Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy just like hanging out together

Jeff Foxworthy and Larry The Cable Guy, who are coming to Lexington on Friday night as two of the most popular comedians working today and half of the wildly successful Blue Collar Comedy Tour, are two guys who have a blast hanging out together.

“When we did the (Blue Collar Comedy) tour, Jeff is the one that I knew,” Larry says. “Jeff is the one I still talk to all the time. I talk to him every week. He’s one of my best buddies.”

Foxworthy adds, “We genuinely make each other laugh and we are genuinely friends.”

A lot has happened to Foxworthy and Larry since the Blue Collar Comedy Tour took audiences by storm more than a decade ago. Foxworthy’s career gained some extra steam (not that he needed it, having created the classic “you might be a redneck” jokes and the No. 1 comedy-recording artist of all time) and Larry The Cable Guy became a household name thanks to his sleeveless redneck persona and his omnipresent tagline, “Git-R-done.” Whether early in their careers or during the high point of their success, they were rarely out of touch.

Larry remembers working the comedy clubs with Foxworthy in West Palm Beach, Fla., in the late 1980s while catching the Atlanta Braves training camp (both are diehard Braves fans). When Foxworthy came up with the idea to put together the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, he knew exactly who to bring on stage — even if aside from comedian Bill Engvall, the audience didn’t know exactly what they were getting.

“Nobody knew who Ron (White) and Larry were, but I knew they were funny,” he said. “I was right. They just needed an audience. It’s kind of cool to see the success they had.”

Between making TV appearances and voicing the lovable tow truck Mater from Disney/Pixar’s Cars franchise, Larry toured for almost eight years straight playing for arena-sized crowds. He recalls one occasion when the opening act for Foxworthy fell through and Larry came on stage to perform. Foxworthy has returned the favor, recently coming to perform with Larry when he hosted a benefit concert near his hometown in Lincoln, Neb.

At that benefit, Larry says, they discussed what would become their current tour, We’ve Been Thinking. That tour name wasn’t just something that was pulled out of thin air. It was based on Larry’s response when he realized that the two of them were going to have to come up with a new hour of material.

Even decades into their respective careers, figuring out how to make people laugh hasn’t gotten much easier.

“With comedy, still to this day, I don’t know what is going to work,” Foxworthy says. “You literally have to go back to the clubs with note cards and start from scratch.”

Whereas Foxworthy is more of a storyteller comedian, talking about his family life, Larry’s indelible and often crude character delivers similar topics in a throwback style to the rapid-fire, one-liner comedian. He said he faces the same challenge when coming up with a show-length set.

“If I write, I have to write a hundred jokes and out of those 100 jokes, only 15 of them are going to be good and out of those 15 jokes, that’s only 2 1/2 minutes,” he says. “It’s difficult for both of us, but we did it.”

The audiences will undoubtedly be excited to hear the new material in two very different styles, but what comes after their performances usually ends up being the highlight. Just like at the end of the Blue Collar Comedy Tours, Foxworthy and Larry will grab a couple of stools to chat with each other and the audience.

“We take any questions anybody has,” Larry says. “It’s really fun because it turns into a 20-minute ad-lib session. For us, it’s the funnest part of the show.”

Foxworthy likens it to a time he took his family to witness the dynamic of Billy Joel and Elton John on one of their co-headlining tours.

“You got each of them, but you got each of them together, which is the best part,” he says.

Foxworthy and Larry consider themselves fortunate. They’re still able to tour, make people laugh and get standing ovations every night. Not bad for a couple of buddies who would just as well hang out with each other anyway.

Foxworthy says: “Me and Larry look at each other and say, ‘We’re still getting away with this. This is crazy.’”

This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy just like hanging out together."