Career
In 1990 Bill Engvall moved to southern California to dedicate full time to his comedy. Early notoriety came from hosting the cable show A Pair of Jokers with Rosie O'Donnell and an appearance on the The Golden Palace where he played Blanche's son Matthew, a stockbroker turned aspiring comic. Other early appearances included hosting A&E Networks An Evening at The Improv as well as stand-up routines on The Tonight Show and the Late Show with David Letterman.
A career breakthrough happened in 1992 when Engvall was named Best Male Standup at the American Comedy Awards. His first role as a series regular came soon after when he was cast in the ABC series Delta, starring Delta Burke. The show only lasted one season however, and Engvall returned to making the rounds of comedy clubs and the occasional television appearance until 1996 when he was cast with fellow comic and best friend Jeff Foxworthy in the NBC version of The Jeff Foxworthy Show. Signed by Warner Bros. Records in 1996, Engvall release the first of a series of highly successful comedy albums, Here's Your Sign, based on his signature stage bit. The album was certified Platinum and peaked at #5 on the Billboard Country album chart, thanks in part to the single and video of the same title on which he collaborated with Country star Travis Tritt. Eight more comedy albums followed including Dorkfish in 1998, and the most recent, 2009's Aged and Confused.
Engvall's signature bit is "Here's Your Sign", which consists of a series of rapid-fire bits. The concept is that everyone has days in which they suffer from temporary stupidity, and the metaphorical sign reads "I'm Stupid Today", thus preventing any unnecessary conversation. In each bit, Engvall describes a situation in which any observer should be able to determine what happened. Someone will then ask whether the obvious is true. Instead of simply saying "yes", the responder comes up with a sarcastic alternate theory before awarding the sign to the asker.
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Famous quotes containing the word career:
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