Friday, March 30, 2001 | 3:34 a.m.
Bill Engvall is the funniest comedian you may never have heard of.
With his first album, "Here's Your Sign," Engvall in 1996 jetted from obscurity to the top of the charts -- the country music charts, that is, with his "country-comedy" disc that included redneck and trailer-park jokes.
His video for "Here's Your Sign" with Travis Tritt climbed to No. 5 on the Billboard country music chart in 1996.
But he's reaching for a wider audience with his third and most recent album, "Now That's Awesome," on which he laments, among other things, the '90s, the bar scene and piercings.
Engvall will appear Friday and Saturday at Sam's Town Live!.
The Galveston, Texas, native got his creative start at radio stations and comedy clubs in Dallas. He moved to Los Angeles 15 years ago and made appearances on such shows as ABC's "The Jeff Foxworthy Show" and NBC's "The Tonight Show."
The move to Southern California brought him back to his stand-up roots, where he found a waiting audience. His second album, 1998's "Dorkfish," sold 500,000 copies.
Engvall spoke to the Sun about finding his niche, his Las Vegas performance dreams and raising two teenage children with his wife, Gail, of 18 years:
Las Vegas Sun: What do you get from performing stand-up?
Bill Engvall: You know, I didn't appreciate or respect stand-up until I moved out here and saw how good everybody else was. I had been in Dallas, doing the clubs, and thought I was pretty good.
It's like playing double-A (baseball) and getting pulled up to the majors, and realizing just how good everybody is and how good you have to be to make it out here. Because of that I gained a lot of respect for the business, and I knew at that point I didn't want to get out of the business, so I had to become one of the big hitters.
Sun: What distinguishes you from other comedians?
BE: One thing I think has helped in my popularity is that I work clean. I look at guys that are dirty, and they are hot for a while but then they go away. Guys that I respect, like (Bill) Cosby and (Bob) Newhart, they work clean and they work forever.
Sun: Why have you been labeled a country comic?
BE: I find it funny that nobody ever says, "That Seinfeld is a funny Northern comedian." It's only if you are from the South that you are going to get that name.
It's probably because TNN and CMT (cable networks) have been very good to me in playing my videos. Country radio jumped on "Here's Your Sign." I got a gold single out of it, which is unbelievable for a comedy record.
Sun: How have you grown as a comic?
BE: When "Here's Your Sign" first came out, I was just a club comic with a record deal. Over the last six years of playing arenas and theaters, I've become a much better performer because you have to be. They are paying a higher ticket price.
Sun: How did that affect your latest album?
BE: I finally became secure with myself and able to be myself.
I listen to "Here's Your Sign" now and I think, "My God, where did that accent come from?" To me it sounds so phony. When I listen to "Now That's Awesome," I think, "This is more me, this is good."
Sun: What can folks look forward to when you take the stage?
BE: I like to think when people watch my show it's more of an hour-and-a-half-long story with some jokes thrown in.
I'll give you an example: My daughter, she's 15, and we have a great relationship in the sense that it's very open and we can talk about anything. But still ... I'm a dad!
I picked her up at school and I said, "What'd you do in school today?" and she said, "In health class we talked about contraception." Well, I'm trying to be an open dad but I'm thinking, "God, I hope that's the capital of some country I've never heard of before."
Sun: How does your family life affect your work?
BE: Our family laughs a lot and I love that. We have a very happy family life. We are very basic people.
In this business things can become so unreal and I sometimes catch myself being caught up in ... "Why don't I have a TV show?"
Yet I look at what I've got, and I could name 100 comics who would trade places with me right now if it never got any better than this.
Sun: Have you accomplished everything you set out to do?
BE: One of the goals of my career was to headline Vegas. I love Vegas. There's something about seeing your name on the (marquee) that is just very, very cool.
And I'm an idiot in a sense. I go out there and get my picture taken. There's all the records and the TV shows, but some day it will all go away and I want to remember this.
Sun: As your CD's title suggests, what would you consider an "awesome" future for yourself?
BE: I want to do movies, I want a TV show. I want to continue to headline Vegas all the time. I'd like to have a contract with some casino.
It's a great job. I don't ever gripe about my job because I'm afraid someone is going to say, "Wait a minute. We pay you to do what?"
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