Bill Engvall

                      

                                                Bill with Loretta Lynn and Reba

Bill Engvall's Down South Jukin' Interview with Bruce Wall

 
  I was born in Galveston, Texas in 1957 in the middle of a hurricane and I guess because of the drop in the barometric pressure it affected my brain and I was destined to become a stand-up comic. Although at that age I wasn't aware of my destiny. We moved a great deal when I was a child and so I used my sense of humor to make friends quickly. The final dye e was cast when in third grade we had a class play. We were doing the play Clementine, which for those of you may not be aware of this was a western. I had always wanted to be a cowboy but because my voice was still too high and combined with the fact that I was a bit scrawny I was forced to play the role of Clementine. Yes in third grade I was wearing a dress and signing the theme song. So it was either become a cast member of "La Cage" and become a female impersonator or become a comic. Obviously I chose the latter much to the delight of my parents. I was always the "Class Clown" and became very good at it. I started doing comedy on stage at the Dallas Comedy Corner where I honed my skills by watching guys like Garry Shandling, Robin Williams, Jay Leno and such. After two years of doing shows in Dallas I was ready to hit the road. When I started doing road work I realized how much I loved the job. I could work at night, sleep in late, and the drinks were free. It filled all three of my job requirements. I got married to a wonderful woman who I am happy to say is till with me after 19 years. She is either the best woman I have ever met or the craziest for wanting to be married to a comic. We moved to St. Louis in the summer of '84 where we continued to save money for the big move to Los Angeles. The mecca of comedy, this is where you have to be or so I had been told. When my wife was six months pregnant we loaded up a U-Haul truck and packed our two dogs off to the promised land. My timing has never been great, Yeah, move when your wife is pregnant good choice. Once in Los Angeles I had several goals one just to make enough money to pay the rent on the overpriced house that we were lining in, and the other was to become a big TV star. When the day came that I got my first audition, I asked my lovely bride to help me study for the part. Years later I was to find out that as we were reading the lines together she nearly went into labor. Not because it was time to have the baby but because I was so bad at acting that she nearly freaked into labor. I couldn't act my way out of a wet paper bag. Needless to say she got me some good acting classes. My first part was on Designing Woman after that, I was hooked. I had bitten the forbidden fruit and loved it. There were a couple of years of no parts in any shows for Bill Engvall, although I continued to work the road becoming a better comic. Then I got my first big break, I got to do the Tonite Show with Johnny Carson. Can you believe it. I was going to be on with the man. JOHNNY CARSON. I was as scared as I have ever been. The spot went great and I thought here we go. Then nothing, no calls from big producers, no calls from movie people, I guess they were all out of town the night I did the Tonite Show. I then got another break and won the American Comedy Awards Comic of the Year. This was a huge coo for me since no one had any idea who I was other than those great fans that attended comedy clubs. After that I landed a role on the "Delta burke Show" it ran for a year and was promptly cancelled for the reasons that still baffle me. Now it was time for my first album "Here's Your Sign" and thanks to all of you fans who made it the number one selling album of 1997. I then started touring with Jeff Foxworthy whom you all know and we had a blast on the road together and subsequently ended up with a part on his television show. In October of 1999 I released my second album entitled "Dorkfish" and couldn't believe that I was still doing this for a living. "Here's Your Sign" went Gold meaning that it sold over 500,000 albums and "Dorkfish" was well on its way toward that milestone also. I started doing concerts across the country on my own tour and was having the time of my life. I now had two children who still remain a wealth of material and was working on my third album. In the year 2000 "Now That's Awesome" was released and Jeff and I started the Blue Collar Comedy Tour with two other comics and this continues to this day. It still amazes me that what started out as a hobby has become one of the loves of my life. I hope that I see all of you at my concerts, and have the chance to meet you personally.

Thanks again to all of you who have helped make my dream come true

Bill's bio comes from his Official Web Site: 

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