The Good Old Days

Jeff Foxworthy steps onto the stage without his signature redneck catchphrases, opting instead to build an hour around the friction of growing old in a world that has outpaced him. He targets the frustrations of modern technology, from the burden of remembering internet passwords to the physical degradation of aging, and contrasts them with a simpler, if rougher, upbringing. His physical bit about the awkwardness of 1970s sex education and a nostalgic story from his days on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour anchor the performance.

Filmed at the Pantages Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota, this 2022 Netflix release marked Foxworthy’s first solo stand-up special in 24 years. It caught him at a transition point, attempting to shift from the hyper-specific Southern caricature that made him famous to a more generalized, grandfatherly observational comic. The transition was met with mixed reviews. A bit about participation trophies, where he grumbled that in his youth you had to finish in first place to get one, went viral on social media, with critics pointing out that his own generation was the one handing them out.