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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Totally Committed

Jeff Foxworthy

HBO · 1998 · 56 min

Blue stingray boots, marriage rules, and the definition of a redneck.

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Jeff Foxworthy walks onto the stage wearing a pair of bright blue stingray boots, using his footwear as immediate proof of his core thesis: you cannot give rednecks money. He defines his target demographic not as a regional accident, but as a group united by a “glorious absence of sophistication”. Beyond the signature signifiers, the set relies heavily on domestic life, dedicating long stretches to the unspoken rules of marriage, the sudden appearance of body hair, and the reasons he never wants to navigate the dating pool again. Filmed at the Taft Theatre in Cincinnati for HBO, the hour arrived in 1998 just after the cancellation of his network sitcom. Returning to the stage material that built his audience, Foxworthy proved the demand was still there. The accompanying album went Gold and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Comedy Album, while the televised broadcast picked up an Emmy nod. It stands as a straightforward capture of a working professional in his prime lane, delivering the exact brand of heavily accented, everyday observations that made him a 90s industry unto himself.

The set list

4 bits

  1. How Jell-O works and a woman microwaving it

    Foxworthy expresses bewilderment at the nature of Jell-O remaining solid and reacts in horror to an audience member who heats it in a microwave

  2. Differences in personal grooming in marriage

    Recounts how his wife declaring 'I hate my hair' necessitates immediately canceling dinner reservations

  3. Home security reactions

    Examines the differing behavioral approaches men and women take to dealing with home security

  4. Impression of the television show COPS

    Delivers a parody impression of an episode of the law-enforcement reality show

How it plays

Tone
Mild, tame, observational, and family-accessible
On stage
Gentle, down-home, middle-American comic persona avoiding heavy profanity
About
marriage and male-female relationships, differences between men and women, rednecks and lack of sophistication, personal grooming habits, home security, sex

What the critics said

Critics noted Foxworthy's attempt to step away from his standard 'redneck' formula into marital and relationship comedy, though some reviewers felt the jokes were overly tame, conventional, and familiar

In the room: Polite and warm with occasional grins and cheers, though characterized by one reviewer as somewhat lukewarm compared to their reaction to his classic redneck material

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: imdb.com, link.livebrary.com, themoviedb.org, blu-ray.com, allmusic.com, dvdtalk.com, countrystandardtime.com, en.wikipedia.org.

Backstory

An HBO television concert special following the cancellation of his television sitcom, filmed before his teaming with the Blue Collar Comedy Tour

Details

Released
Taped
Taft Theatre, Cincinnati
Runtime
56 min
Where
HBO
Director
Keith Truesdell
Honors
1999 Grammy Award nomination (companion album)RIAA Gold certification (companion album)
Topics
Before
Games Rednecks Play (1995)
After
Big Funny (2000)

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