With his gritty personality and his Southern, er, charm, Larry the Cable Guy has made his way into the homes of millions through his hick-inspired stand-up comedy on Blue Collar Comedy with Jeff Foxworthy. No longer can we hear the phrase “git-r-done” without being forced to picture the pudgy prankster in his signature sleeveless t-shirt and camo ball cap. And that’s just the way he likes it.
Larry the Cable Guy has come out from hiding since his last big screen debut to plug his latest cinematic venture, “Witless Protection,” in theaters now. “Witless Protection” stars The Cable Guy himself as a small-town sheriff with a big time job.
While drinking (what else?) in a bar with his buddies, the originally named Sheriff Larry spots the beautiful and A-list celebutante Madeline (Ivana Milicevic) being man-handled by what he thinks are villains trying to kidnap the star.
Hijinks predictably ensue when the hillbilly drives cross-country to protect the princess from the kidnappers. Turns out in the end though, “they really were bad people trying to get her, so I was doing the right thing after all,” explains Larry himself in an interview with The Mass Media.
Larry’s career has been filled with ups and downs, most of which have been at the box office. “Aside from my stand up, my favorite thing to do was ‘Cars.’ It was great. Everyone wants to be in an animated movie and it was really fun and funny,” he says. “Plus, it did really well in the theaters and was nominated for an Oscar.”
But not all of his work has been so popular: “‘Delta Farce’ bombed in the theaters,” he sighs. “Probably because I was up against Shrek, Spiderman 3, [and] Pirates of the Caribbean. But my fans pulled through, and the DVD sales were pretty good.” Still, Larry continues his stand-up routine across the country while considering movies his “special side projects.”
Known for his redneck shtick, Larry finds that as long as he’s making his fans happy, that’s all that matters. “I mean, as far as the criticism from folks, they aren’t the ones buying tickets to my shows anyways,” Larry explains defensively. “I mean, I’m not nearly as edgy as Carlos Mencia and all them, so I don’t get that. But I try to take it with a grain of salt and just realize that my fans usually rally around me.”
And he’s not doing too badly for a country bumpkin from Pawnee City, Nebraska. Growing up, Larry says, he was always looking to entertain and make people laugh. “Since I was little, I would always try and be a goofball and made my friends and classmates laugh. I never figured I would go anywhere with it. But I done did it.”
And speaking of getting it done, where did the famous catch phrase that catapulted Larry (whose real name is Daniel Lawrence Whitney) into superstardom? “When I did social commentaries on radio shows, and every time I would sign off I would say you know, ‘thanks for listening and remember whatever you have to do, just git-r-done,'” he says in his redneck drawl.
“For five days a week, for 13 years, I would say that phrase on the radio and just developed a following […] Since that’s how a lot of people knew me, I had to add it to my stand-up routine. Now people everywhere when they see me yell out, ‘Hey Larry, git-r-done!'”
Larry urges everyone to see his new movie, “Witless Protection,” because “it’s just a funny movie. In my movies, I just want them to be funny; it’s hard to go to a movie nowadays that doesn’t shove some political point down your throat.” “Witless Protection,” on the other hand, is “a silly, feel-good movie that has a good story line to it and is funny all the way through.” Well said, Larry. Well said.