Comedian Ron White has a goal: 'I want to go up there and break your face'

Comedian Ron White readily admits that Jeff Foxworthy is largely responsible for at least giving him a big push toward the success he has experienced over the last 15 years. In fact, upon further reflection, he gives the fellow comic credit for giving him a retirement plan.

"I guess so," White says in a telephone interview, "since my retirement plan was 'maybe something neat will happen.' He is so generous with his friends. He wanted me to be a star and he didn't stop until I was. That was 15 years ago, and I've been waiting for it to end and it never has. It keeps on going, which is good because this is the only thing I know how to do. I need the attention."

White was part of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour with Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy. It was a huge success, stopping in 270 cities over three years and earning more than $35 million. It introduced the cigar-smoking, scotch-drinking White and his alias, "Tater Salad," to the public.

Ron White

At the end of the tour, White released his first solo album, "Drunk in Public," with the classic line "I had the right to remain silent, but I didn't have the ability."

All four of his solo comedy albums reached No. 1 on the Billboard Comedy Charts. Combined with the Blue Collar recording, he has sold more than 14 million albums and been nominated for two Grammy Awards.

It hasn't always been easy. White, who performs Saturday, Oct. 13, at Memorial Auditorium, says he didn't know how to handle his newfound wealth early on.

"I thought it meant I could drink more and well, no, you really can't."

White, who is from Texas, lived in Atlanta for a while but now lives in California. He is constantly working on tightening older material and developing new stuff, he says. He cycles new material in all the time, which means the show is essentially all new every three or four years, which is about when he circles back to cities on the tour.

He avoids politics or trying to make a social statement altogether and says the current political environment hasn't altered his show at all.

"I don't pay attention to it. I hear some comics like Seinfeld saying, 'Well these college kids today' and I'm like, 'Well, how about you perform for people your own age? These people are 45 years younger than you are. Maybe you're just not making a connection.'

"I'm not trying to make a point or express my political views, which are probably wrong anyway. I'm a comedian that wants to go up there and break your face from laughing so hard."

Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.