The voice on the phone says matter-of-factly: "This is Dan." That would be Dan Whitney, better known as his comic alter-ego, Larry the Cable Guy.
Maybe you know him from the successful Blue Collar Comedy Tours. Maybe you know his catch phrase "Get-R-Done." Maybe you have kids who know him as Mater in the Disney/Pixar hit Cars.
Maybe you've heard the accent, seen the sleeveless shirts and dismissed him. You shouldn't.
In conversation, Whitney, 45, is thoughtful, polite and affable — his voice rises only when he talks about critics who paint his character — and by association, him — as an intolerant redneck. He asks if you watch The Sarah Silverman Show.
"She exaggerates her character, she exaggerates herself ... a lot of it for the laughs. And that's kind of what I do."
Not that Whitney, who calls his stand-up act "PG-16 Lite," compares his humor to the edgy comedian's. He's proud there are no f-words or taking the Lord's name in vain. Still, he admits: "It's 14-year-old-type humor."
Whitney, a native of Pawnee City, Neb., lives half the year in Sanford with his wife and two small children, and half the year in his home state, where he owns a skybox at the Nebraska Cornhuskers' Memorial Stadium.
Here are some other things you may not know about Larry the Cable Guy.
He's a huge baseball fan. Whitney has taken batting practice with several major-league teams — most recently, the Milwaukee Brewers. The Rays extended an invitation this week, but he couldn't make it. "Let me just say that (Brewers manager) Ned Yost told me that out of all the celebrities that have come to battin' practice, I've been the best hitter so far. And I'm not braggin', but that's what he said."
He said no to Pawnee City ... "My hometown wanted me to do some kind of a museum thing where they wanted to sell all my stuff. ... I mean, I know I have a lot of fans, and they're awesome fans, but I don't think anybody's going to drive to some small town in Nebraska to check out my museum."
... but yes to the Cornhuskers. "They invited me to be the guest coach for any game I want, and I get to call the first play. So I'm going to do that this year. ... I'm not telling you what I'm going to call.''
His first splurges of success? "The first Blue Collar movie, when I first started getting some money — like any guy, you buy yourself a flat screen. So I got a big TV. Then my next big purchase was four Mickey Thompson (off-road tires) for my truck ... Then I got the skybox. I was set."
He sponsors pro cowboys. The name: The Git-R-Done Pro Rodeo Team. Naturally.
He's doing Cars 2. Expect it in 2012. He's also working on some animated series featuring his character, the cornpone tow truck Mater. But Whitney doesn't expect his Disney success to lead to show-business respect. "I'll never get any street cred in Hollywood. Just like (Jeff) Foxworthy will never get any street cred in Hollywood."
He doesn't do political humor. "On the Tonight Show, they asked me if I was following (the election) and I said: 'I thought Super Tuesday was two tacos for 99 cents at Taco Bell.' "
It upsets him when critics call him racist and homophobic. ... "They take things way too seriously. It's like I always say, there's different kinds of styles for different kinds of people. ... You have to have thick skin if you are going to do this, because once you get successful, you're a target."
... or can't see beyond his on-stage persona. "They call me a bad actor, but I got to tell ya, I must be a really freakin' good at acting. Because everybody thinks I am that guy on stage."
He has no illusions about his movies (like Witless Protection, which hits DVD in June). "We're not making Shakespeare, we're making Larry the Cable Guy movies. ... I think it's funny — my movies always get trashed, and they always come out on DVD and they're No. 1 for three weeks. So somebody likes 'em."
Larry the Cable Guy
Catch him at 8 p.m. Friday, and 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 N McMullen Booth Road, Clearwater. Tickets are $44.75. (727) 791-7400 or rutheckerdhall.com.
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