Bill Engvall thought he was stepping off stage for the last time in 2022, but after a taste of retired life, the comedian was bored.
“In hindsight, I should have just taken a break because I’ve been on the road for 42 years and was just getting burned out,” Engvall said in a phone interview. “When I stepped away from it, I realized how much I enjoy performing and the juice you get from the crowd.”
Before retiring, Engvall had built a lasting career in comedy, making routine stand-up appearances on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and “The Late Show with David Letterman.” He released his debut comedy album, “Here’s Your Sign,” in 1996, a massive success that earned him a platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America. In 2000, he teamed up with fellow comedians Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White for the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, which lasted six years and helped cement their place in the world of comedy.
Engvall has also appeared on television, including “The Bill Engvall Show,” where he played himself as a family counselor. The show ran for three seasons from 2007 to 2009 on TBS. He’s since appeared in a recurring role on Tim Allen’s FOX sitcom “Last Man Standing,” where he plays Reverend Paul.
Ahead of his headlining performance at Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage, Engvall spoke with Southern California News Group about keeping his material clean, working with award-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, and why he’s not keen on gambling. The following conversation was edited for space and clarity.
Q: While you were retired, did you ever come up with material and consider how it would work onstage?
Engvall: You can never completely step away from it. Your mind is always on it, especially when you’ve done it for this long. I’d get ideas, and I’d write them down. The problem was I wouldn’t perform it, so there wasn’t any real way to test it. So, I started returning to my roots, attending comedy clubs and trying out the material. That did it for me and told me that I was doing the right thing by getting back.
Q: What is your process for writing new material?
Engvall: After doing this for this long, I’ve trained myself to let an idea sit for a little bit. Then, I’ll start working on it and molding it to fit my style. I remind myself to keep the material relatable. People love it when they feel like you’re talking right to them.
Q: What kind of material can people expect at the Agua Caliente Rancho Mirage show?
Engvall: There will be a mixture of new stuff and classic bits. At first, I thought I had to write a whole new 90-minute show. But then I thought if you and I were going to see Aerosmith on the way to the concert, not one of us would say, ‘Man, I hope they play all new stuff.’ You want to hear some new stuff, but you also want to hear the classic stuff.
Q: You’ve spoken about keeping the majority of your act clean and family-friendly. Why is that such a foundational part of your comedy?
Engvall: I get more comments about being clean than being funny. People say they appreciate that they could come to a show with their wife and sit through it and not be like, ‘Why they got to go here?’ There’s a niche for everybody, and I’ve found my fans. If I tried to get up there and do dirty stuff, they would just be looking at me like, ‘What are you doing?’ Keeping it clean is one of the main things I’ve tried to keep constant in the show. We talk about real life, but I don’t find any need for the F-bombs and all that. I always felt that you don’t need that if the material is strong enough.
Q: With comedy changing so much, thanks partly to the internet and social media, some careers have definitely accelerated. What are your thoughts on that, and have you found any newer faces that have made you laugh?
Engvall: Man, what I would have given if we had YouTube back when I was starting out. Back then, you got known because you just banged it out on the road for years. I don’t begrudge these young men and women doing it online, who can just put it on the internet and have millions of views. For me, though, I wouldn’t change anything about how I came up through the business. I got to learn from the best, like Gary Shandling, Jerry Seinfeld, and Jay Leno. The one thing I noticed about them was that all their shows were fairly clean, and I’m glad that I learned to do it that way. Regarding new talent, there’s this guy, Nate Bargatze, who’s just tearing it up right now, but there are quite a few comics out there. It’s nice to see. I felt like comedy went through a down period for a while, but now it seems to be on the rebound, and I love it. I tell these young comedians to get as much stage time as possible and just work the system.
Q: Many of the sitcoms you have been featured in center American working families. It’s become an essential part of the genre. Why do you think that formula continues to be so timeless?
Engvall: Sometimes I think we get caught up in the East and West Coast, and the people in middle America get forgotten. When I was doing a Blue Collar Comedy Tour, one of the big things was that we reached that audience that sometimes got largely overlooked by television. Overall, people have to be able to relate to the show. When I did my sitcom, ‘The Bill Engvall Show’ that was one of the things I did. I wanted to do a throwback to the old sitcoms, like ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show,’ ‘Bewitched’ and all the shows where it was about family. One of the things I liked about working with Tim Allen was that he had the same formula. He wanted a good, old-fashioned, relatable sitcom. The proof is in the pudding. Everything he touches turns to gold. I really enjoyed working with Tim on his show.
Q: On ‘The Bill Engvall Show,’ Jennifer Lawrence played your daughter early in her career. What was it like working with her? Do you still keep in contact?
Engvall: She was great. I dislike using this term, but she had ‘It.’ She was a real homebody and down-to-earth, great to work with. God bless her. When she started exploding with all those big movies, she was so sweet and gave me credit for giving her a job. We haven’t talked in years, but it would be one of those things where if we did have the opportunity to meet again, we’d pick up right where we left off.
Q: You were presented with the Casino Comedian of the Year at the 2019 Casino Entertainment Awards in Las Vegas. What was that like for you as a performer?
Engvall: That was a really nice honor. Casinos have resurrected a lot of careers, so to be recognized like that was very special. I don’t know what it is about the casino crowds; maybe it goes back to what we discussed earlier about knowing my audience. When I was working a lot and doing a lot of the Mid-America casinos, my demographic was the people that were going to those places. It was an easy transition into that, but I don’t do a different show for casinos or anything like that. I don’t think that’s what they’re looking for.
Q: Do you enjoy gambling?
Engvall: My wife and I were in a casino one night where I had been performing. We played the Caribbean Stud Poker game. I put my bet down, got dealt four jacks, and was looking at the payout, going, ‘Oh my God, this will be awesome.’ Then, the dealer turned over four kings, so I knew right away it was not something I could rely on.
Q: What’s something that never fails to make you laugh?
Engvall: Just general life. I think that’s where the whole here’s your sign bit came from. People send me their ” here’s your sign ” moments and those make me laugh.
Bill Engvall
Where: Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage, 32-250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage.
When: 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21.
Tickets: $84.50-$199.50 at aguacalientecasinos.com.