Jeff Foxworthy, known for his observational humor about Southern culture, has brought back his iconic "redneck" jokes for his latest stand-up special, "The Joke's on Me," which is now streaming on Fox Nation. The special also offers a behind-the-scenes look at his joke-writing process.
Foxworthy explained that the inspiration for his "redneck" material came from a criticism he received early in his career. He was able to turn what was intended as an insult into a "badge of honor" and a successful comedic premise. "I said, 'Well, that's cool, because when people get offended, they act like if you gave rednecks a billion dollars, they wouldn't be rednecks,'" Foxworthy told Fox News Digital. "I said they would still be rednecks. They would just have bigger boats, bigger truck. I mean, more things to shoot at. They're happy with who they are."
He began telling jokes about rednecks in the late 1980s, and they quickly became a staple of his act. His 1990 special even closed with redneck-themed jokes. However, after years of performing them, Foxworthy felt the material had run its course and stopped telling them on stage, with the Blue Collar Comedy Tour in 2003 being one of his last outings with that specific material.
After more than two decades away from the jokes, Foxworthy decided to reintroduce them for "The Joke's on Me." He recalled telling the audience at a show that he was considering bringing back the old material. The audience's enthusiastic reaction to a classic "You might be a redneck" setup led him to believe the jokes still resonated. "I went, 'Oh, wow, this stuck to people's bones, you know?'" he said. For his new special, he revisited his old joke files and found that performing them again felt as natural as it had decades prior.
Inspired by a documentary about The Beatles, Foxworthy pitched a unique concept for his Fox Nation special: showcasing the creative process behind his comedy. "Because you saw the struggle that went into creating that," he said of the documentary. He wanted to share the unpredictability of stand-up, where ideas he thought were hilarious sometimes fell flat, and others he considered weak elicited huge laughs. "Fox Nation was the first place that ever said, 'Okay, we'll do it,'" he added.
While "The Joke's on Me" might be his last stand-up special, Foxworthy indicated that it doesn't signal a complete retirement from performing. He expressed a desire to spend more time with his grandchildren and on his farm. "I've been on the road nonstop," he said. "I laugh at my music friends when they say they're on tour. I said, 'Well, tour implies it stops. At some point,' I said, 'I've been on tour since 1984.' It just never stopped."