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‘I’ll gut ya like a catfish — you’ll leave holding your face”

Ron White brings the laughs at the CAC

If you would have asked a 29 year-old Ron White if he saw himself standing infront of crowds of thousands, selling millions of records, selling out stadiums and multiple Grammy nominations, he would have given you a husky laugh and continued on with his day.

“I never really thought about it. I’ve been funny my whole life,” White said in an interview with the Sun-Gazette. White said his uncle was a preacher, and he looked up to him and thought he was funny growing up in “itty bitty” town in Texas. That’s where White supposes he found the rhythm and the timing of comedy, but to him, it’s always been a part of him.

“It’s something you didn’t think about, ya know, being an actor, being in the arts. You’re told, ‘Now what you wanna do is be a welder!’ and you grow up thinking what you’re told,” he said.

White said a comedy club opened up in town, and it was intriguing to him. His friend Sam Bartholomew went to a performance, reporting back to White saying, “Ron, you’re funnier than these people.”

And that was it.

Cut to White opening for Jeff Foxworthy and Sam Kinison; becoming a comedy club headliner, joining the Blue Collar Comedy Tour; and selling out venues over 270 cities in three years, grossing more than $35 million. White has even conquered the New York Time’s Best Seller List with his first book, “Ron ‘Tater Salad’ White: I had the Right to Remain Silent … But I Didn’t Have the Ability,” in 2006. He just finished filming a series for Showtime with Cameron Crowe as well.

“Ten million albums, Grammy nominations, a career — I never thought it would happen. I never saw the fame and fortune coming. But it all did. All I ever did was concentrate on being funny,” he said.

With a list of accomplishments over a mile long, White still has been touring for “30 years nonstop,” which is normalcy to him — as long as he gets to golf. Maintaining a vigorous schedule is just something he does.

“Stand up is like any other art. You need to do it all the time if you’re gonna be good at it. If you’re a horn blower, then you better go and blow the horn,” he said.

Each year, White tours 115 cities, toning it down from 140 cities like his previous tours, sometimes three gigs a night.

White looks at each venue with the same attitude — he’s doing what he loves, and the place is filled with people who are his fans.

“Every building I go to is full of my fans who I love. So as long as I’ve got a good speaker system, I don’t care where I am. I am gonna make them laugh as hard as they can for as long as I want to. It’s fun to do! And it’s what they wanna do,” he said.

His 7:30 p.m. Jan. 19 performance at the Community Arts Center, 200 W. Fourth St., won’t be any different.

“I wouldn’t bring your kids. And if you do, don’t sit with them. Because then you’ll both laugh and not worry about it,” White said. “I’ll gut ya like a catfish, you’ll leave holding your face.”

For more information and tickets, visit www.caclive.com.

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