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Larry the Cable Guy

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Larry the Cable Dude
Birth nameDaniel Lawrence Whitney
Born (1963-02-17) February 17, 1963 (age 61)
Pawnee City, Nebraska, USA
MediumStand-up, Television, Film, Radio
NationalityAmerican
Years active1991-present
GenresCharacter comedy, Musical comedy
Subject(s)Rednecks, Culture of the Southern United States
SpouseCara Whitney
Notable works and rolesBlue Collar Comedy Tour: One For the Road

Daniel Lawrence Whitney (born February 17 1963 in Pawnee City, Nebraska), better known by the stage name Larry the Cable Dude, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and one of the co-stars of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour.

Biography

Early life

Daniel Whitney spent his early childhood in Nebraska; he moved to Palm Beach County, Florida with his family when he was 13, where he attended The King's Academy and later graduated from Berean School. His father, a preacher who once played guitar with the Everly Brothers, worked at The King's Academy. Whitney worked at Wendy's until 1985, when he began doing stand-up comedy with other West Palm Beach locals. At the encouragement of friends and coworkers, he continued his standup work during amateur nights at the Comedy Club in Blue Springs, Missouri. In 1991, he began doing radio comedy, in which he would call into stations as fictional characters. The "Larry" character was created after a friend from one of the stations asked him to call in as a cable installer.

Comedy business

Whitney started a career in radio as a disc jockey in Blue Springs, Missouri. He moved to Omaha, where he was a personality on the short lived alternative station 101.9 The Edge KGDE. This was followed by stints at Rock 100 WDIZ and 101.1 WJRR in Orlando before meeting the Blue Collar Boys. He became known in the South in the early 90s when he made regular radio appearances via phone on programs such as the Ron and Ron Show. He was also a regular via phone during the late 90s on Z-92's The Todd and Tyler Show in Omaha, Nebraska, on the nationally syndicated Chris Baker Show Friday mornings, as well as the Kirk, Mark, and Lopez morning show on 98 Rock in Baltimore, Maryland. He was also a frequent guest on the Johnny Dare and Murphy show on 98.9, KQRC, Kansas City. His trademarks are redneck-style humor, recounting bizarre stories about his "family," delivered in an affected thick Southern accent, and using, among other common expressions, his own catchphrase "Git-R-Done!"

He also sings Christmas songs like "Donny the Retard," "Titty Bars Christmas," and "I Pissed My Pants." He uses "madder than" jokes like "Madder than a queer with tonsilitis on Valentine's Day," "Madder than a skinhead watching The Jeffersons," "Madder than a legless Ethiopian watching a donut roll down a hill," "Madder than a Keebler Elf gettin' demoted to fudge packer," "Madder than a carload of queers getting pulled over for doin' a 69 in a 55," "Madder than a one-legged waitress at the IHOP," "Madder than a skunk dipped in perfume," "Madder than a mute person playing bingo, getting bingo, and trying to yell out the word 'bingo'," or "Scarier than Janet Reno coming at you in a negligee with a box of rubbers."

In 2005, he was featured in Gretchen Wilson's music video for the song "All Jacked Up," playing dual roles as himself and a transvestite bar patron. In 2006, he starred in the film Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, was the voice of Mater, the tow truck, in Disney/Pixar's Academy Award-nominated animated film Cars, as well as the voice of Ryder in the Disney animated film The Fox And The Hound 2. Whitney's character was mocked with a character known as "Plumber Bubba" on the Cartoon Network show Squidbillies in the 2007 episode "Bubba Tubba." The episode also makes fun of his status as a millionaire who pretends to be a simple man with his story about the foreigner whom he couldn't understand while he was at "Martha's Vineyard to launch my new zeppelin fleet."[1]

Whitney has also seen considerable success from his comedic recordings. His first two comedy albums, Lord, I Apologize (2001), and The Right To Bare Arms (2005), have both been certified gold by the RIAA. A third album, Morning Constitutions, and its accompanying TV special were released in 2007.

He has also been approached by Comedy Central to voice a character for an as-yet-unnamed animated series. The show would involve his character as one of two owners of a small cable channel (the other, a high-classed, high-attitude woman) who butt heads at the type of programming they feel appropriate for air. A half-hour pilot has been ordered by the network.[2]

Criticism

Whitney's act has been criticized for having racist and homophobic elements.

In a 2005 Rolling Stone interview, fellow comedian David Cross harshly criticized Whitney's act.[3] "It's a lot of anti-gay, racist humor — which people like in America — all couched in 'I'm telling it like it is.' He's in the right place at the right time for that gee-shucks, proud-to-be-a-redneck, I'm-just-a-straight-shooter-multimillionaire-in-cutoff-flannel-selling-ring-tones act. That's where we are as a nation now. We're in a state of vague American values and anti-intellectual pride." Cross used his television show, Freak Show, to criticize Whitney through a character reference, Danny the Plumber Guy.

Whitney responded to criticisms by saying that most people are fine with his act, stating "the only people who are uptight at my shows are politically correct white people." He continued his defense in his book, GIT-R-DONE, devoting a chapter to the "P. C. Left." Cross responded with an open letter on his website expanding his criticism and defending his standup routine, accusing Whitney of never seeing his act if referring to Cross as politically correct.[4]

Personal life

The real Dan Whitney is somewhat of an enigma. The few biographies of him describe only the fictional life of Larry the Cable Guy, as he rarely speaks out of character when in public. Residents of Pawnee County confirm the existence of his father and one brother.

In a 60 Minutes report, correspondent Bob Simon reveals Whitney's "happy-go-lucky" lifestyle: "Unlike many comedians the 60 Minutes team has met, Larry is not angry, he's not depressed, he's not paranoid. He's a hard-working, supremely confident, happy-go-lucky funnyman."[5]

He is a dedicated supporter of the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team. He frequently attends Nebraska football games in his luxury box located in the north end zone of Memorial Stadium, Lincoln. A fan favorite, Whitney frequently signs autographs and talks with fans after games.

Whitney is married to a former radio personality from KOMP in Las Vegas, Nevada. He and his wife, Cara, have two children together: Wyatt and Reagan. They live in Sanford, Florida when not touring.

Southern accent

Whitney's Southern accent is worn as an affectation. Having grown up in Nebraska before moving to West Palm Beach in South Florida when he was 13, Whitney's natural inflection is much more Midwest than Deep South. He says in interviews and in his autobiographical book GIT-R-DONE that he willingly "turns on" the accent.[6] See this YouTube link for an early comedy routine performance without his accent.

Catchphrases

Larry the Cable Guy uses catchphrase humor, including "Git-R-Done", as well as "Lord, I apologize for that right there, and please be with the starvin' pygmies down there in New Guinea, A-men" and/or "I don't care who you are, that's funny right there!" after particularly egregious jokes. He appears in Nutrisystem commercials with Dan Marino. Marino says the catchprase, "Git-R-Done," and was shown dressed in Whitney's trademark attire, including a pair of jeans and a camouflage hat.

Radio career

Whitney was a radio personality on:

Discography

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Squidbillies: Bubba Trubba - TV.com
  2. ^ "Basic Cable Guy: Pilot At Comedy Central — Network Has Ordered Half-Hour Animated TV Show Starring 'Blue Collar' Comedian", HollywoodReporter.com, December 13, 2006
  3. ^ Edwards, Gavin. Larry the Cable Guy Bared. Rolling Stone. 2008-03-11. Accessed and archived: 2008-03-11.
  4. ^ An Open Letter to Larry The Cable Guy — Bob and David, 2007-10-02 website accessed 11 March 2008
  5. ^ Simon, Bob. "Political Correctness 'Out Of Control': Bob Simon Interviews The King Of Comedy, Larry The Cable Guy", 60 Minutes Online, December 17, 2007
  6. ^ An Interview with Larry the Cable Guy, Dead-Frog.com, June 15, 2005
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