Redneck Reduction

When it comes to comedy recordings, Jeff Foxworthy is No. 1. He visited The Early Show Tuesday to talk about his latest release, Big Funny, featuring routines that focus less on redneck jokes and more on family life — even his own family isn't spared.

Fourteen years ago, Foxworthy was working in smoky comedy clubs and making $20 a night. For six years he paid his dues touring 48 weeks a year.

It all paid off when he was named the "Best Stand-Up Comic" according to the 1990 American Comedy Awards. His comedy recordings have tallied sales of more than 11 million units, making him the biggest-selling comedy recording artists in history.

His redneck routine started because of his Southern accent. When he would come up north to work, people would tease him about it.

"And I was working in a comedy club, and they were kidding me about being a redneck, and it was attached to a bowling alley that had valet parking," he recalls.

He says his most popular "redneck" line is:

"If your working television sits on top of your non-working television, you might be a redneck."

Satirizing his own family life is not exactly new to the 41-year-old comedian. But it was never that material that got noticed in his routines.

"People know the redneck stuff," he explains. "Whether it's an album or in concert, it's always been five minutes out of a two-hour show." Foxworth, his wife, and two daughters live in a suburb of Atlanta.

While his career in comedy has flourished, his forays into television have not done as well. He had two sitcoms on different networks and both of the programs flopped. Foxworthy says that's because he lost creative power and Hollywood didn't want his show to be "too Southern."

"I think, in the beginning, I was happy to have my foot in the door," he says. "There probably should have been times when I held up my hands and said, 'I think this should be about this.'"

He also has said, "If I could do only one thing the rest of my life, it would be standup. That's where my heart is."

His recordings focus on what he calls, "redneck humor." His first CD You Might Be A Redneck If... has been registered triple platinum status as well as Games Rednecks Play which went on to receive a Grammy nomination in 1996 for Best Comedy Album.

And the single "Games Rednecks Play" with country star Alan Jackson which appears in Cranking Up: The Music Album, was nominated for a 1997 Grammy for Best Vocal Collaboration.

Totally Committed, released in May 1998, has reached gold status and also received a 1999 Grammy Award nomination.

In April 1999 he started The Foxworthy Countdown, a syndicated radio program that is broadcast on 70 stations. It brings fans the current Top 20 hits along with interviews with country stars.

Currently, Foxworthy is on what he calls, "The Blue Collar Comedy Tour" which is taking him cros-country this spring with comedians Bill Engvall, Ron White and Craig Hawksley.

Foxworthy grew up in Hapeville, Ga., a blue collar town just south of Atlanta.

He also has a line of "redneck clothing" at Wal-Mart and a Backyard Bar-B-Q restaurant in Florida.