. He also appeared in Alan Jackson's video for I Don't Even Know Your Name in 1995.

Foxworthy hosted the game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? which aired on Fox in prime time. He is currently hosting the syndicated version of the show which started on September 21, 2009. ^[8] In addition, he is a host on The Bucks of Tecomate which airs on Versus with Alabama native David Morris.

Blue collar comedy

In the early 2000s, Foxworthy had a career resurgence as a result of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, in which he and three other comedians (Larry the Cable Guy, Ron White, and Bill Engvall), specializing in common-man comedy, toured the country and performed for record crowds. The tour lasted three full years, constantly being extended after an initial run of 20 shows.

In 2004, he launched a new television show called Blue Collar TV on The WB Television Network, Comedy Central, and Comedy Network (2007). He served as executive producer, and starred alongside Blue Collar Comedy Tour-mates Larry the Cable Guy and Bill Engvall. (Ron White turned the show down but made occasional guest appearances). The show was relatively successful compared to the anemic performance of the WB's other sitcoms^{[citation needed]}. On Larry the Cable Guy's website, he posted that the show was canceled on October 17, 2005 by WB. Reruns of Blue Collar TV continued until the network merged with UPN to form The CW.

Jeff resurrected the Blue Collar TV format (albeit with only himself participating along with some of the Blue Collar TV co-hosts) on Country Music Television (CMT) with Foxworthy's Big Night Out. The show began airing in summer 2006 and was cancelled after one season.

Books

Foxworthy has authored several books, including You Might Be a Redneck If... (1989), as well as his autobiography, No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem! (1996). Artist Layron DeJarnette provided illustrations for the Redneck Dictionary books. R. David Boyd has been the exclusive illustrator for most of Foxworthy's books and album covers.

He also has released a cookbook entitled The Redneck Grill, co-authored with Newnan, Georgia artist R. David Boyd, and "Redneck Extreme Mobile Home Makeover" (2005), a book with some of his redneck jokes.

His books are:

• "Jeff Foxworthy's Redneck Dictionary: Words You Thought You Knew the Meaning Of" (2005);
• "Jeff Foxworthy's Redneck Dictionary II: More Words You Thought You Knew the Meaning Of" (2006);
• "Jeff Foxworthy's Redneck Dictionary III: Learning to Talk More Gooder Fastly" (30 Oct 7); and
• "Rednecks In College".

In February 2008, Jeff released his first children's book entitled "Dirt On My Shirt".

In May 2008, Jeff released a book entitled "How to Really Stink at Golf", with co-author Brian Hartt and illustrations by Layron DeJarnette.

In May 2009, Jeff released a book entitled "How to Really Stink at Work, A Guide to Making Yourself Fire-Proof While Having the Most Fun Possible". This book was co-authored with Brian Hartt.

Radio work

In April 1999, Foxworthy began The Foxworthy Countdown, a nationally syndicated, weekly radio show, which featured the top 30 country hits of the week, as reported by Mediabase. He received a Country Music Association nomination, in 2001, for "Broadcast Personality of the Year." The program's last broadcast — the 2009 year-end countdown — aired the weekend of December 27, 2009. "^[9] Blue Collar Comedy Radio airs on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 103 and is associated with Raw Dog Comedy on Sirius 104.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Box sets

Singles

Foxworthy has also released several singles which have consisted of his comedy sketches set to music, often with a chorus sung by another country music act or studio musician. Most of these are from his 1996 compilation Crank It Up: The Music Album, although several of his comedy albums have included one musical track as well. Several of these songs have charted on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) and Hot 100 charts.

Other charted songs

Music videos

See also

• List of stand-up comedians
• List of game show hosts

References

• Gilbert, Calvin (1998). "Jeff Foxworthy". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 180–1.

External links

• Jeff Foxworthy at MySpace
• Official website
• Jeff Foxworthy Interview on The Big Idea w/Donny Deutsch
• Jeff Foxworthy at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Jeff Foxworthy Merchandise
• The Jeff Foxworthy Show on The WB

From Wikiquote

Jeff Foxworthy (born September 6, 1958) is an American comedian and actor, and a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour.

TV Appearances

• I don't know why my brain has kept all the words to the Gilligan's Island theme song and has deleted everything about triangles. - The Tonight Show, 27 March 2007

• Talking with Gary Busey is kinda like sex. You want to do it, you just don't want to be alone when you do it. - Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy

• People always ask me, "Did you see Larry's latest movie?" I always say, "No, but I flushed a ten dollar bill down the toilet, so I feel like I've seen it." - Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy

2007 CMT Awards

• Country music is about new love and it's about old love. It's about gettin' drunk and gettin' sober. It's about leavin' and it's about comin' home. It's real music sung by real people for real people, the people that make up the backbone of this country. You can call us rednecks if you want. We're not offended, 'cause we know what we're all about. We get up and go to work, we get up and go to church, and we get up and go to war when necessary.

You Might Be a Redneck If... (album)

• Did you know babies are nauseated by the smell of a clean shirt? You put on something from the cleaners, they'll spit up just like that. My wardrobe looks like we have condors living in our yard. And if you play with 'em too hard, they'll spew like a can of beer. I like to shake my daughter up, then hand her to people I don't like. "Hold her just a minute, would you?"

• When I was a kid, my parents had a 900-pound television on top of a TV tray. My dad's theory was, "Let him pull it over his head a few times, he'll learn. You wanna put a penny in a light socket? Try that out. OHH! Hurt like hell, didn't it? Don't do that no more."

• My mom thinks my new daughter is exceptionally bright, because now she will lie on the floor and talk to the ceiling fan. I said, "Mom, Uncle Harold does that and y'all call him an alcoholic."

• Whatever cleaning goes on on the planet, women do 99% of it. But see, women are not as proud of their 99% as men are of our one! We clean something up, we're gonna talk about it all year long. It might be on the news, you don't know. A woman could be out re-paving the driveway. Men actually have enough gall to walk out onto the porch and go "Hey baby? Man, it's hot as hell out here! Look, don't worry about emptyin' that ashtray in the den, I done got it, all right? Did it for you, sweet pea. I'm gonna take a nap now."

Games Rednecks Play

• Hell, when I was in high school, a "drive-by shooting" meant somebody had their rear end hanging out a car window!

• If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair. Five minutes at the fair, you'll be going, "You know what? We're all right. We're dang near royalty!"

• The problem with the designated driver program is it's not a desirable job. But if you ever get sucked into doing it, have fun with it. At the end of the night, drop them off at the wrong damn house, preferably in their boss's front yard... But it's better than the system we used to use: "Hey dude, get up! Give us a ride home, man! C'mon, whaddaya say? We'll buy ya a beer!"

• [from a skit about airports] You know you're in trouble when at the control tower, there's a note taped to the door that says "Back in five minutes."

Totally Committed

• On life's list of fun things to do, [visiting my in-laws] comes in somewhere below sitting in a tub full of scissors.

• [On why criminals rob nice-looking houses] Because criminals know that when they see a house with 2 foot tall grass, a dog on a chain, and an engine hanging from a tree, a gun lives in that house. And if you want to know what kind, just break in at 2 in the morning.

• You break into my house, I will shoot you. My wife will shoot you and then spend thirty minutes telling you why she shot you.

• Men like beer and something naked.

Have Your Loved Ones Spayed and Neutered

• A few weeks ago, sitting in traffic -- bumper-to-bumper traffic in Atlanta -- the car in front of me has got a bumper sticker that says "Honk if you love Jesus". I toot the horn a couple times, and the guy flipped me off.

• (To his wife) You do not have testicular cancer. You don't even have "testiculars"!

• If you can't remember the last time you had sex with a woman, you're either gay, or married.

• If you've ever been antique shopping during a big football game, you're either gay, or married.

• Do you know why it's so hard to solve a Redneck murder? 'Cause there's no dental records and all the DNA is the same.

• I've said before that working with Larry is kind of like watching the Jerry Springer Show. After about five minutes, you will feel better about your own family.

• In my life, I have driven some crappy vehicles. But I have never been so desperate for a vehicle that I wanted a used rental car.

• Buying a used rental car is kind of like going to a house of ill repute looking for a wife. Anything that's been driven that hard by that many people, you really don't want to put your key in it.

• My grandma's the most careful, safe driver in the world. You put her in a rental car, and she's doing doughnuts in the K-Mart parking lot!

• [about rental car employees who ask if he wants the additional insurance]

I say "Yes, I would. 'Cause you've got a Ford Fiesta that's about to see more airtime than a skateboard at the X-Games."

• [about a clerk, after recounting a story he read in which someone presented a store clerk with a million dollar bill and asked for change]

She goes "I'll bet it was a counterfeit million dollar bill." Kinda like your high school diploma, huh?

• It's not my dreams that get me in trouble, it's what my wife dreams I did. My wife punched me in the middle of the night; I woke up and went "Oww! What was that for?", and she goes "I dreamt you were making out with Faith Hill." I said "I wasn't dreaming anything! Send her over to my dreams, and we'll both be happy."

• You know, I remember Career Day in high school. I remember plumbers and lawyers . . . I don't remember a booth where you could sign up to learn how to shoot chickens out of a cannon at the windshield of an airplane, 'cause there would have been a line at my school to do that!

• [about his daughters and nieces having developed a natural curiosity about boys]

When I get into the shower, there is nobody else in the bathroom. Now, when I get out there are five girls just loitering. I finally confronted them. I said "Why are all five of you in the bathroom?" And my youngest daughter, who's really funny, goes "We're trying to see a hoo-hoo!" I said "I'm gonna tell you all you need to know about hoo-hoos. Hoo-hoos are extremely poisonous." And without missing a beat, she goes "they are not, or the dog would be dead!" I hate a smart child.

Redneck jokes

Jeff's trademark is a series of one-liners denoting ways in which people might be a redneck (which he defines as "a glorious absence of sophistication"). The lines usually take on the format "If [example], you might be a redneck". Many of Foxworthy's "redneck-isms" were given to him by fans. Examples include:

• If you own a home that is mobile, and fourteen cars that aren't.

• If your ironing board doubles as a buffet table.

• If your dad walks you to school because you're in the same grade.

• If your underwear doubles as your bathing suit. (Jeff then adds, "A little finger pointing going on in the audience.")

• If you've been on television more than five times describing what the tornado sounded like.

• If you have used a bar stool as a walker. (Ron White raises his hand)

• If you have the electronic singing fish in more than three rooms in your house. (Jeff raises his hand after Bill, Larry, and Ron point at him - Bill even holds up four fingers)

• If you've ever been too drunk to fish.

• If you've ever cut your grass and found a car.

• If an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger changed your life.

• If you see a sign that says "Say No To Crack" and it reminds you to pull your jeans up.

• If you've ever hauled a can of paint to the top of a water tower to defend your sister's honor.

• If you go to the family reunion to meet women.

• If you think "fast food" is hitting a deer at 65 miles an hour. (Ron White raises his hand)

• If you've ever worn a tube-top to a funeral home.

• If you take your dog for a walk and you both use the tree at the corner. (Ron White raises his hand.)

• If you've ever ridden an electric floor buffer. (Bill Engvall fessed up to this, claiming "tequila was involved, get off me" causing Jeff to ask "I wonder how many times his wife has said that.")

• If you work with a shirt off... and so does your husband.

• If you own a Waffle House credit card.

• If you think a "quarter horse" is that ride in front of Kmart.

• If you own a complete set of salad bowls, and they all say "Cool Whip" on the side.

• If your mother doesn't remove the Marlboro from her lips before telling the state patrolman to kiss her ass.

• If you smoked during your wedding.

• If your dog passes gas and you claim it.

• If your daughter's Barbie Dream House has a clothesline in the front yard.

• If you've ever made change in the offering plate. (Jeff: "Guilty.")

• If you've ever stared at a can of orange juice because it said "concentrate".

• If your working television sits on top of your non-working television.

• If you keep a fly swatter in the front seat of the car so you can reach your kids in the back seat of the car.

• If directions to your house include "turn off the paved road".

• If you think 'N Sync is where the dirty dishes go.

• If you've ever worn a dress that is strapless with a bra that isn't. (At this point, Larry the Cable Guy raises his hand; Jeff then adds "Think about that and try to sleep tonight.")

• If somebody hollers "ho-down" and your girlfriend hits the floor.

• If the biggest city you have ever been to is Wal-Mart.

• If you've ever bought lingerie at a yard sale.

• If you've ever taken an RV to a drive-in movie.

• If you've ever heard the phrase "come and move this transmission so I can take a bath!"

• If you wear someone else's work shirt.

• If you've ever had your nipple bitten off by a beaver. (Jeff had earlier told the story of it happening to the brother of an audience member)

• If you refer to the fifth grade as "my senior year".

• If the richest member of your family bought a house and you have to help take the wheels off of it.

• If you got into a fistfight at your last yard sale.

• If your dad's cell number has nothing to do with a telephone.

• If your family tree does not fork.

• If you've been married three times and still have the same in-laws.

• If you refer to your wife and mother-in-law as "dual air bags".

• If you think Silence of the Lambs is what happens when Larry walks out to the barn.

• Jeff's 'Here's Your Sign' Joke (from Blue Collar Comedy Tour)

Jeff: I'm having my house repainted and we have a piano in the corner and the painter says, "Is that y'all's piano?" I said, "No, that's our coffee table; it just has buck teeth. Here's Your Sign."

See also

• Blue Collar TV

External links

Wikipedia has an article about:

Jeff Foxworthy

• Jeff Foxworthy's site
• Jeff Foxworthy at the Internet Movie Database