“I just live my life like a banshee idiot and report back to the people,” says stand-up comic Ron White, who will perform tonight at Chrysler Hall.Not something you'd expect from one of the most successful stand-up comedians of the past decade. But understandable given the circumstances.
Growing up in a dirt-road Texas town of 700, he never expected to be making plans to spend the day at a movie star's house watching a film White acted in.
"I considered myself a success before any of this fame happened," said White, who said he is "54 and very immature." He is appearing tonight at Chrysler Hall. "But I never thought any of this would happen. Where I came from, this kind of stuff never happens."
White was in California and preparing to spend the next day at the home of Billy Bob Thornton, who helped write and direct "Jayne Mans-field's Car," a film due out in 2013. He'd watch the film for the first time with Robert Duvall, Ray Stevenson, Robert Patrick and Kevin Bacon, some of the stars in the movie. White plays Neal Baron, a two-time former bowling champion who owns six car dealerships in the Atlanta area, where White now lives.
"I play a guy who can't quit talking about himself... just a great role for me," White said with a laugh. "It's dark. I guess it's a comedy, but there was nothing funny about the script and nothing funny happens in it. But I laughed my way through the whole script.
"I'm just nervous to watch myself on the screen because they're all ranting about the job I did. And it's not like I'm going to be watching it with a bunch of B movie actors."
He got his first big break from Jeff Foxworthy, and enjoyed the popularity of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. Then White went out on his own with his dry, intellectual style of comedy.
"They have to be.... I'm not a very good writer," he said. "I think people are just comfortable with the way I do stand-up. It's so conversational, like I'm talking to one person instead of a crowd of people.
"Great pace at the pulpit," said White, who performs with his signature cigar and high-priced scotch. "I get a lot of it from him. I could tell stories about whatever happened to me from the time I was 9, and everybody always thought it was funny. I was born with my delivery."
White's smooth, slow approach has earned him two Grammy nominations, a gold record, a best-selling book and three of the top-rated one-hour specials in Comedy Central history.
"Once you get one of these kind of careers, it's really, really great," said White, who plays golf - although he says he hates it - at least twice a week. "There are some good comics out there who have never made the turn... never got the break.
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