They Call Me Tater Salad

Ron White stands on stage with a glass of scotch in one hand and a cigar in the other, establishing himself as the cynical, adult-oriented alternative to his clean-cut tourmates. Rather than family-friendly observations, he leans into self-deprecating tales of his own public intoxication, bad marriages, and arrests. The signature bit details an arrest in his youth where he sarcastically gave his alias as Tater Salad, only for the ridiculous nickname to catch up with him years later during a rough night in New York City.

Filmed at the State Theatre in Kalamazoo, Michigan, this 2004 release was his first solo one-hour special. It arrived at a crucial transition point in his career, hot on the heels of the massive success of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. The set includes his memorable storytelling about surviving a harrowing flight on a twin-engine plane, getting thrown out of a New York bar by six bouncers for refusing to remove his cowboy hat, and a cynical critique of the DeBeers diamond marketing slogan.

The special originally aired on Comedy Central in late 2003, pulling in record viewership for the network’s Sunday programming. The 2004 DVD release topped the Billboard comedy chart and went on to sell over a million copies.